Porch and Parlour Restaurant and Bar North Bondi near Bondi Beach
Update 2018: Will Smith posted about Porch and Parlour! Dude! So glad you checked it out! (Below is my review from awhile ago)
Porch and Parlour Bondi is a nice little bohemian style restaurant hidden away around the corner from many other restaurants in the North Bondi, Bondi Beach area. If you don’t continue exploring the length of the beach restaurants, and walk up Ramsgate Ave, you won’t find it. We decided to check it out based on online reviews and went their directly.
The Restaurant
The restaurant is divided into two sections. The area closest to the cashier has long, tall tables and the second room has shorter, square tables. At busy times it’s likely you’ll be sharing a table. There is also a window table that I think I would love to sit at and drink wine, watching the sea in the far distance.
The wooden bench tables feature nice little candles and the lighting is subdued. The music is not too loud and, judging by the other people in the room, the restaurant is an enjoyable place to be.
The waiter was eager to update us on the gluten-free, dairy-free, free-range, organic and vegan style creations on offer, and went into some detail about the various weekly wines they have available too. He was very helpful and we were impressed with the whole concept behind their offerings.
Of course, being able to supply such high quality and more morally and ethically sound food meant higher prices, and so we essentially used up our leisure budget for the week. While worth it, I think we won’t be back until I shift into a higher income bracket!
The Wine
Having only just a few hours previously started looking for Pinotage to try, I was surprised that this week they had a bottle on the menu. $15 for a glass of Ten Men South African style pinotage. Not realising from the description that it wasn’t actually from South Africa I was quite excited to try it, then a little confused that I could pick up some eucalyptus notes. Later investigation revealed that it was actually from the Yarra Valley, so top marks to the winery for creating something rare in Australia.
We also tried a nice Shiraz but forgot to note the name.
The Food
The recommendation at Porch and Parlour is to buy around four plates of food and share them. Share plates are given. The reason for four is that the plates are quite small and, even though we’re both quite thin and don’t eat much, I did still feel a little hungry after we completed the third plate. We did only order three as we had another place to go to afterwards, but four is definitely the best suggestion if there are two of you.
The first dish we had was pickled kinkawooka mussels. This had an interesting array of flavours and I particularly enjoyed the other ingredients that complimented these Port Lincoln shellfish.
The second dish was the beef carpaccio with crispy kipflers (potatoes), wild rocket and a covering of parmesan cheese! Even though I had said to the waiter that we wanted something without dairy, I don’t think he quite understood how important it was, as he kept saying there was only a little bit here or a spoon there or a touch there, and so didn’t really worry about offering the parmesan in this dish separately. Being beef carpaccio (cold meat) of course meant that I could easily remove the cheese before I ate it, so not a big problem. Even so, you should be more pushy than I was if you are as allergic to dairy as I am as they don’t seem to worry about it too much.
The third dish was the kingfish ceviche which included heirloom tomatoes, jalapenos, radish, cucumber and lime. While that sounds like a lot, the ingredients were very light and the main part of it was the fish. Quite tasty and the lime really came through. The interesting thing about the ceviche is that my partner said it didn’t taste like ceviche she was used to and I didn’t expect there to be two edible flowers in the mix. Definitely a different style.
The Summary
We live quite far away so didn’t stay long but I could tell that this place could easily be a nice place to wind down. If I lived in the area I could definitely see myself becoming a regular for the wine and the ambience. Especially as their wine menu changes every week and their food menu changes quite often.
PORCH AND PARLOUR
17-18/110 Ramsgate Ave, North Bondi NSW 2026
Monday – Tuesday 6.30am – 3pm
Wednesday – Sunday 6.30am – 10pm
