3 of the best restaurants in Bondi Junction

Pork gyoza from Calabur Cafe & Diner

When you think of ‘dining experiences’ and ‘Bondi Junction’ you don’t exactly think of Michelin stars, white table cloths and fancy-sounding food that requires Google Translate. You typically think of some shrivelled up sushi, bad takeaway coffee and greasy French fry fingers. Am I wrong?

But, given I spend 2.67777% of my life at Bondi Junction (a constant rotation between Coles, Fitness First, the train station, the dry cleaner and just generally spending money), I’ve had plenty of opportunity to put on my stretchy pants and suss out the most edible food options in the 2022 postcode.

Hidden in between the towering apartment blocks and retail metropolis, I’ve found a few favs. These three restaurants in Bondi Junction definitely deserve some culinary kudos:

An antipasto plate from Osteria Riva

1. Calabur Cafe & Diner

Update January 2019: It’s with much sorrow, I report Calabur has closed it’s kitchen.

I’m not sure I actually want to share this one, because Calabur Café & Diner is intimately small, very good and a locals’ secret. But, you know, I’m a generous person.

Out in the boon docks of Bondi Junction, a good five-minute walk from the Westfield, you don’t expect to find a little Asian-fusion treasure. Well at least the husband didn’t, commenting the first time we came here, “Where the *bleeping kahunas* are you taking me?”

But there in a boring office block, tucked below street level, you’ll find Calabur – and the surprises keep coming. Making a left at the empty sushi train (not actual Sushi Train – of which there is one just up Spring Street), you enter a surprisingly modern, subterranean space. There’s chalkboard menus, rustic wooden tables, exposed brick, tea lights and an overall chill vibe.

Calabur’s café breakfast menu is typical Bondi. There’s kale and spinach smoothie bowls, spelt and honey banana bread, and fruit-laden granola. Meanwhile, lunch brings things like chicken skewers, spicy pulled pork burgers and vermicelli noodle salads. But, my favourite is the sophisticated, tapas-style dinner menu.

I love the pork and chive gyoza, the pulled pork sliders, the peri peri chicken tacos – in fact, there’s not a lot I don’t love about Calabur’s evening diner experience. Everything’s fresh, delicious and art on a plate. The drinks list and cocktails are also worth a mention – as is the on-point service.

And every Friday there’s live music. Perched in the corner is a guitarist creating some evening ambiance with what’s clearly his wedding set – Sam Smith, Ed Sheeran, John Mayer, they’re all there. Not that I’m complaining! The guy’s good – he can sing to me any night of the week.

I do recommend you book for this one. I also recommend you check Calabur’s opening hours (I have made that mistake).

Pork sliders

Calabur Cafe & Diner | 51 Spring Street, Bondi Junction, New South Wales
Phone: (02) 8384 3466
facebook.com/calabur

2. Osteria Riva 

Serving up traditional Italian food from the regional area of Emilia-Romagna, Osteria Riva is another small restaurant that I’m loathed to share.

A visit to this Bronte Road restaurant is like a trip to Italy, without the jetlag. Emilia-Romagna – the area up the top of the boot – is known for its fresh produce, strong flavours and homemade pasta – and that’s what you can expect from Osteria Riva. Definitely don’t expect pizza (because pizza hails from southern Italy, or so I just learnt).

You have to start with some antipasti. I recommend the antipasto plate, which comes in two sizes. It sets the tone with a pile of Italian cured meats and cheeses that are of the highest and freshest quality.

Come main course you have a difficult choice between 10-odd different pasta dishes and five ‘carne e pesce’ (meat and fish) options that include chargrilled yellow fin tuna steak and veal scaloppine. Of course, you can take the hard out of it by opting-in for one of the set menus – there’s three ranging from $50–$65pp. Or if you’re feeling fancy AF there’s a $110 Wagyu sirloin.

Plus, there’s lots of Italian – and some Australian – wines, and plenty of options for dessert. Again, I recommend you book. There’s only 15-odd tables and they fill up fast.

Rigatoni, with eggplant and buffalo mozzarella

Osteria Riva | 1/96 Bronte Road, Bondi Junction, New South Wales
Phone: (02) 9369 4071
osteriariva.com.au

3. El Topo Mexican

With its colourful decor, wooden hut booths and cactuses aplenty (including the glassware), this Mexican restaurant on the rooftop of The Eastern Hotel is a bit of fun. You completely forget that you’re actually dining inside Westfield Bondi Junction (that is until you spot The Shaver Shop peaking through the doorway).

The menu is equally as fun, taking you straight to Mexico – the southern state of Oaxacan to be exact – with things like jalapeno poppers, charred corn and empanadas.

Then there’s eight different varietals of tacos, laden with everything from baja fish to soft shell crab. If you’re game you can play taco roulette, where you get six tacos for $30. Catch is: one’s laced with ‘da bomb hot sauce’.

Again, if you can’t be arsed deciding what to eat yourself, hand your first world problem over to the kitchen by choosing one of the chef’s menus (there’s a couple).

Now tequila. No Mexican feast would be complete without it and El Topo Mexican has everything your tequila-loving heart desires. The cocktails are unreal, says someone who drinks wine over cocktails 9.9 times out of 10. My personal fav: ‘I’m In Love With The Coco’ – an alcoholic concoction of elderflower, coconut, citrus, cucumber, bitters, lemongrass and Don Julio Reposado tequila. There’s also wine, sangria, plenty of Mexican beer and a Monday–Friday happy hour that goes for three hours (4–7pm). Having fun yet?

Zucchini flowers

El Topo Mexican | Level 3, The Eastern Hotel, 500 Oxford Street, Bondi Junciton, New South Wales
Phone: (02) 8383 5959
theeastern.com.au

There you have it, three of my favourite restaurants in Bondi Junction. Enjoy!