Icebergs Dining Room and Bar, Bondi

Icebergs Dining Room and Bar is the iconic restaurant perched on top of the cliffs above the famous Bondi Icebergs swimming pool and it has been on my list to visit for a while. The right occasion came up recently and even though it was in winter, we decided to head over to try it out. As I had expected, the upscale restaurant is elegantly decked out but still has a relaxed vibe as befits its beachside location. The mood lighting makes it an ideal spot for a date, combined with the panoramic views of the ocean and beach from the restaurant which are beautiful even at night, but I imagine it would be an even more stunning backdrop for a meal in summer.

Italian is sprinkled liberally throughout the menu and it’s not too hard to narrow the choices down to a mix of pastas and a braised meat dish.  When the dishes do come out, they are all classically presented and live up to their promise upon first bite. I enjoyed the house made Seaweed Tagliatelle with crab meat, tomato and basil the most, which had delicious pieces of shredded crab meat tossed throughout. The pasta was fresh and although it was green, the seaweed flavour wasn’t too discernible.  The Spaghetti Vongole was also decent with plenty of small clams to nibble on, but flavourwise it was not as interesting as the Tagliatelle.

Tagliatelle Alle Alghe, $24

Spaghetti Vongole, $24

The last pasta dish we had was the Polenta Reginette (pasta with wavy sides) with Suckling Pig Ragu. The meat sauce was hearty and went well with the wavy ribbons of pasta – perfect for winter.

Reginette Al Ragu di Maialino, $24

For a more substantial and filling main, we also ordered Braised Beef Cheeks which came with soft polenta and pecorino tartufo. The beef cheeks had been cooked well, falling apart on our forks as we dug into each portion. It was a comforting dish, with the tenderness of the beef complemented by the creamy polenta. On the recommendation of a friend who has dined here before, we also ordered some sides – the Mash Potato which was incredibly smooth and creamy and the Green Beans braised with pancetta and eschallot which were a welcome respite from all the meat and seafood we had devoured, although it could have done with more pancetta.

Guancia di Manzo (Braised beef cheeks), $38

Pure di Patate (Mash Potato), $10
Fagiolini (Green beans), $12

All in all, Icebergs Dining Room and Bar lives up to its status as one of the most spectacular places to dine in Sydney, in terms of the view and the high calibre of the food. While some of the meat dishes are quite pricey, the pasta dishes are actually decent value for the flavour and portion sizes and I would definitely come back for the divine Tagliatelle alone.

Icebergs Dining Room and Bar
Notts Ave Bondi, NSW 2026
Ph: (02) 9365 9000


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