RAVESI'S - BONDI BEACH, SYDNEY

Ravesi's
118 Campbell Parade
Bondi Beach, Sydney

What strikes you initially about Ravesi's is the magnificent location.

Situated right in front of popular Bondi beach, it has great views of one end to the other and then looking straight out to sea.

Ravesi's is located upstairs and the atmosphere is casual, relaxed, modern and spacious. The kitchen is open and even the chefs have a wonderful ocean view.

The seating is approximately for 60. There is also accommodation here as well. As well as being a restaurant, it is a wine bar and the pub is downstairs.

The menu has a wide variety, including shared dishes and pizzas.

Mlady started the evening with a Coco Pina Colada - oakheart spiced rum with alize coconut liqueur, a hint of cinnamon syrup and fresh pineapple juice, shaken, strained and topped with coconut flakes. This arrived in a cute glass and resembled a delicious coffee drink. Mlady thoroughly enjoyed this. This was a very tasty slant on the traditional Pina Colada.

Sir chose The Passionfruit Mejito - fresh limes muddled with sugar, mint, passionfruit liqueur and Bacardi carta blanca with soda and served over ice. Sir loves Mejito and the passionfruit certainly made this a nice tropical treat. It tasted good and there was plenty of it.





















The Salmon Sashimi had ginger, wakame, seaweed, quinoa and teriyaki dressing. This was such a great fresh tasting dish. The presentation was a work of art - vibrant with great colours. Everything combined so well. The wonderful dressing enhanced it all. Being fans (especially Mlady) of ginger, this dish was a favourite.

Next we had (no surprises here) the crispy spice duck pancakes which is served with pancakes, rice noodles, shallots, cucumber, coriander and hoisin. Well, this was simply delish! The duck was baked in 5 spice and then wonderfully fried to give it that great crispy skin (yum). The hoisin sauce just topped off this magnificent dish. Sir loves duck and at any given opportunity will order it.

Making the duck pancakes is such a fun way to eat them. You put on the pancakes what you want and then drizzle or pour that wonderful hoisin sauce all over, then wrap up all that wonderful pancake creation and savour every bite!

Then we had the Steamed lime and chicken dumplings - chilli 5 spice glaze and shallots. There are a lot of variations of dumplings and these dumplings - with chicken really were very tasty. They were full of chicken and the dressing certainly complimented them. They arrived in a black bowl that enhanced their colour which made them very appetising.


Mlady had a Merlot - Echo Beach from Margaret River. This was a nice red - not heavy and went well with her meal. Sir ordered a Cabernet Sauvignon from Robert Oatley which he enjoyed.




















Next was the Thai Chicken and mixed greens salad - avocado, summer melon, crispy noodles, coconut curry dressing. Impressive presentation! Such vibrant colours! Another work of art. This dish ticked all the boxes. The flavours and textures were amazing. The combination of everything was delicious. Great use of melon and that coconut curry dressing - WOW!

Our final main was the grilled marinated Tasmanian salmon fillet - red peppers, sugar snaps, nectarine, marinated feta, Israeli cous cous and saffron tzatzkiki. Another absolute work of art! 

Such amazing flavours and textures. Again, making great use of seasonal fruit. Being a huge lover of fruit especially stone fruit (and of course a huge fish lover) this dish was incredibly colourful and the fruit combined extremely well with the Tasmanian Salmon which was so crisp and cooked to just how Mlady likes.

For dessert we had the platter of four desserts. We started with the sticky date pudding with brandy caramel sauce, mascarpone and vanilla bean ice cream.

Then it was coconut/lime panna cotta with poached tropical summer fruits and passion fruit daiquiri sorbet. Peach & raspberry crumble - blueberry grand marnier anglaise ice cream. White chocolate brulee - wild berry compote, dark chocolate ice cream. A truly "jaw dropping" experience. It was hard  to know where to start. The garnish for this spectacular creation was fresh fruit - yum. An absolute amazingly delicious dessert. Yet again - a work of art!

It really was hard to choose a favourite as all were so amazing. We would have to say though that the sticky date was one of our favourites. It was so soft and that sauce - OMG!

The food here is truly amazing. Great flavours, textures and a wonderful combination of seasonal fruits. A really great taste sensation!

Sir and Mlady dined as guests of Ravesi's. Big thanks to Chef Darren Elmes for chatting with us and to Sarah and Katie for looking after us so capably. Thanks also to Bec for arranging our visit.

Chef Darren Elmes (far right) and his team