You’re morally obliged to swim in the ocean before lunch at Amalfi. It’s implied in the name, and insisted upon through the menu – Italian-inspired plates that taste best after an hour or so spent between the sand and the sea. The bright, light-flooded restaurant, just steps from Bondi Beach, is designed to be enjoyed in holiday mode – arrive with salty hair and leave with a full belly and a Limoncello buzz.
Occupying a glass-fronted space a three-minute walk from the ocean, the spacious new restaurant exists in a bubble of stillness – wide windows opening up onto a quiet residential street. White chairs and benches are scattered with yellow cushions – a colour theme that’s carried throughout by a striped accent wall above the well-stocked bar, and paper straws popping out of goblets of Limoncello spritz. Slim Aarons photographs and shots of the Amalfi Coast line the walls, and terrazzo-style tables are illuminated by big hanging lights.
Like the aesthetic, the menu here is an ode to the Italian coastline: fresh, joyously salty antipasti (we’d recommend the oysters and the anchovy bruschetta) and bowls of rich, garlic-loaded pasta. Come here with the whole family, and you’ll find something for everyone – with crowd-pleasers like calamari fritti and butterflied king prawns, a super-affordable "bambini" menu and a good range of gluten-free and vego options. It’s a menu that doesn’t take itself too seriously, with a major focus on maximum flavour – tuna tartare arrives doused in pesto-oil with a halo of stracciatella, and the prawn linguine is buttery and perfect, with plump prawns undercut with a hint of chilli and pops of cherry tomato.
The drinks list is Italian-leaning, with three types of Peroni and a strong selection of Italian wines complemented by some excellent Aussie options. But since you’re on holiday (and everyone is, when they set foot inside Amalfi), it’s worth ordering a cocktail – the punchy Aperol Tommy’s is the signature drink, but it’s hard to beat a Spritz on a sunny afternoon.
Get here before 6pm on a Friday for $5 Peronis and $12 Aperol Spritzes, or swing by on a Thursday evening for a bowl of excellent pasta and a glass of wine for $35.
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