Brave Cafe

great healthy spot in bondi

Delicious and very healthy! The gluten free bread was tasty, but quite dense as the slices were thick. The Hippy Breakfast was extremely fresh and didn’t leave you feeling too full afterwards.

Don’t get judgy on me, but I would consider myself in an open relationship with most meals and the restaurants I choose to enjoy them in. One Thai* place one day, another Thai place the next. (*insert cuisine). Lunch, dinner, whatever. But the one meal I’m generally in a committed relationship with is breakfast. There’s something methodical — almost trance-​like — that brings me, like an addict to King’s Cross, to one local café again and again and again. I’ll order the same thing, meal after meal. I’ll sit in the same spot. I’ll become even more comfortable when I recognise the staff and the patrons who must also share the same allegiance to my not-​so-​secret society. All bets are off for lunch, but brekkie is sacred and what can I say, I’m a loyal lover.
But this past weekend, my local was packed out. And I wasn’t just hungry, I was hangry. Finding a bunch of strangers passionately savouring your breakfast-​significant other, sitting in your seat, sipping what should be your coffee, well, it summons some vidid metaphorical relationship imagery that I’ll save for another time when you’re not searching on Unilocal for a place to eat.
Enter Brave Café. A fitting name for a restaurant tasked with filling in for my regular haunt. It started with the coffee. The very, very good coffee. Then came the food envy. I was having trouble deciphering whether it was my hanger or the truly beautiful food that made the eggs bene sing «it’s a small world» in chorus with the homemade muffins as they were whisked by me to other final destinations. By the time my breakfast arrived my arm looked like a swelling, curling piece of bacon and it was only because my meal looked like this:
that I didn’t tuck into it with a knife and fork beforehand.
The menu? Packed with options to make everyone happy. That toast? Gluten-​free. That brownie-​shaped thing? A gluten and daily-​free potato rösti (aka Swiss potato heaven). Avo instead of eggs? That made the whole thing entirely vegan (don’t ask, it’s a long story). And to end this long story, it turns out it was the truly beautiful food (not my hanger) that made the food sing. It sang all the way down. In fact, it might just sing again.
So, I guess what I’m saying to you breakfast is… it’s complicated.

I lived in Bondi for 5 months, and during that time, this was my go-​to spot for lunch. Theirs was the first BLAT I ever had — and, let me tell you, it changed my perception of sandwiches — lightly dressed greens, just a thin layer of garlic aioli — YUM! I also had a pumpkin quesadilla that rocked my world. They have some fantastic vegetarian fare. Baked goods also.
Love the just-​post-​beach ambiance. I could spend hours at this café — fast wifi too!

I have been to Brave twice now, once for a quick lunch snack and once for breakfast. I am a bacon fiend, and I must say, no one does it better than Brave. I’ve had the BLT and a bacon and eggs plate, and both times those crispy red strips were cooked to perfection.
The service is incredibly warm and inviting, and someone always asks you how your meal was. I’ve come to find that when restaurants do this, it is only because they know you’re going to say «yes.» Cocky, yes, but Brave knows you’re going to say yes.
I only wish they had some sort of student weekday breakfast special, because I would be in here all the time if I could afford it. The prices are certainly reasonable for this area of town, but a boy can certainly dream.
Oh yeah! And the coffee is phenomenal. I don’t know what else to say about it, it’s just good.

Brave café is a warm hearted local café built on the sound philosophy of organic healthy food, that just tastes better. Using seasonal and regional food from around Australia, Brave prides itself on a sustainable future of food.
I’ve been there numerous times for a quick snack, and a great coffee, the portions are nearly as generous as the staff are awesome. The brave staff also open the doors for events, parties and socials. The menu that comes out for dinner, and late afternoon snacks is humble and plays tribute to the gluten-​free gods, and flour less chocolate cake masters.
Don’t worry if you want to get the same thing done (get full) by employing the experience called herbed potato rosti or hash brown, you can even add this to your ‘farmer’s breakfast’ for a fullness sensation not to be forgotten.