Brown Sugar

I came here for the Good Food Month Sugar Rush where this restaurant put together a platter of chocolate goodness. It was presented extremely well having little different elements to try. My favourite was the crème brûlée and the chocolate soil. Well done on this dessert platter! Will definitely come back to try dinner — the place is cosy, cute and had a great ambience

Delicious food but I found that the service while I was there was not that great. It seemed that our waiters shift had ended and we were left with nobody assigned to our table.

Great food spoiled by «interesting» service. Got offered some bread to start and ended up being charged $ 15 for it. When we questioned it the waitress looked at us as if we were sub-​human and walked away. Luckily the other waiter was a gent and dealt with it with civility and reason. However we walk away with an impression that this place is out to gouge every penny out of their customers which is u fortunate and hopefully not their ethos.
The food was pretty good albeit very expensive for what was on offer. The halloumi was a stand out starter and the rib eye was juicy and thick, if a little small for the price.
Overall out experience was tainted by «bread-​gate» but it’s probably worth a visit.

This place has a cute, very Bondi vibe. It’s byo which is great. And they put our bottle of white in an ice bucket which was a nice touch. I ordered the beetroot, feta and pumpkin salad with an egg as an extra. It was fresh and left me feeling satisfied. The lunch menu is fairly limited and I think I’ll return for dinner another time as the dinner menu looked more extensive and I think it would have a nice romantic vibe after the sun goes down.

Hands down, favourite spot in Bondi. While it is a popular breakfast venue, I believe dinner is what makes this place special. Everything from the service to the food here is excellent. The servers are welcoming, attentive and very familiar with the menu.
As most people know, they are famous for their fish pie. It is amazing — no, divine! The hint of truffle oil matches the creamy white fish and mash so perfectly. Portion size is big and will leave you stuffed. Other dishes I recommend for dinner are mussels with white wine, chilli and tomato (starter) and the pasture fed eye fillet (main). All of their desserts have been amazing as well. The dishes are prepared beautifully and you can tell that the chef has put a lot of thought into the ingredients and flavours.
Brown Sugar is perfect for any occasion whether it is a birthday, date night or casual outing. While it is worth the wait, it’s best to book ahead!

This place rocks! I’ve been here for brunch and dinner and have been impressed by their menu and the friendliness of their wait staff. A few tips, definitely make a reservation if you don’t want to have to wait – it’s a popular restaurant spot. Highly recommend the fish pie (divine! be warned it does need a prep time of ~30 minutes), doubled flash fried herbed potatoes and crab squid ink pasta. Will be back shortly to try more of their scrumptious menu! yum!

I am going to take a very decent amount of time writing this review. So I found a few good reviews of Brown Sugar on Unilocal and it happens to be my two best friends’ birthday.
From calling up to make dinner reservations to receiving a confirmation phone call, to dinner and dessert, everything was superb.
We started off with two entrees, the scallops and the halloumi salad. Oh my GOSH! Both were incredible! We quickly devoured them and totally wanted more! The waiter was extremely helpful with the menu and the wine list and was very attentive to our requests. Lots of eye contact was made which was considered seamless service to me… and not to mention very nice eye candy :)
Our mains were the ink squid crab pasta, the blue eye and the special which were ribs taken off the bones (melted in our mouth!). All three mains were amazing! We all shared our mains and I have to say, all the dishes were presented so well and tasted absolutely divine! We also had the horse radish side salad with our mains which went together really well.
We had no room for dessert but ordered really yummy organic tea which were accompanied with some major awesome brownies with two massive thumbs up! We stayed there chatting and laughing for the whole night and as it was a Sunday night and it was getting late, the waiter subtlety handed us the bill to gently let us know they were closing up. Oh no! Our night at Brown Sugar was ending! But our first experience at Brown Sugar will remain with us :)
Overall, we appreciated the whole experience and will definitely return. Thank you Brown Sugar for your amazing service, absolutely incredible food and awesome ambience.
We hope you continue to thrive!

Absolutely lovely place to go for dinner. Food and service are outstanding. Recommend the eye fillet for main and the chocolate fondant for desert (heaven)
Great for dates or small group, but probably not a large group as it is a small intimate restaurant.
I will definately be back.

Most of the reviews here are about brunch but this place operates as a fine dining restaurant at night. They’ve stopped offering the all day brunch for the evening session.
The food and ambience were fantastic. The chef loves to surprise his customers with very interesting combination of ingredients. I noticed that they have a few dishes with nuts in it. It added texture and a moorish aftertaste. The dishes were well balanced in taste and presented immaculately on the plate. The serving sizes were also more generous than we expected.
I’m raving about the service from the staff members. They’re very knowledgable and attentive to our needs. We were too full for dessert, and yet the waiter serving us got us some free mini brownies. They definitely deserve some brownie points for that.

My first breakfast in Bondi, really nice atmosphere and nice people. Food was great! We had the Moroccan Eggs and Egg Benedict. Both dishes were amazing. Definitely will come back for more! The coffee was also great.

A lovely, friendly little place, Brown Sugar is perfect for brunch. The food and drinks were really good, and the service was excellent. We especially liked the hashbrowns, apple juice and bloody mary.

Yummy food, great brunch, good staff. I drive from Balmain to Bondi to eat here. It’s that good. Come hungry, Get in early or wait — it’s worth the wait.

I’m from Portland. Not only is this far off land known for its abundance of delicious, organic (notably brunch) cuisine, but it’s also gained notoriety for having more strip clubs per capita than any other US city… so you can understand why, on more than one account, I’ve shied away from queuing up at Brown Sugar — Bondi’s famed strip, er, brunch hot spot.
Last weekend I caved. I queued. And I devoured the most amazing tofu scramble I believe exists on this earth. I then drooled over the Moroccan eggs and buttermilk pancakes with banana and bacon that my dining partners ordered. Turns out all those people queuing up knew what they were doing this whole time. And to my surprise, it had nothing to do with the promise of people taking their clothes off.

We absolutely loved our brunch at Brown Sugar. The ambience is great — very airy and open — and I love the jar decorations. I tried the dill salmon eggs with ricotta and mushrooms. It was absolutely excellent. I definitely recommend. The bite of asparagus & parmesan eggs that I tried were also great. The truffle oil taste was perfect. Amazing brunch!
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Had dinner in a party of 3 couples. We shared entrées and deserts and each had a different main. We all agreed that every dish was excellent, almost a 5 (the holy grail). Although it has a good wine list you can BYO with a corkage charge. For vegetarians the seafood is excellent too. Only negative was the room noise & some overcrowding (we were warned on booking). Prices are not cheap but on par for this quality.

Really great place for brunch. I had a berry milkshake, the pancakes, and a side of hashbrowns. I don’t really remember about the milkshake, but the food was exceptional.
The pancakes were an ample stack and came with yogurt and a fig compote. To my delighted surprise in between the stack was a pile of fresh fruit. It was incredibly enjoyable and you didn’t get the unhealthy feel you sometimes get afterwards when they’re doused in syrup instead.
Only drawback is there wasn’t a ton of stuff on the menu besides the pancakes I was really excited about (it doesn’t help I don’t like poached eggs nor eat red meat). If I went again I would probably resign to ordering the pancakes again.

Went here with two dear friends and colleagues, in what is an annual Christmas ritual in which we meet up to brag and bitch about our workplaces over the preceding year. My research had told me this place was good and that proved correct on the night. A buzzy, happy kind of funk in the air, busy but cheerful waiters and of course, outstanding food and wine. My scallops were cooked perfectly, with not a touch of boot and in fact a moorish taste that is so often missing from these little beasts. Ditto my barramundi, which matched a deliciously crunchy skin with the most tender flesh. I finished up with Frangelico affogato. It was tres cute how the coffee came with little brownie squares.
A wholly satisfying meal, in every sense…

One word: Amazing.
I had heard good things about Brown Sugar but had never had the chance to visit until now. The whole experience left me wanting… wanting more!!!
Ambience:
Tucked away in the back streets of Bondi (Curlewis st), this restaurant is quaint, warm and inviting. Colourful candles light the tables, a big black board menu double acts as the wall. Most of the tables are inside but there is the option to sit alfresco on the street.
It is far enough away from the main strip of Bondi to avoid all the noise and hoopla Bondi can be known for on a Saturday night, but close enough to feel the ocean breeze and smelt the salt in the air.
To Eat:
The website states «Our seasonal menu is composed of the finest, locally sourced, ethically harvested produce that we can get our hands on» and it did not disappoint.
You can order a la carte or from their specials.
Here’s what we ordered:
Entrée:
Seared Yellow Fin with a mustard and soy vinaigrette, mesculin leaf and avocado salad.
Gruyère soufflé and shaved green asparagus salad with the option of proscuitto (hell yeah!). ($ 16)
Not satisfied with one each my companion and I went halves and I am so glad we did! Both were outstanding. The light asian flavours of the tuna and the incredible fluffy goodness of the soufflé left us smacking our chops and super excited about the next course!
Mains:
Squid ink rag pasta with crab, semi dried tomatoes, chilli and saffron ($ 32)
Rich but not heavy, succulent crab meat, perfectly cooked pasta and just the right amount of chilli so it flirted with your taste buds.
Roast lamb rump with swiss browns, shitake, enoki and salsa verde. ($ 32)
Cooked medium rare (the way it should be cooked!), the Lamb was so tender and bursting with flavour.
If you’re a mushroom fiend like me, you’ll be in 7^th heaven with the orgy of fungus this dish delivers. The different flavours of the mushroom complement the lamb and it is one of those dishes you wish never ended.
We ordered a small side of spinach, roast beetroot, goats cheese and walnut salad — plenty enough for two. ($ 9)
Dessert (I’ll diet tomorrow):
Cinnamon pannacotta, amaretti, rhubarb and apple sorbet ($ 14)
The best way to describe this is like a summer sun shower. Light, refreshing, smells like summer, tastes like summer and leaves you beaming. The pannacotta was light and velvety, not heavy and «gluggy» like some pannacotta’s I’ve had before. The apple sorbet so was fresh and crisp and the rhubarb offset the sweetness perfectly. There was a sprinkling of roasted peanuts on top which offset the smoothness of the pannacotta.
Neither of us spoke a word whilst we ate it.
Hazelnut chocolate fondant with expresso — maple ice cream ($ 16)
Like, wow. Completely different to the pannacotta, the fondant was like a warm bed with silk sheets. Slide right in and lose yourself! Break open the fondant and the river of chocolate oozes out and mixes with the maple ice cream to create the sweet tooth’s interpretation of heaven on a plate. I LOVE the crispy outer mixing with the running inside — like a perfectly soft boiled egg only better, coz it’s chocolate! This dessert knocked my stilettos off.
To Drink:
It is licensed, boasting a lovely list from boutique Australian and New Zealand vineyards. If you prefer your own, you can and BYO with a corkage charge of $ 12 per bottle. We brought a bottle of Turkey Flat Rose with us, inspired by the heat of a Sydney summer’s day.
Total: $ 145 (two people: three courses each, one side to share and corkage for one bottle of wine).
The Service:
Couldn’t fault it. Staff were friendly, efficient, attentive, in tune (quite a gift) and very knowledgeable, about each of the menu items and how they were prepared. One thing I am very sensitive to is staff arrogance and I’ve seen a lot of it in Bondi — not here though. Everyone was lovely and sans attitude.
Overall:
Love, love love. It is great for both a casual outing or a special occasion. You come away knowing that you have enjoyed quality produce prepared beautifully by a chef who has clearly put a lot of thought into the flavour combinations and takes great pride in what is presented to diners. For a total of $ 145 we felt we had enjoyed exceptional value for money.
Thank you for a lovely night, I will definitely be back to get me some more of that
Brown Sugar.
Tips:
— Book if you can, it was very popular on a saturday night and many «walk ups» were turned away
— Order something you wouldn’t normally have, guaranteed it won’t disappoint.
— Lots of dishes had nuts so if you have a nut allergy phone ahead and speak to the chef about your options
— Catch a cab (you’ll want to have a drink)

With a recent girls soirree to the east side we chose Brown Sugar for dinner. Our dinner booking was for 9:30pm and all 6 of us still managed being late. We were given a big stainless steel table outside and enjoyed watching all the people walking by and into the restaurant. We ordered and enjoyed our BYO wine. Service was a bit slow but it was very very busy and we were grateful just to get a table.
Most of us ordered the signature Fish Pie with leek and truffle oil. It was amazing and lives up to its praise. It came with a serving of creamy mash. A couple of us tried and shared the pork belly with carrot purée and black lentils. This dish too was beautiffulllll!
Brown Sugar needs to be experienced for yourself for the food and atmosphere.

There is a reason this place is super popular. It has the 2 basic ingredients for success in an eatery… great food and great service.
I believe it is a popular bistro at night, but I experienced it as a Sunday brunch venue. It happened to be an extremely wet Sunday and although we had booked a table it was so busy that we had to wait for a good half an hour, fortunately under cover. An outside table eventually did become available and despite the elements we grabbed it as we were all starving. To their credit, the waitresses were extremely helpful in ensuring that we were served quickly and were warm enough. This great service continued throughout the meal. Unfortunately, we missed the breakfast /​brunch cut-​off which occurred at 12pm, which we found slightly unfair as we had booked the table for 11.30 and had been waiting since then.
Not too much of a worry though as the brunch menu was diverse and we all found something to tuck into. I had the leek and herb omelette which was excellent. There were certainly no complaints from anyone at my table of 6. It is clear that only top quality ingredients are used here.
It’s a top quality meal and the ambience is that of a thriving, successful and well managed place. It is also in a great location, set back from the main strip in Bondi.