Speedo's Cafe, located on Ramsgate Avenue in Bondi has the perfect location for those looking to eat with a view of iconic Bondi Beach. The very popular cafe has a menu covering healthier options, richer options as well as dishes in between. The triple pancake stack is a size that has to be seen to be believed!
Picture this: a cafe on Bondi Beach with a bird's eye view of sun worshippers with patrons spilling out onto the street. The cafe inside is jammed and people in bikinis, towels and board shorts wait for their coffee, frappes and juices. In the corner are two people, dressed in black, shivering slightly in the cold. Yup that was us. Two complete fish out of water.
I'm sort of joking. I grew up spending a lot of time in Bondi Beach but Belinda and I do look a bit out of place here in our black dresses. Even during this early Spring everyone is in full summer mode. Conversation around us revolves around smoothies, quinoa, goat's cheese salads and injuries sustained during Pilates. It's no coincidence because at Speedo's Cafe (a dead giveaway for the expected attire), the menu is made up of three sections: Mean (or richer options), Lean (lighter options) and In-between for a bit of both.
And just in case you are stuck for Instagram inspiration the "Lean" or healthy menu also has hashtags accompanying each item description. I'm not entirely sure why the healthy options are the only ones to have hashtags (perhaps it's related to the fitspo peeps on instagram and their use of hashtags like #yolo #getinmybelly). Some of the hashtags are practical like #glutenfree and #dairyfree). The cafe also has an app where you can order food. Service is very friendly and we take a few suggestions on what to order.
Well if you're going to order one of the "healthy" shakes it may as well be one like this that doesn't taste overly healthy. It is made with almond milk, peanut butter, maca powder, banana, dates and cinammon. It's sweet but not excessively so and with a nice amount of peanut butter. The mango madness is is said to be a blend of mango and banana but really I can only taste mango here. It tastes more like a mango cordial slushee.
The soft shell crab kebab startles Belinda for a moment. She refuses to eat the first piece that she has cut. "I'm having a moment!" she says, "I thought that it was a huntsman! (spider)" she says shuddering. The fried soft shell crab comes in a soft, chargrilled flatbread with harissa mayonnaise, candied onion and rocket. It's satisfying and we both like the warm bread. But yes it did kind of look like a spider :)
This is from the "lean" menu and this plate has slow cooked pulled lamb, freekah, quinoa, smoked almonds, green peas, pomegranate, labne and mint. Somewhat strangely the yogurt is on the plate and it would have been much better in the bowl. The raw carrot strips are mostly left behind - pickled carrot would have been a really nice idea to balance the richness of the lamb. It's also quite a small serve for the price too.
On the other end of the size scale, I don't know how anyone could finish a stack of pancakes this big. Perhaps it is designed for surfers. It's a triple stack of pancakes with berry, banana, ricotta, chopped pistachios and maple syrup and we added on a scoop of chocolate ice cream. Neither of us really order pancakes a lot but we both really enjoy this, especially when you get a bit of banana, pancake, maple syrup, ricotta and ice cream. But we couldn't even make a dent into this!
I had almost forgotten two things that I had heard about were popular here. Cocowhip is a soft serve made out of coconut. There are three toppings here and we go for the salted caramel. Unfortunately we can't really detect much flavour or sweetness and after a few spoonfuls we leave this behind. A shame as it is expensive.
It seems a given that we would prefer a Cronut, after all this is more our scene with a Nutella spread on top and Oreo crumb. They're better really fresh but this doesn't stop us from demolishing much of it. I guess it isn't quite summer time for us yet!
So tell me Dear Reader, are you in bikinis or swimmers yet? Which of the three menus would appeal out of lean, mean or in between?
This meal was independently paid for.
Speedo's Cafe
126 Ramsgate Avenue, Bondi Beach, Sydney, NSW
Tel: +61 (02) 9365 3622
Open 6am-6pm 7 days a week
http://www.speedoscafe.com.au/
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