Big and meaty Aussie comfort food at Bondi & Bourke, sad about the clueless staff

COCONUTS CRITIC’S TABLE — Bondi & Bourke is without a doubt the most exclusive, high-end Australian restaurant in Metro Manila. Given that its competition is the Outback Steakhouse chain, that’s not saying much. The fact that Outback’s waitstaff outperforms Bondi & Bourke’s in terms of menu knowledge says even less. But we’ll get to that in a bit.

Bondi & Bourke’s problems start with its website, which is actually a photo of a functioning website, meaning that when you click the links, you’re like a toddler raised around an iPad that doesn’t understand why the TV doesn’t respond when he touches the screen. While a “Coming Soon” site is fine, but (a) you should actually state this on the temporary home page, and (b) the site should actually come soon. They’ve been open for half a year. That’s bad service before you even set foot in the door.

Situated on a quiet part of Salcedo Street, Bondi & Bourke’s location was formerly the site of three unsuccessful F&B ventures, however Bondi & Bourke seem to be breaking that streak, as the “in” crowd is enthusiastically patronizing it (Ruffa Gutierrez celebrated her birthday there). The night we went, it was sparsely populated, with just two other parties dining when we arrived at 7pm. It got a bit busier as the evening went on.

Bondi & Bourke is best described as high-end casual. There’s no dress code, but you might feel out of place in tsinelas. The dining area is a bright, spacious room, and the vibe is casual, yet elegant, much like the vibe of a luxury hotel lobby lounge such as the Manila Pen or the Shangri-La.

Chef Wade Watson’s take on Aussie comfort food is perfect for the meat-centric Filipino appetite: meat pies, burgers, steaks and chicken parmas (with multiple variations on each) dominate the menu. I didn’t know there were variations on chicken parma before I came to Bondi & Bourke, but they have set me straight on that point: Aussies do chicken parma a variety of ways.

When our server brought our menus, I inquired about their specials. “What do you mean specials?” she shot back. “All of our dishes are special.” Alrighty then, let’s get to it.  

We started with cocktails. I found the Old Fashioned a bit sweet and syrupy. The Mojito was passable. They don’t seem to be concentrating much on mixology, the way The Belle & Dragon does, which is fine; every place has its strengths.

The waitress returned and set two stacked plates in front of me. She did not give one to my date. Maybe she thought I was eating for two. We started with the B&B antipasto (PHP1,290), a cornucopia on a bread board featuring…and that’s where I had the problem that persisted throughout the evening.  With each course, the dishes were presented without description by the server, and that wasn’t exactly an oversight: it seemed like they themselves had no idea.

I asked a passing server if he could identify the various cold cuts and cheeses of our antipasti. He grimaced as if he’d sharted, held up a finger, and dashed away, returning moments later with a waitress, who pointed to four distinctly different cold cuts and (no kidding) said “That’s salami, that’s salami, that’s salami, and that’s salami.” Ignoring for the moment that one of the four salamis she identified was not in fact salami, I asked her how they were different. 

She then must have sharted as well, as she also grimaced and disappeared. At least she got the focaccia right: it was the only bread served. The manager came out next, and was very knowledgeable: he didn’t give a shart. He apologized and said it was a new menu item and the staff were not yet up to speed. Unfortunately they were not up to speed with the old menu items either, which I’ll touch on later.

For the record, the B&B Antipasto was served with the most delicious focaccia bread, which came out warm and was clearly baked on the premises. Cheeses included emmenthal and brie, and meats included salami finoccio, salami calabrese, salami milano, mortadella, and turkey ham. There were also greek olives, sun dried tomatoes, asparagus, and apple compote. The menu says it is for two, but at Bondi & Bourke, I’ve learned that unless you’re skipping lunch, each entrée feeds twice as many people as you think. Four could enjoy that antipasto board as a light appetizer.

One thing the waitstaff was excellent at was watching the tables and judging when to serve the next course. This requires excellent coordination between the front-of-house and the kitchen, unless the kitchen just heat lamps everything until the diner is ready, and Bondi & Bourke is certainly not that kind of establishment. We took our time with the appetizer, and our next course was timed perfectly.

I asked the waitress about the steak and bacon pie (PHP495). They use US beef, which I found ironic in an Aussie restaurant, but hey, that’s really a small detail, as they are serving an experience. Wait, no, the manager appeared again to correct her, informing me that they go back and forth between US and Australian beef depending on the market prices. The pie was salty, and I wouldn’t call the meat (which tasted fine) “steak,” as it was braised (not grilled or broiled) which is another word for pot roasting. Nobody serving a pot roast says they are serving steak.

I found the beef chunks to be more like steak’s rugged yet less attractive cousin (stew meat) as well, which is not inappropriate in a pie, but the work “steak” conjures up an image not represented in the dish. However, if the chef is using actual steak cuts, this could be why: beautiful, well-marbled steak cuts quickly turn tough and chewy in a pie or stew because their fat melts away into the sauce. Kind of like what happened to that goregeous crush you had in college who picked up a shabu habit: Didn’t look so good at the reunion. It was served with an unpretentious side of french fries, no truffle oil in sight (thank god).

We had the classic chicken parma (PHP895) as well, which must be a real moneymaker, as Bondi & Bourke has raised their price on it by PHP150 since they opened six months ago. The word “big” does not do it justice; I’m surprised it wasn’t brought out on a forklift. It contained a layer of ham hidden between the chicken cutlets and the mozzarella cheese that added a nice complimentary flavor.

The menu described it as prepared with “Savino sauce,” which I hadn’t heard of and was curious about since I have some familiarity with Italian cuisine. Maybe it was an Aussie thing? It tasted like marinara. I asked the waitress, who (true to form) didn’t know the difference, but the manager was now perpetually nearby, watching the servers at my table like a lifeguard watching weak swimmers in the deep end. “Sir,” he offered, “one of the owners’ names is Savino, and he wanted the sauce named after him. That’s the only difference. ” Wow, vanity sauce. Hey, it’s his restaurant, so okay, cool. 

The Savino sauce was a good fresh tomato sauce quite reminiscent of marinara. Stop laughing. This dish could easily be split by two diners, and at that price point, its worth it to do so. It was delicious and heavy, like good comfort food should be. They should offer a half order for smaller appetites.

While waiting for dessert I noticed I was hearing the song I heard when I came in. I looked at my watch: the front-of-house music was on a 60-minute loop, something else you’d expect more from Outback than a place like this. We ordered the orange cheesecake (PHP365). Oops. The crust was so hard it should have been served with a chainsaw. And it is the first time I’ve seen cheesecake that was equal amounts crust and topping. After one bite of the crust I just scraped the topping out of the crust bowl and called it good.

Bondi & Bourke has come up with a popular concept which is playing well with the one percenters. Its dishes are generally tasty (and ginormous) but I didn’t experience that WOW moment with any of them (except for their sheer sizes). Let’s also hope they can get their waitstaff up to speed, because at these prices, we’re expecting excellence in every aspect of our experience.

G/F Cattleya Condominium, 235 Salcedo St, Legaspi Village, Makati City; +63 2 8331812, Facebook. Mon-Sat 11am-10pm.



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