The Bronzed Onion

The Bronzed Onion

14 Lawrence St
Harbord, Sydney 2096
Australia

p. +61 2 9905 0195
f. +61 2 9905 0195

OUR lunch date comes down to the toss of a coin. Dinner out or the Bledisloe Cup on TV?

Union wins, and we head into Freshwater to mingle with the lunchtime set.

The Bronzed Onion has a plum spot right in the middle of the village. It spills to the front onto the street and to the side into a small arcade. With some great, girly shops on either side and across the road, it’s a perfect venue for two extremely agreeable pursuits, lunching and shopping. Or shopping and lunching, if you prefer.

Straddling the line between daytime cafe and evening restaurant, the Bronzed Onion’s mission statement, or so its business card states, is both restaurant and family cafe. Nippers are warmly welcomed and can be fed and watered with an obligatory sugar fix for $12.

But don’t let that put you off. If you’re childless or child free, it’s still a grownup place to go. In fact, the Saturday lunchtime cafe society is a mixture of family groups and kiddyfree, 20-somethings enjoying coffees and platefuls of breakfasts.

Inside, owners Renee and Rodd Black have dared to be different. For once, that allpurpose, beachy blandness replicated up and down the peninsula gets the flick. God forbid, there’s vibrant colour on the walls, clutter, a funky bar as well as towering, twiggy topiaries.

Having lunch in a cafe it is often hard to see what a kitchen can really do. Renee, who’s also a chef, has gone down two routes. She’s stuck with a range of old faves including the allday breakfast, caesar and thai salads, burgers, sandwiches and wraps, balanced with balsamic rump steak and pan-fried salmon, fish and chips and pasta.

Her more interesting pilgrimage heads to Spain with that dining staple, tapas. Some dishes are regulars – popular quesadillas, a mixed tapas plate, croquettas (lemon, herb and parmesan risotto balls), gambas a la plancha (prawns) and pulpo espanol (octopus).

The spicy prawns in red sauce seems too good to pass by.

And at $18 it’s a generous and tasty serve to share tapas-style or eat alone. Six juicy prawns and plenty of spicy tomato sauce to soak up your garlic tosado.

The menu crosses the border to Italy with a light option of lemon linguine.

It’s a fresh and lighter contrast to the earthy chilli con carne. Slow-cooked for more than three hours and seasoned with chipotle and cumin, the blade of beef simply falls apart.

Source:
Hudec, Beverley. The Manly Daily, News Limited, 2010, p. 24.