ROCK ON AT BONDITONY’S BURGER JOINT

By Dining Dave Instagram @diningdave on February 2, 2017 in Food

Whoa! What an experience! Can a burger joint actually be a cool place to spend a Friday night? It sure can, if you leave it up to Bondi Tony (a.k.a. Tony Gosden).

When it opened on June 17, 2015 (Tony has a tattoo on his arm to remind him of the date) BondiTony’s was expected to be 70 per cent bar and 30 per cent food, but it didn’t take long to flip that the other way round. Now pumping out literally hundreds of burgers a week, BondiTony’s has hit like a storm.

This ain’t no run-of-the-mill burger spot, and the reason for that is it’s an extension of Tony’s persona, which is intense. Previously a music promoter and manager for local bands, Tony has formed BondiTony’s as a shout out to the rock’n’roll lifestyle. With platinum records on the walls, and graffiti, local art, books and various collectibles throughout, it’s meant to feel like hanging out in Tony’s living room. There’s good music, too, of course. Inside there are only high-top tables for you to woof your burger down on. Outside is probably the better spot to be due to its prime location for people watching (or being watched).

Taking up the whole southeast corner of Glenayr Avenue and Roscoe Street, the throngs of punters inside and out make BondiTony’s easy to find.

My four companions and I arrived on a Friday night and were greeted by Alexi, one of Tony’s attentive and cheery servers, who sat us at the prime location on the corner.

BondiTony’s keeps to a compact menu; there are only five burgers to choose from, most of which are named after local bands that Tony promoted and managed in his previous career. To warm up, Tony started us off with two portions of his sticky chicken wings, honey mustard and BBQ mustard, along with an order of onion rings. Everything is prepared in-house with fresh ingredients and it shows.

The burgers are the stars though, all of which are made with either free-range or grass-fed protein, and freshly baked soft, chewy buns. We went for three Classic Cogs (straight up beef cheeseburgers with BBQ chutney and tomato relish), a Trippin Zeahorse (beef cheeseburger with free range bacon, tomato relish and seeded mustard aioli) and a Just a Jezabel (crumbed free-range chicken breast burger marinated in honey soy ginger, with coleslaw and guacamole). All burgers come with fries as standard, but we twice upgraded to the sweet potato variety, which gave us the best of both worlds. The burgers are simply awesome, and quite big, so be hungry when you head in. The drinks flow freely at Bonditony’s, so plan to be there for a while and expect to book an Uber afterwards.

Due to enthusiastic demand, Tony opened BondiTony’s Other Burger Joint in December a bit further down Glenayr Avenue at the Seven Ways, which now handles all the takeaway and delivery orders.

Based on my first experience, I expect Bonditony’s Burger Joint to be rockin’ Bondi for a good while to come.

Bondi Tony’s Burger Joint
Address: 1/144-148 Glenayr Ave, Bondi Beach
Phone: 0410 893 003
Instagram: @bonditonysburgerjoint
Website: www.bonditonysburgerjoint.com
Open: 7 days, Midday till late
Price: $20pp
Cards Accepted: All major
Licensed: Yes