V Rating: VVV
Where: 195 Bondi Road, Bondi Beach.
When: Breakfast and lunch.
Tel: (02)93869595.
Price: Breakfast $4 - $12.50. Mains: $9 - $18.

On Saturday morning Andy and I continued our search for the perfect Bondi breakfast spot. Instead of hitting the beachfront, we wandered along the Bondi Road until we came to Altar Lounge.

Bondi is justly famous for its beautiful beach and abundant backpackers, but there’s a lot more to the suburb. Bondi Road exemplifies this depth, offering a completely different experience to the glamourous Hall Street or holiday atmosphere of Campbell Parade.

Most of the shops on Bondi Road are small, independently owned specialty stores. I often think ‘This is what shopping was like before supermarkets.’ You actually know the shopkeepers, and you buy your groceries from a number of little places that stock a great range of products and have a good knowledge of the goods that they sell. Bondi’s strong Jewish ties are also evident in the amazing bakeries and delicatessans that sell fresh bagels and quark.

Altar Lounge is about half-way up Bondi Road. It’s a small cafe with aquamarine walls and homey, mismatched furniture. Facing onto the rundown street it’s an uphill battle to create any ambiance, but the owners pull it off.
Altar Lounge is interesting because it’s a gluten-free restaurant run by a family of coeliacs. It’s a great example of a place that is true to its ethos without sacrificing taste or its accessibility.

It’s also a good choice for vegetarians. Nine out of ten breakfast options were vegetarian, as were five of the eleven lunch dishes. It’s less vegan friendly because most of the veggie dishes use dairy products.

I’ve been hanging out to try scrambled tofu (it just seems like a scrambling friendly food) so jumped at the scrambled tofu and vegetable salad. It came out as a more pedestrian stir-fry with blocks of tofu and vegetables. The serving size was generous and it was great that it came with brown rice. However, there was a bit too much soy sauce for my liking and I ended up feeling slightly dehydrated by the end of the meal.

Perhaps underestimating the size of the dishes, Andy ordered the cheese and tinned asparagus toastie (there was a Proustian moment where fell quiet and reminisced about eating cheese and asparagus toasties as a boy in Queensland) and the poached egg. I think he was pretty happy with the result.

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