|
Bondi Beach! Cosmopolitan, chic, it bustles with backpackers, beefcake and bacchanalian excess. Mind you, on a chilly, wet Wednesday night, we may as well be in a sleepy English seaside town. The streets are empty. The locals are holed up with their mugs of cocoa and Spicks and Specks. The lackadaisical waves can’t even be arsed to break, and instead fold themselves gently ashore like cotton sheets.
Just as well there’s plenty of action happening in Tauheed Khan’s kitchen, then. Khan is the chef at Campbell Avenue restaurant Sobo, short for South Bondi. And yes, the name sounds a bit wanky, but Sobo is actually quite a homely, unpretentious place. The colour scheme may be art-gallery white, but a row of Edisonian lightbulb lamps warms the room up, as do the smiles – and assured attention – of the front-of-house crew.
Perhaps in homage to Bondi’s melting pot of international visitors, diversity thrives on Khan’s menu. He brings touches of Italian, French, Spanish, Vietnamese and Japanese to what he does, as well as his own native Fijian Indian. Despite the many influences, his dishes have a pleasing simplicity, with recipes designed to bring out the best in the best seasonal ingredients.
Our tongues are well teased with a complimentary lovin’ spoonful of salmon tartare (the salmon is cured in sugar, salt and vodka). Crusty soy and linseed sourdough slathered with a smooth whipped ricotta spread ($4) also gets the juices flowing.
Sobo’s brief entrée menu is supplemented by a range of tapas-sized ‘small plates’ – well-priced morsels ranging from bhaji to papaya salad. We opt for two pastas. A large prawn tortellino ($13) has a bisected king prawn arranged on top, with leek velouté and pinches of salmon roe. It’s a great flavour hit. Potato and sage gnocchi ($12) have been cooked slowly then browned, so they’re seared on the outside but feather-light within. Sautéed oyster, shiitake and field mushrooms add their meaty flavours to the moreish gnocchi, as does a dash of truffle butter. I could have eaten this one twice over.
But it’s just as well I didn’t because my Angus-certified sirloin ($32) – medium cooked to melt off the marbling – almost gets the better of me. Cream potato and black olive jus add flavour, while deep-fried onion rings and baby carrots provide comic relief.
Khan’s Fijian-Indian barramundi curry ($30) is his signature main; his mum taught him the recipe. Pan-fried fish is finished off in a gentle curry of turmeric, coriander and tamarind. Spicy tamarind chutney makes the barra really zing, and it’s served with cumin basmati rice and a crunchy pappadum. My date polished off most of this one, so I only got a couple of mouthfuls, but I know what I’ll be ordering next time.
Sobo has an extensive cheese list, but we’re drawn to dessert’s special: a ‘raviolo’ stuffed with pistachio nuts and ricotta ($12). It’s made of crostoli biscuit dough, deep fried and doused in icing sugar. Smidges of honeycomb cling to the plate. Lip-smackingly gorgeous.
Don’t be disquieted by Khan’s global village approach. He just happens to be fluent in several culinary languages. And it’s a small world, after all.
SOBO
70a-b Campbell Parade, Bondi Beach
Tel: 9300 8898
sobo.com.au
Open:
Wed-Fri 6.30-10pm
Sat-Sun 9am-11pm
 |
Lifestyle 
Subscribe to this comment's feed