The ocean views are an obvious reason to visit Bobbys, the new restaurant that's docked at the waterfront in South Cronulla. But locals are beelining for Bobbys for more than its blessed location. For starters, the new beachfront restaurant embodies the beach club spirit of Ibiza, emphasising fun Euro vacay vibes while also conjuring up its very own version of contemporary Cronulla cool.
Cronulla locals live their lives around the rhythm of the ocean, which is packed with people year-round. Take the Sunrise Yogis who congregate at the base of the nearby headland. Members of the Cronulla Gropers who swim in the ocean all through winter. And the surfers who jump in the riptide so as to be deposited at the peak of the wave known as The Point.
With Bobbys, owners Adam and Kylie Micola have gifted the community with a restaurant that matches the neighbourhood’s laid-back lifestyle and is worthy of its location. Chef Pablo Tordesillasis (ex-Totti’s, Otto) is on the same wavelength, with a strong focus on Mediterranean flavours and seafood.
The venue named after Adam’s dad, Bobby, is divided into two spaces – the restaurant and bar, and the beach club. The beach club is more informal and flexible: designed for coffee and a grab-and-go breakfast, or an Aperol Spritz and snack in the sun post-surf. The restaurant and bar space are more formal and an advertisement for sunny escapism, with the silvery light of the sea and sky animating the views.
The waves are gentle at South Cronulla, which makes it perfect for building sandcastles and boogie boarding. On this sunny Sunday, there is a young family who have dusted the sand off their feet and arrived at the beach club for gelatos. A couple who look like they’ve just stepped off a superyacht. And a few Shire influencers who are busy spruiking Bobbys charms to their followers on Instagram.
It’s like a playground for beautiful people; a meeting spot for locals to strut their stuff. Even the linen-clad waiters circling the tables here look like they might have had a surf off Shark Island before their shift. Having the boho members of local band Ruby Fields saunter in at dusk adds extra cachet to the see-and-be-seen crowd.
Bobbys sits in the space long occupied by Zimzala and offers a more relaxed mood than some of the seaside stalwarts such as Sealevel and Summer Salt. A quick squiz at the design concept created by Cushla McFadden of Tom Mark Henry outlines the vision for the venue as being ‘the hedonistic dream of a European summer holiday’. The Cronulla-born interior architect and her team have nailed it.
In fact, if Mykonos and Miami had a love child, it would look a lot like this 115-seat space, which has jolts of colour in the form of juicy tangerines and russet reds interspersed with blue and white hues. The restrained palette in the main dining room is also centred around the oceanfront location, combining crazy pavers with coloured blue tiles and bright and contemporary counterpoints.
It’s intimate and open and flooded with light. Given the focal point of the dining room is the ocean, it’s only fitting the menu leans towards seafood. For starters, try the prawn roll drenched in Sriracha mayo and served in a squishy bun with iceberg lettuce and potato crisps. Or the exceptional beer-battered fish and chips. There’s also the crisp fried squid punched up with an emulsification of chilli, garlic and parsley oil. And a few land-based items like Wagyu beef carpaccio or a hefty 1kg rib-eye with green peppercorn sauce.
The stracciatella dish gives the chef a chance to show off his baking skills with a pull-apart rectangle of focaccia most memorable when deployed to take obligatory scoops of the creamy concoction. The dish is composed of hazelnuts, sprigs of fried rosemary and garlic flowers and is both rustic and extravagant. There’s little need for innovation with the whole-baked snapper, which falls off the bone and is served in a moat of burnt butter, with lemon and caper berries lending the dish a citrusy zing. Order the cos and radish salad with goddess dressing to balance the richness of the burnt butter sauce.
While a gelato at the beach club is one inspired way for a meal to end, the absurdly creamy tiramisu is what all the waiters recommend. And with good reason. It’s dusted with lime zest and filled with layers of lemon that add to the sunshine-y brightness of the dining experience at Bobbys.
Outside, the beach umbrellas set the scene for a fun party atmosphere and a stylish setting for a Shire Standard (vodka, lychee, passionfruit, mint and lemon) and a few bar bites. Almost everybody at Bobbys seems to start and finish with a cocktail, the list of which is extensive. The well-thought-out wine list devised by Alex Cameron (Franca, Armorica) hinges around great wines that seem to anticipate shifts in the varietals people want to drink. Experiment with a glass of albarino, crisp garganega or mencia or the more funky Momento Mori ‘Fistful of Flowers’.
Bobbys is a family affair. Expect members of the Micola family to make cameos in the dining room, and for diners to hug and shake hands with Adam and Kylie as if they’ve arrived at a packed house party. The restaurant radiates the kind of confidence that comes from a couple who know exactly what their neighbourhood needs.
Arrive early so you can spend an extra ten minutes taking in the sweeping views to Greenhills and beyond before being led to your table. The neighbourhood atmosphere attracts a crowd of regulars, so best make a booking.