Besa Bondi Arrival
Bondi has never been short on places to eat. But a proper late-night tapas bar? That’s rarer than a quiet Sunday at Icebergs. Besa is tucked along Hall Street. It is brough to us from the ESCA team behind Sydney favourites Nour and Aalia, this Spanish-leaning newcomer promises tapas, wine and the sort of buzzy energy usually reserved for Madrid after dark. Except that it’s raining, no, it’s pouring… as we sprint into the front door like Gout Gout.
Besa Sexy Cocktail Vibe
Ooooh it’s sooo sexy. This is a moody red hued basement bar. It’s all low ceiling sprayed concrete, soft curves, like the kind of lounge Jacob Jensen would design. Booths are spherical structures and the pathways meander like a Don Quixote adventure, privacy, fun all overlooked by a strange windmill shaped ceiling sculpture.
It’s dark. Very dark.The kind of dark that once got Spice Temple mercilessly lampooned because you couldn’t see your food. At Besa we also struggle to identify the colour of what’s on our plates. Maybe it’s accidental. Maybe it’s by design. But when sight fades away, flavour seems to crank up the volume. Personally I like to see food that looks and tastes this good.
It’s Saturday night and the DJ looks like he’s straight out of a 70’s Camel Tobacco ad, curly hair and an evivable mo. The music pumps, glasses clink, and somehow, elegance and thongs do coexist. The room carries a warm, slightly chaotic buzz.
The Chef & The Cooking
Behind the pass at Besa is head chef Alan Kropman, working alongside ESCA Group executive chef Ibrahim Kasif, ( Porteño, Bodega 1904 and Stanbuli) and also the culinary force guiding the kitchens at Aalia and Nour which we at DA are big fans of.
After landing at Besa he spent time at Sean’s Panorama and in the kitchens at Aalia, building a reputation for produce-driven cooking and deceptively simple plates where technique does the heavy lifting.
The Cocktails
The menu is a story book which is a romp through Don Quixote’s adventures, each page a turner in the quest of a hopeful knight who sees magic and possibility where others see the ordinary. It is a celebration of courage, curiosity, and the beauty of following the impossible. My dining companion, Mr G is already smitten as a DULCINEA, ‘On Love Imagined’ as his Peach Pisco Sour lands. We know our cocktails, and this is a Campari spectacular for its balance and finesse. A spicy margarita with Tequila Blanco, Blackcurrant and Spiced Pineapple Lime follows. I love a marg, or a spicy traditional one. Rarely does a twist match the real thing, but it’s good the blackcurrent works and is a powerful base flavour. These guys know cocktails and at $24 a pop it’s not a ridiculous price point for drinks this good.
The Food
As the tapas arrive, a pattern emerges. Besa is at its best when it plays with texture. It’s hard outside. Soft inside.
Take the croquetas. Crisp shells shatter to reveal a deliriously oozy centre of manchego and mushroom. They’re molten, savoury and dangerously snackable. Bread from Bread Bar arrives then pickled South Australian sardines which are salty, punchy, oceanic.
Nothing quite prepares us for pan con tomate. It’s just tomato on toast, right? Wrong. This humble Spanish staple is a small but mighty miracle. The bread lands soft inside but with a crust toasted to a new level of caramelisation; sticky, crunchy and deeply satisfying. The tomato reduction is bright, lightly seasoned and beautifully balanced. One bite delivers crunch, sweetness,creaminess from bread soaking up the tomato juices then acidity and brightness cutting through everything. Simplicity at its most complex. Just blommin’ brilliant.
There are only three options for Platos (mains). We order two but our server is having conniptions trying to plan logistics. Surely a dining table (in a tapas restaurant) should be able to accommodate more than a couple of plates? We can’t be re-seated, so a nearby stool becomes our makeshift overflow station. No dramas on our side, but these side tables barely hold a plate and a cocktail each, let alone a round of dining. However, if you are in booth seating you will be OK.
The grilled chicken with fideuà negra is one of the most inventive dishes on the menu.I haven’t seen anything like this. Instead of rice, short squid-ink egg noodles create an inky black bed across the plate. Perched ontop are joints of chargrilled chicken, the whole dish lifted with dots of creamy aioli. Smoky, savoury and deeply comforting. It’s their signature dish whether they know it or not.
Then comes the John Dory on the bone, finished tableside with a glossy pil-pil sauce, garlic, parsley and pops of finger lime. The citrus pearls burst through the richness, adding brightness to the delicate fish. It’s great, but the chicken still wins out. We add a colourful of Catalan dish of roasted eggplant, red peppers and Onions Escalivada which is finished with sherry vinaigrette. Sides of crispy potatoes in a spicy bravas sauce both misrepresent and miss the mark. The ‘potatoes’ are a rosti (you get only two teeny ones sadly) however they are absolutely cracking on their own and drowned in an overpowering sauce. Dessert rotates daily, so it’s worth a look. If churros are on the list, order them. You may not be able to see what you’re doing in here, but this one’s obvious. Vamos!
What We’re ADDICTED To? ESCA Group does it again. We don’t have many excellent Spanish bars in Sydney. Besa fills a much needed hole. The pan con tomate. The oozy croquetas. The way Besa turns simple produce led ingredients into something I want to linger over. Oh and those amazing cocktails.
What We Need to Be More ADDICTED? Better lighting. This food is so good. I want to see it. For those (like us) who have couples seating around the perimeter, the tables need to be bigger for drinks + tapas dining.
Besa : 75–79 Hall Street, Bondi Beach, NSW 2026.
Hours: Open Tuesday to Thursday from 5 pm, and Friday to Sunday for lunch and dinner.
See here for Aalia Wine Bar, Joji, ito and more
