Sydney’s Greek wave has washed in at Bondi and I can’t stop thinking about this galaktoboureko

• Two Greek restaurants have opened in Bondi this month, continuing Sydney’s obsession
• Etheus is a modern late-night eatery at Promenade in Bondi Pavilion
• Kazzi Beach Greek is a taverna-style restaurant from the Northern Beaches

Sydney is awash with new Greek restaurants, opening across the city every week—or at least it feels that way. In just the past few months alone, we’ve had Akti open in Woolloomooloo, Olympic Meats open in Marrickville and Homer Rogue Taverna open in Cronulla. The Greek obsession stretches far and wide.

Now our very own blue water haven is getting in on the action as two new Greek restaurants have opened in Bondi Beach within weeks of each other.

On Hall Street, Kazzi Beach Greek has opened its first location south of the Harbour Bridge (they’re already in Balmoral and Manly). At Bondi Pavilion, Etheus has added another string to Promenade’s bow. I visited both to see how they stack up in Bondi’s battle of the Greeks.

Etheus: modern Greek dining at Bondi Pavilion

Up first was Etheus, a chic beachside restaurant from the team behind Redfern’s Baptist St Rec. Club and Island Radio, among others. Etheus can be found inside at Bondi Pavilion, alongside Promenade Beach Bar—though the two are definitely separate: the beach bar is for casual, alfresco drinks with a side of food, and Etheus is the place to go for a full feast (plus drinks).

The interiors at Etheus are gorgeous. Theres one huge cream banquette that snakes around the main dining room, with dark wooden tables following its trail. There are four large, round tables in the centre that were filled with groups of families and friends. I’ll be booking one of those for a girls night, that’s for sure.

Don’t be fooled by the super cool, chic design—the service is warm and inviting, just as you’d expect from a Greek taverna. The maître d’ floated around the room all evening, checking each table and crouching down to share her favourite dishes on the menu and top recommendations.

Speaking of recommendations, let’s get on to the food.

The menu is designed to be shared, structured around five sections: Mezethes (small plates), Rizi (rice), Zymarika (pasta), Fourno (from the charcoal oven) and a lineup of vegetables and salads. It’s simple, clear and refined, compared with Promenade’s globally-inspired selection of beer battered fish, burrata and a crumbed chicken burger with sriracha aioli.

Greek food can be bold without being heavy that’s the sweet spot we’re playing in. If anything, we’re leaning more into tradition than contemporary. We’re not modernising anything for the sake of it—we just want to cook dishes that feel generous, simple and satisfying.

— Chris Benedet, executive chef at Etheus

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What we ate

Obviously we started with grilled pita bread and dips. Taramosalata and fava beans with pickled onion, to be exact. Now I’m not a fan of taramosalata, but with its dill oil dressing and topping of caviar, this is taramosalata done differently. Upgrading done right. The fava beans are also incredibly moorish and the chilis its topped with pack a punch.

The other small plates we tried were the garides, whole king prawns fried in fine noodle-like pastry, and saganaki which was still bubbling when it arrived at our table fresh from the oven. Cheese, ouzo, honey and oregano: a completely indulgent and rich dish for cheese-lovers.

Dishes flow out of the kitchen as soon as they’re ready, so there’s not a distinct entree-main-dessert structure to things. We were still working our way through the saganaki when our main arrived, and we were glad to have only ordered one larger dish. Anything else would have been eclipsed by it anyway.

Kleftiko has always been one of my favourite Greek dishes, and Etheus does it spectacularly. Braised lamb shoulder, which falls off the bone with a gentle push, is coated with garlic, lemon and oregano. It was simple, succulent and melted in the mouth. Quite the opposite of the lamb I had at Infinity the other week.

Accompanying this, we had the melitzanes roasted eggplant with tomato, parsley and fried garlic for just the right amount of crunch, and the maroulosalata salad. The latter is about as simple as it gets: finely shredded iceberg lettuce, lemon dressing and a mountain of kefalotiri grated on top. I personally can’t wait to enjoy that one with a crisp wine or cocktail in summer.

Chris is right—they’ve found the sweet spot of being bold without being heavy.

It’s definitely filling though, but we mysteriously found enough room for dessert… We shared a bougatsa and frankly, after the first spoonful, I could’ve polished off a whole one to myself. It’s a modern take on the classic galaktoboureko, with light filo pastry filled with semolina custard and topped with a drizzle of mandarin syrup.

If you really can’t stomach a dessert, however, order the sextus empiricus from their signature cocktails. I wouldn’t normally go for a vodka-based drink with coconut yoghurt, but I was pleasantly surprised. With flavours of fig, vanilla, lemon and nutmeg running through the creamy concoction, it’s like a dessert in a glass. There are three pages of cocktails, beers and ales, a raft of spirits and a huge wine list, showcasing small-batch, boutique producers from the Mediterranean and Australia to choose from too.

We left content, well-fed and already planning our next visit. It set the bar high.

Kazzi Beach Greek: casual charm on Hall St

A step back from the beach, on Hall St, you’ll now find an authentic Greek taverna that could have been plucked straight from an Aegean island. If white walls, pops of blue and pink bougainvillea are what you envisage.

I live nearby so saw the transformation of the “cursed corner,” as locals call it, take shape. A number of businesses have tried to conquer this particular location—it was a Peruvian bar and cevicheria for a short while last year, and an Italian for just over a year before that.

Kazzi Beach Greek already has two popular restaurants in the Northern Beaches, in Manly and Balmoral. So our hopes are high for their third.

When we arrived on Wednesday evening after work, it was packed. Tables were filled inside and people spilled out to the benches out front. Hurray! Long may it last! I’ve even seen it busy early in the morning, with people enjoying their brekkie offering and Greek coffee (on my list to try this weekend).

Walking in, you’re met with classic Greek hospitality that’s loud and warm. Tables are packed tightly into the space, with waiters hoisting them up overhead to move them elsewhere to squeeze more diners in, and there’s a constant high-energy face pace about the place.

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What we ate

Getting straight on to the food, it’s no-fuss. There are pictures on the menu, which although I’m somewhat against, did actually help with our decision making. There are six categories: mezze, salads, meats, takeaway-only single wraps, seafood and platters.

To start, we had pitta bread with homemade houmous topped with paprika, halloumi with pomegranate kernels and orange zest (though cardamon honey is mentioned on the menu) and prawn saganaki. All of these were great: the prawns were meaty and the sauce nicely balanced with the feta, and I want to recreate the halloumi with the orange zest immediately. We did also order the chargrilled octopus, which I wasn’t enamoured with texture-wise, but the rest of the table enjoyed it. That one comes down to personal preference.

For our main, we had the meat platter with pork, lamb and chicken alongside a Greek salad, fries, pitta bread and two dips (we chose tzatziki and more of that tasty houmous). The fries, salad and chicken were good; the large chunks of lamb were a little stringy, and the pork was a bit tough. At $120 for two, we weren’t hugely impressed, but perhaps a group of men may have thought differently! Us three ladies shared it comfortably with enough for at least a fourth person to join.

The skewers and wraps that were constantly sailing out of the kitchen looked fantastic though. Go for those.

We also shared a watermelon salad which was beautifully refreshing, with feta, spinach, olives and mint.

Moving on to dessert, we ordered baklava and galaktoboureko. (One word of warning to nut allergy sufferers: you’ll be limited on options, as they’re in 60% of the desserts—though they may be easily removed from the ice cream and fried pitta bread).

There’s no easy way to say this: we were disappointed with dessert.

There were two sweet treat fangirls at the table, so we were excited to dig in. Except the filo pastry of the galaktoboureko was soft, not crisp, and the custard pushed back against our spoons more than expected. The baklava was also cold, leading us to suspect desserts are pre-cut and stored in the fridge for ease and efficiency. Understandable, given how busy it was, but that doesn’t equate to the best food experience. Especially when crisp pastry is involved.

We were also very kindly offered a portion of the golden fried pitta bread served with mastiha ice cream. If fried for a little less time, and served with a dipping sauce of some kind, that could be something great. It just fell a little short for us.

The verdict

If you’re looking for a casual, fun and lively place for the whole family, Kazzi hits the spot. Service is warm, albeit a little slow as they juggle a full restaurant, and the mezze and salads were our winners of the night. I just hope they find their feet and conquer this corner in Bondi. I’ll definitely be revisiting to try the brekkie and coffee soon.

If you’re looking for top-quality food and don’t mind paying out a little more, Etheus is your best bet. It’s sleek, modern and has space for romantic date nights, fun girls’ nights and family feasts alike. I can already picture a long summer evening spent there, overlooking the beach. In fact, I’ve already told a number of my girlfriends that “we’re definitely going”—and we’ll be getting the galaktoboureko.

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Etheus

Address: Shop 4, Bondi Pavilion, Queen Elizabeth Drive, Bondi Beach NSW 2026
Opening times: Wednesday–Thursday 5pm–10:30pm; Friday–Saturday 11:30am–10:30pm; Sunday 11:30am–4pm.
Standout dishes: Garides fried prawns, kleftiko and bougatsa.

etheus.sydney

Kazzi Beach Greek

Address: 14-16 O’Brien St, Bondi Beach NSW 2026.
Opening times: Monday–Sunday from 7am.
Standout dishes: houmous and pitta, halloumi and the Greek and watermelon salads.

kazzibeachgreek.com.au