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Awards
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2008 |
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FINALIST - Best Japanese Restaurant, Restaurant & Catering NSW Awards |
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2008 |
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WINNER (Local Business of the Year) - Wentworth Courier/True Local Awards |
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2008 |
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WINNER (Formal Dining) - Wentworth Courier/True Local Awards |
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2008 |
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RECOMMENDED - Gourmet Traveller Wine List of the Year Awards |
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2008 |
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FINALIST - Best Small Wine List, Restaurant & Catering NSW Awards |
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2007 |
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LifeStyle Food Awards NSW State Finalist |
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Overview
Offering a real alternative, BONSAI is a welcome culinary addition to the Bronte cafe strip.
Fabulously fresh sushi and sashimi is featured, along with traditional Japanese dishes and fusionist fare. The menu is truly seasonal and offers delicious daily specials.
The intimate dining room is clean and crisp, with comfortable upholstered chairs and dark wood furniture squared up against a deep red wall. A striking tree sculpture, made from bamboo, spreads up the walls and across the ceiling, with lights dangling above the centre tables.
Indoor and outdoor seating is available, with most tables affording an clear view across beautiful Bronte Beach.
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Related Editorial Content
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User Reviews on Bonsai Japanese Restaurant
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 28 comments
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Average |
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Food 5 |
Ambience 5 |
Service 5 |
Value 4 |
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This review is for swell but I am putting under Bonsai as I know they are both owned by the same person. I have reviewed Swell before and I gave them top marks. But know it is all diferent where is the souffle? The braised lamb? The home made pasta? Where is all the modern french flavours I loved so much?
Now Swell and Bonsai menus have been joined together and Swell now serves a boring mixture of typical east meets west modern Australian style dishes. If I wanted to pay $30 for angel hair pasta or fish with curry sauce, then I would go to a thai restaurant and order better food for two people.
Breakfast has also started to slip where are the baked eggs? Or the poached eggs with hash and branston pickle. It seems all the things that made Swell "Swell" are now gone? Now it is a typical egg and bacon fry up place on the beach. I don't write this to be mean or cruel the food is still good at Swell but not what it once was. Maybe I will start eating somwhere else each sunday. Why fix something that is not broken?
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Response from Management:
Thanks for your comments Damien. It is true that Swell and Bonsai are owned by the same people. However, you can still enjoy quite different culinary experiences, depending on when you visit.
Breakfast is all Swell. Lunch offers an combined choice of menu options from both Swell and Bonsai. At night, the two restaurants operate more stand alone.
Many of the dishes you mention were on our Swell winter menus, and have simply made way for lighter options more appropriate for the season. Rest assured, home made pasta is still available, as a king prawn and coriander ravioli.
The angel hair pasta dish you mention includes fresh blue swimmer crab meat as the primary ingredient, and the fish is a delicious barramundi, so both these dishes offer good value at $30.
Our new head Chef in Swell, Emma Woods, certainly does draw on some more modern asian influences than her predecessors, but still works firmly in the European style. There was no intention to 'fix' anything, we are simply changing with the seasons.
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Damien22 -
See my reviews 2 , 11 November 2008
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| Overall |
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Highly Recommended |
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Food 10 |
Ambience 10 |
Service 10 |
Value 10 |
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Can't review this place highly enough. I'm generally very careful about portion control ... that went out the window, and it was worth it! I had the sashimi platter which was fantastically fresh and tasty, and a chocolatey bean pudding of sorts for dessert which was also to die for. We had some confusion with the waiters concerning a voucher, but they were so obliging and after we'd cleared it up, they gave us all three of our desserts on the house to compensate for their mistake! Will certainly be back!
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Lara888 -
See my reviews 5, 12 October 2008
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| Overall |
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Highly Recommended |
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Food 10 |
Ambience 10 |
Service 10 |
Value 9 |
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Bonsai has been a favourite of my husband and I since it opened. My two children love it and will eat just about anything from the menu with their fave being the Tepenyaki scallops and king prawns. The staff are wonderfully friendly and make your dining experience special. Sitting on the outside table on a balmy night is sensational.
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Michellew -
See my reviews 1, 05 October 2008
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| Overall |
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Highly Recommended |
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Food 9 |
Ambience 8 |
Service 9 |
Value 9 |
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I came here with my husband for our anniversary, the site said it was romantic and definitely (on saturday nignt) it's not! But the food was good and the service too ...We were close to the entry door and it's not the best place in winter.
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Célinita -
See my reviews 1, 03 August 2008
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| Overall |
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Recommended |
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Food 8 |
Ambience 7 |
Service 8 |
Value 6 |
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Very tasty, original dishes, but a little overpriced, which I assume is due to its beachside location. I was impressed by the decor and the friendly Japanese waitress. However, we went on a Saturday night and it was almost empty, which was disappointing. Our bill was $80 for 2 (no wine). Also, they charged $10 for green tea which I thought was a little steep considering most Japanese establishments either don't charge for tea or it is $3-$4 per person bottomless service.
In summary, fantastic food and an imaginative menu, could be better value, but I would return here should I find myself in the area.
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Response from Management:
Thank you for your comments. We're happy to hear you enjoyed your experience. To clarify, the green tea we serve is Gen Mai Cha, a premium sencha green tea with puffed and roasted rice grains, and is accompanied by hand made green tea chocolate petit fours. We charge $5 for a pot. Unlimited refills with hot water are available on request.
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eatyourheartout -
See my reviews 36, 12 May 2008
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| Overall |
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Highly Recommended |
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Food 9 |
Ambience 8 |
Service 9 |
Value 8 |
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Without doubt my favourite restaurnat in Sydney at the moment. I go often and have never been disappointed. Everything is fresh and beautifully, and artistically presented.
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Bethela -
See my reviews 5, 09 May 2008
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| Overall |
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Average |
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Food 5 |
Ambience 6 |
Service 6 |
Value 5 |
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I just want to say how disappointed I was with my dining experience at Bonsai, especially after all the other fantastic reviews of the restaurant. The food was no where near the standard which deserves such high praise. I had the teppanyaki scallops and prawns with ginger dipping sauce. That's just say that when you pay $31 for a dish like this, you don't expect it to look and taste like something from your backyard BBQ, oh actually there is one difference, the serving size was not big at all! Anyway, it was disappointed. I hope this review gives others a balanced opinion of the restaurant.
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Response from Management:
Management is very sorry that you did not enjoy your dining experience at Bonsai.
The dish you describe is popular for the clean, fresh flavour of the seafood.
It consists of big king prawns, and fresh scallops, served with plenty of chargrilled vegetables. We could have easily provided any number of sauces as an accompaniment had we known you were unhappy.
There are so many other dishes on the menu, but the 'teppanyaki of king prawns and scallops' is served with a simple ginger dipping sauce, so that the pure flavours of the quality seafood, which is hand picked daily from the fish markets, can be enjoyed.
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sydney13 -
See my reviews 1, 01 April 2008
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| Overall |
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Highly Recommended |
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Food 10 |
Ambience 6 |
Service 10 |
Value 9 |
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Food was wonderful as was the service. Only negative is the big shared table, this isn't a cheap place ( although well worth the price) and the concept of shared dining is too Wagamama's for me!
Apart from that this place is amazing, book and get your own table tho!
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Response from Management:
Responding to customer feedback, we've removed the big shared table. There are now more smaller tables, creating a more initmate dining room, better suited to smaller groups and couples.
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Sadiek -
See my reviews 48, 07 February 2008
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| Overall |
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Highly Recommended |
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Food 9 |
Ambience 9 |
Service 7 |
Value 8 |
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Service was a little slow but the food amazing! I had the pork and ginger gozya and the duck breast and my partner the beef tataki and the teppanyaki prawns and scallops. We couldn't fault the food at all, infact it was the best duck I have ever had. Service was a little slow but still OK. Oh and the desserts were amazing!!
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brookenjamie -
See my reviews 1, 28 January 2008
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| Overall |
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Highly Recommended |
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Food 10 |
Ambience 10 |
Service 10 |
Value 9 |
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I had a meal here on a Friday night about two weeks ago-beautiful! Wonderful food, great service and good atmosphere. And I thought given the quality and beach side location $50. For food and drinks was good value. I will go back!
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bennett -
See my reviews 3, 28 December 2007
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