Bondi Hall

You can tell this is from the Reuben Hills and Paramount Coffee Project team. The first hint is the fit-out. It’s not a copy of the other venues, but it shows off some similar stylistic choices from designers Alana Cooke and Porter and Maple. There’s an open concrete and timber counter, a large shared table and timber-steel furnishings elsewhere. The curious carpet-like textures on the walls and overhead timber beams are there for acoustics.

The bigger cues for the Reuben Hills brand are on the table. Roasts from Reuben Hills are brewed with typical excellence and poured into local ceramics, and the menu features a similar cuisine-mixing style without being overly experimental or challenging to the breakfast genre.

The difference with chef Ben Hopkins’ menu at Bondi Hall is a bigger focus on health. A lily pad-looking fruit bowl has slices of seasonal fruit, cracked quinoa and fermented berries on a bed of burnt palm sugar and coconut yoghurt. The hummus, pickled beans, poached egg and braised eggplant salad is topped with scorched lemon and epazote (a pungent Mexican herb) syrup. The most indulgent-sounding dish, the baked hotcake, is gluten-free, made with natural sugars and served with poached pears.