Hurricane's Grill, Bondi Beach

Full rack of pork ribs

Every now and then I'd get cravings for a rack of tender, juicy ribs and my go to place is Hurricane's Grill Bondi Beach. With several branches across Sydney and one in Surfers Paradise, this chain of steakhouses dish out some of the best ribs I've ever come across.

Last weekend we arrived at the restaurant an hour later than our reservation, thanks to the traffic on the way back from our 11km coast walk in the Royal National Park. Luckily it wasn't an overly busy night, the hostess was lovely and seated us at the first available table despite our very late arrival.   

I've always found the service here to be friendly, when the venue is full it can be a bit hard to get the waiter's attention, but once you have placed your order the entrees come out pretty fast. The Garlic Mushrooms (tossed with fresh garlic, olive oil and butter with a hint of port wine) is a must try. It's a superb dish with well balanced butteriness and garlicky taste. I do miss the complimentary bread they used to offer but now if you want bread you'll need to order it from the menu.

It's always a good idea to grab a few friends when visiting Hurricane's, that way you can share and not be limited to one main dish given the array of food on offer. Aside from their signature dishes, beef steaks and pork, lamb and beef ribs, you can get seafood, barbecue and spicy Portuguese chicken, burgers and meat skewers, as well as vegetarian dishes. One thing to note is that they bring out all the mains at the same time, so you'll need to be patient if you are eating with a big group.

What makes their signature dishes so special are the secret recipe basting sauces they use. Everything the sauces touch becomes finger licking good. Cooked on an open flame grill the ribs are deliciously tender and juicy. The pork ribs are the biggest out of the three; the lamb ribs are delicious, but you'll need to eat it while it's still hot otherwise you'll get that fatty taste. As for the beef ribs, I can't say I found them special aside from the fact that they are marinated in the same sauces as the others, it just didn't have the same kind of draw the pork ribs had on me. 

Lamb skewer

One of the new menu items, the lamb skewer deserves a mention here. The lamb was sublime, the spicy aioli it came with was excellent, we ended up using it as a dipping sauce for our chips. If only I could order it as a sauce separately.

Given its popularity, reservation is highly recommended otherwise it could be a long wait on a busy night. But if you decided to check the place out on a whim, you can chill at the bar while you wait for a table. 

The drinks menu lists soda, shakes, juice, cider, Australian and International beer and cocktails. Their signature cocktail Ruby Red (PAMA Liqueur and Absolute Vodka, muddled lime & Muscat grapes and a hibiscus flower) is one of my favorites. Sweet and sour, a perfectly refreshing drink after a day at the beach. For something adventurous and exotic, give Ohayo a try. A Japanese styled cocktail with Soho Lychee Liqueur, Marie Brizard Watermelon, lime, lychee and a hibiscus flower. You'll also find classic ones such caipiroska, margarita and mojito on the list.

There is also a bar food menu that offers crispy whitebait with aioli, mini flame-grilled beef skewers among other small dishes to tide you over while you wait for a table. But a word of caution, make sure you don't fill up on these dishes and miss out on the ribs, because they are worth every minute of the wait!

Hurricane's Grill Bondi Beach: 130 Roscoe Street Bondi Beach, NSW 2026