Whilst in America recently, I though it was interesting to see that a number of Australian Restaurants and Australian Pubs have opened in the past 12 months or so. I’ll be heading back to America this week and thought it would be good to identify what Australian restaurants are already established and a little bit about what they are serving.

Apart from the 800 plus Outback Steakhouse restaurants which claim to be Australian restaurants, there seems to be only a handful of restaurants that actually serve a form of Australian cuisine in the United States of America. Some of the Australian themed restaurants and pubs I found include;

Bondi Road – www.bondiroad.com

Located on the lower east side of New York, Bondi Road is the brain child of owner Heath St. Clair who also owns The Sunburnt Cow restaurant. Open for breakfast, lunch, dinner and late night Bondi Road’s menu features food influenced and flown directly from Australia.

Bondi Road is known for its seafood and they fly in fish twice a week from Australia and New Zealand which is then showcased in the restaurant via a deli-style cabinet. Often available is barramundi, blackfish, sea bass, goldband snapper, grouper, whole baby snapper and Tasmanian salmon all prepared either grilled, beer-battered or breaded.

Apart from the variety of fresh fish, the raw bar features Moreton Bay Bugs, Western Australian lobsters, Barrier Reef Banana Prawns and when available fresh Yabbies and Marron from western Australia.

Bondi Road wouldn’t be an Australian restaurant without a burger of some sort, and they offer their Aussie Burger with the Lot, adding beetroot and grilled pineapple.

Their ever changing wine list features a wide selection of Australian wines as well as colour selection of Australian styled cocktails such as Bondi Breeze, Tamaramma Glamma and Sand in Your Pants to name a few.

Bondi Road
153 Rivington Street between Suffolk and Clinton Sts.
Lower East Side, Manhattan
New York
+1 212 253 5311

Bondi Bar & Kitchen – www.thebondi.com

Located in the Gas Lamp quarter in downtown San Diego, Bondi Bar & Kitchen is the brainchild of Chief Executive Officer Julian Heppekausen, Chief Concept Officer David Zampatti and Chief Operating Officer Michael Cameron all from Perth, Australia. Only opening in January 2007, Bondi Bar and Kitchen is the first of many Bondi Bar & Kitchen restaurants in California. Their aim was to create a modern, sleek and authentic restaurant serving fresh ingredients flown in daily from Australia as well as the best of Australian wines and beers.

As soon as you walk into Bondi Bar & Kitchen the interior is decorated with imported jarrah hardwood flooring, red iron ore walls and grass tree fonds shipped directly from Australia’s Pilbara desert. Each of the three bars are highlighted by large plasma screens with images from Australia.

Head chef, Chris Behre has created a fresh and vibrant menu inspired by the many cultures that call Australia home. Some of the items on the restaurant menu include Paperbark smoked pork chop with munthari berry & rosemary sauce, Grilled Tasmanian ocean trout fillet with asparagus and & bush tomato sauce, and a Wagyu beef (8 oz), asparagus, roasted red yam, mountain pepper butter to name just a few.

For dessert, there’s a wattleseed pavlova with praline cream, wild lime brulée with candied ginger biscuit as well as a selection of Australian farm house cheeses.

In the Bondi Bar, there is a great selection of Australian pub fare available including; Wagyu beef burger, beef party pies, barramundi goujons with lemon myrtle mayonnaise, calamari with Illawarra plum sauce and Bush dukkah with extra virgin olive oil and grilled ciabatta.

The Bondi Bar has an Australian only wine list featuring wines from the finest vineyards in Australia. Particular focus is on the Adelaide Hills and McLaren Vale, in South Australia as well as Margaret River, Western Australia. There is also a wide selection of Australian draught beer available on tap including Boag’s Draught, Coopers Sparkling Ale, Gage Roads Pure Malt Lager, Bluetongue Premium Lager, Coopers Pale Ale and Little Creatures Bright Ale. All the Australian beers are imported in eco-friendly kegs.

Bondi Bar & Kitchen
333 Fifth Avenue (between J and K)
San Diego, CA 92101
+1 619 342 0212

Eight Mile Creek – www.eightmilecreek.com

Regarded as the first Australian restaurant in America, Eight Mile Creek is located in the heart of the NoLita district of downtown Manhattan, New York. The name Eight Mile Creek comes from a stream that runs through the owner Will Ford’s Australian hometown.

Eight Mile Creek is split into two styles of dining; Upstairs there’s a New York Times-rated 2 star restaurant which features Modern Australian cooking. On the menu are dishes such as emu carpaccio, kangaroo skewers with mountain-berry ketchup, Crisp-baked barramundi fillet with grilled asparagus, roast tomatoes and sweet basil sauce, grilled kangaroo fillet with roasted rosemary mash, mushroom vinaigrette, rocket to name a few.

Downstairs the atmosphere is much more like an Australian Pub setting with Australian beers on tap, fine Australian wines by the glass and cocktails with an with a unique Australian twist. Bistro food is available from downstairs till late and features dishes you’d expect in an Australian pub like meat pies, ‘Coopers Ale’-battered fish & chips, beef burgers, kangaroo skewers and ‘The Creek’ steak sandwich. I wasn’t sure about the Wallaby Wings with blue cheese dressing, considering that wallabies don’t have wings!

In the warmer summer months, Eight Mile Creek boasts an OuT-the-bAcK beer garden where the concept is “You Bring the Meat, We’ll Supply the Barbie” on Sundays. This sounds like something that happens in backyards all over Australia.

I’ll be definitely visiting Eight Mile Creek next time I am in New York.

Eight Mile Creek
240 Mulberry St (Between Prince & Spring St)
New York 10012, NY
+1 212 431 4635

Greg Norman’s Australian Grille – www.shark.com/australiangrille

Greg Norman is regarded as one of Australia’s best sporting icons and has in the past decade expanded from licensed golfing products into Food and Beverages. Apart from Greg Norman Estate wines and Greg Norman Prime Wagyu Beef, his other venture into the Food and Beverage area is Greg Norman’s Australian Grille.

Greg Norman’s Australian Grille in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina was opened in 1999 by American celebrity chef, Todd English. The restaurant is located across a saltwater estuary from a Greg Norman-endorsed golf course and is now headed up in the kitchens by award winning chef, Joe Coppolino.

Seating over 160 people, the interior of the Australian Grille comprises of free standing tables and booth seating with waterfront view dining room overlooks kitchen featuring open air wood burning grill and rotisserie. The décor of the restaurant comprises of rich grain leathers and hand crafted woods from Australia. The walls feature Australian motif and Aboriginal artwork as well as the ceiling of the dining room boasts a full length mural in pub of waterfalls reminiscent of the Australian outback.

The menu is rather international, yet offers a great deal of fresh produce from Australia. Obviously Greg Norman Prime Wagyu Beef is heavily featured on the menu with cuts like filet mignon, ribeye steak and New York sirloin as well as prime rib of beef cuts called ‘Shark Cut’ and ‘Queensland Cut’. Apart from meats Australian rock lobster tails are available poached in butter and served in a creamy succotash with corn, roasted onion, sweet peas and smoked bacon served on whipped potatoes.

As you can imagine, Greg Norman’s Australian Grille features a selection of Australian wines including, Greg Norman Estate wines, however the majority of the wine list is best described as international.

Inside the restaurant is a retail shop featuring a full line of Greg Norman Collection of clothing and accessories.

Greg Norman’s Australian Grille
4930 Highway 17 S
North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
+1 843 361 0000

The Sunburnt Cow – www.thesunburntcow.com

In 2003, Heath St. Clair opened The Sunburnt Cow, which was named in honour of Bessie, his cow that passed during a 1972 heat wave in Alice Springs. Nowadays the Sunburnt Cow is a two room restaurant in the trendy New York area of East Village.

I think Sunburnt Cow gets referred to as a tapas restaurant probably because they serve meals on paper plates, but the restaurant’s signature dish is anything but tapas. It’s a macadamia nut crusted lamb freshly flown in from Australia. Other dishes on the menu include pepperberry rubbed prawn skewers and kangaroo sausages and mash. Lighter bar styled dishes include Aussie burger with the lot (pineapple and beetroot), Coopers batter fish and chips as well a steak sandwich called the Bessie Sandwich ( named after the sunburt cow). Desserts are stereotypical Australian desserts like lamingtons and pavlova (cow patt style).

The Sunburt Cow’s wine list is predominately made up of Australian wines, as well as wide selection of cocktails and beers.

The Sunburnt Cow
137 Ave. C, New York, NY 10009
between 8th and 9th Sts.
+1 212 529 0005

http://www.sheepstation.net/

http://www.thewombatbar.com 

I am sure I’ve missed an Australian restaurant in America, so if you have any recommendations please let me know.

Lastly, if you are thinking of opening an Australian restaurants or are interested in investing in an Australian Restaurant in America, or would like to hire me as a consultant for a new Australian restaurant project that you’re working, please contact me.