Trio Cafe, Bondi Beach

Amidst the myriad of fast food outlets and pubs exist quite a few tempting looking cafes. Strolling along Campbell Parade from one of the bus stops, it was an immense effort to stay on track and avoid popping into one of the hole in the wall eateries along the way, particularly with the sun beating down on the first day of summer. Would you believe that until then I hadn't actually set foot on Bondi? (North Bondi, anyway...) Nevertheless, I somehow waded through the throngs of half-dressed, tanned and, at times, orange beach-goers and managed to get to the other end of the beach.

Exterior

Unlike what the photograph suggests (it was taken in the early afternoon), lunch time at Trio is quite lively and the row of tables outside was packed. There's plenty of seating inside, however, and we had no problem getting a table close enough to the front to get a bit of breeze from the beach.

The colour scheme inside was a little odd, a deep maroon(ish) red contrasted against mustard yellow, which slightly reminded me of Maccas. The tables, however, were set quite prettily with crisp white tablecloths. We were given a carafe of water with a long sprig of mint inside - more of a decorative touch rather than anything else, as we couldn't taste anything in the water.

To drink, I ordered a hazelnut latte. Then came the tough part. The fact that they serve all day breakfast added to the inner turmoil of having to select a menu item. I mentally weighed up my prospective lunch choices and it came to a stand-off between the breakfast tasting plate (consisting of muesli, french toast, pancakes, shakshouka and corn fritters), the prawn salad (thinking it would be light and refreshing on such a hot day), and the prawn tagliatelle (I find pasta and prawns irresistible in their own right).

My hazelnut latte arrived soon after, complete with a coffee bean resting on a bed of heart-patterned foam. It was sweet, creamy and tasty, but I couldn't really detect any coffee as most of the flavour came from the hazelnut syrup.

Hazelnut latte "di lusso" ($5.00)

The pasta, tagliatelle with king prawns, was served with baby tomatoes, sugar snap peas, and a nest of various herbs. The white wine reduction was respectful to the prawns - light and tangy, while I have no complaints about the texture of the pasta. They were pretty generous with the number of prawns (hidden within the mass of curls of pasta), which were springy, moist and not overcooked. I was quite pleased with the portions overall, as I was made to feel quite comfortably full.

Prawn tagliatelle ($28.00)

My lunch buddy had a hot chocolate, with even more extravagant foam art, and the shakshouka, which was on the breakfast portion of the menu. What is shakshouka? It is apparently a breakfast that originates from the middle east, consisting of tomato ragout, poached eggs and hummus.

Hot chocolate ($4.80)

Shakshouka ($19.00)

Will I be back? I'd like to think so. The quality of food is solid and the breakfast tasting plate is very tempting. However, given the number of fascinating cafes and my abysmal track record in visiting Bondi, I'm not sure that I'll return anytime soon.