Best place sto eat in Avalon Beach in 2022

Alma's Mexican restaurant Amber Waves Bakery Avalon Beach Bowling and Recreation Club Avalon Chinese Restaurant Avalon RSL - Bistro 61 Avalon Wholefoods Store Bakers Delight Bangkok Sidewalk Thai Bar Elvina Bar Beco cafe Bistro Boulevarde Bonfire Bakery Bookochino Burgers on Parade Chill Bar cafe Franks bar Han Court Chinese Restaurant Hungry Ghost Cafe La Banette Bakery Leonardos bar and deli Made in Turin Pizza Mekong Merchant Avalon Vietnamese Meltemi Pizzeria restaurant Ninja Japanese Restaurant North Bean Cafe Nourished cafe Oceana Traders Fish Shop Patterson's Pies Pizzico Italian Robin's New Nest Chicken Shop SaiBiang Thai Sandy's Sea Wave Thai Sky Thai Sneaky Grind cafe Spaghetti 75 Sunset Diner Swell cafe Wasabi Japanese Restaurant

Parrilla - Hot Coal Kitchen

Opened in March 2016 it has taken me a while to visit. I walk past often and wondered what style of restaurant it is. Wonder no more as I visited on a busy Saturday night.
It was great, do not hesitate to drop in for a meal or take away a burger, the food is first class. The atmosphere is relaxed dining, and the service is happy and family friendly, the decor is retro laminex and orange covered stools. You can eat outside or there are some tables inside.
It was a busy night but the kitchen and staff were attentive always on their toes. It was great watching the big grill in action inside.
According to wiki Parrilla eaither means a long-tailed tit (a type of bird) or a style of grill used for cooking asado (barbecue), commonly found in Latin America, particularly Mexico, Argentina, Venezuela, Colombia, Chile, Uruguay and Paraguay. It is the latter.

It specialises in meat - and the meat here is to die for.
We started with some smokey buttery garlic bread, had a lovely char.
And for main had the the Scampi and the Slow cooked rib, with sides of beans and cauliflower.
The Scampi was sweet and juicy, with lemon and garlic butter, I could have eaten ten, but there were only three (and it was not my order). It had a lovely char.
The beef rib fell apart - accompanied by a spicy sauce - this was a highlight, if you come here you must get some meat - it also had a lovely char! Love the char. Serving sizes are good, it was that big I had no room for dessert - always a shame.
They have a good selection of wines and beers - I recommend the locally brewed pale ale - Modus Operandi - all the way from Mona Vale.

NEWS UPDATE. NOW CLOSED. A closed sign and for lease went up at start of Dec 2016.  A new Thai Sai-biang has opened in this space.

Price for two with drinks= $80.
Rating: A fully speced up red Holden Monaro Ute - Yee Haw!

Toast

Another suave addition to the Av dining scene. We arrived to a nearly full Sunday morning breakie crowd, which thinned out to nil by the time we left.
Where Frank's bar was this is a open airy indoor space, especially nice when it is cold and bleak outside.
Sit down, read the menu then order at the counter. Service by the hard working waitress was fast and efficient.
The coffee is Toby's estate, which was served hot and strong.
The breakfast menu has all the usual suspects. We ordered a granola with fruit and yoghurt, also smashed avocado on a muffin with poached eggs. Both were good. But I was sorry I didn't order the baked eggs dish which looked amazing. Oh well, next time. I'll be back.
Cost for 2: $35
Rating: Vespa

Next Door Bar

This is a sensational space, loads and loads of room and a big open outdoor area out back. Sadly the chef had called in sick when I visited so I only had a coffee, the owner did offer to make a breakfast wrap though. But the coffee, a local blend from Belaroma, was smooth as silk. A nice dusting of chocolate on top and some tiny teddies as well. A perfect place to relax away from the crowds at the other Avalon cafes. Discover this before the rest of the summer blowins do. Usually there is a muffin and coffee special for $6, fresh made muffins by the chef. I hope he/she gets well soon as I will be back.

Check out their website for the evening events and menu. Click Here

Price for coffee $3

Rating: Vespa

L.A. Bar (Closed 2014)

This is the hippest and coolest place in Avalon, you can read about it through your friends in facebook. The name refers to the famous surf break off Avalon Beach - Little Avalon. When the bar first opened I think it was called Little Av.
It regularly hosts local musicians and has a private outdoor area too.
Being a bar it serves a big variety of cocktails and foodwise has some snacks.

The Mill

We walked in and the theme from Shaft was playing - yeah - funky - just like this place.

Thursday night and it was pleasantly populated, the front half-window opening onto Avalon Parade was taken, there were some vacant tables as we walked through and there was a half-full alfresco courtyard at the rear. Three serving behind the bar and the bartender was putting some arm work on some good looking cocktails.

Although brand new the decor makes you feel right at home. Historic Sydney newspapers line the walls in case you are stumped for reading material and there are two great old Avalon photos as well. Dark polished hardwood adorn the bar and the floor is polished concrete. The style is a cross between the Powerhouse museum and a Spanish bodega - it works.

There is a good selection of wines, the chilled Spanish rose was perfect and the cider (which I forgot to get the name) also hit the spot. I spotted some Peroni beer which was my next choice. There are some cute named cocktails - the L90 Expresso and the Round the Bends looked worth trying. It was not long to wait for the reasonably priced food: the House special corkscrew seasoned calamari with aoili was tender, hot and tasty, I kept saying wow this is good. The Classic Margarita pizza with tomato, fresh basil and boccochini was well made but just needed a slightly thicker crust, it was a bit crispy for my liking. Staff were friendly and efficient. They seemed to be enjoying themselves.

The Mill is a cool bar and casual dining addition to Avalon. Great!

Rating: Vespa

Cost for 2: $40 with drinks.

Cranky Fins Holidae Inn

Cool and casual - don't miss this fun new eating spot at Palm Beach. It is worth visiting just for the funky vibe, but the food and service are both outstanding.

Just opened last week it is opposite the golf course and handily placed next to the L90 bus stop. We just walked in off the street after noticing a crowd spilling out. There is a great selection of seating options from stool facing the street on the verandah, old style booths, long bench tables and smaller tables. It is family friendly and the wait staff are efficient and pleasant, even they seemed to be enjoying themselves.

We placed our order at the bar after perusing the clipboard menu and ordered some share plates: 1. Tacos - spiced fish with pico de gallo, avocado, fennel and chipotle mayo (2 for $15) 2. Crunchy school prawns with aioli and lemon ($16) 3. Char grilled lamb backstrap with charred corn, zucchini, pomegranate and yoghurt. ($28)

The order didn't take too long and the food was fresh and tasty. Loved it all. Good selection of beer, wines and cocktails. Visit this place before it gets discovered by the summer Palmie crowd.

Cost for 2: $80 with drinks. Rating: Vespa (there was even one parked out front!)

Visit their website here

Bangalleys Restaurant

Bangalleys is the bistro inside Avalon Beach RSL Club.
I was hoping to get in to the new French restaurant in Avalon tonight, but they were all booked out. Instead I tried this old favourite.
Coming here is like putting on an old tee shirt - comfortable and casual.
Like most RSL clubs the drinks are reasonably priced and surprisingly the bartender lined up 4 glasses of wine to sample before we chose. The sav blanc tasted like vinegar so I opted for a Stella instead.
The menu here is varied and has more than the standard mixed grill and steak dishes. I had the ribs last time, and was looking forward to them again, but they were rotated out of the menu tonight. The blackboard had 3 specials - grilled jewfish with fetta niciose salad, thai beef salad and cornflake encrusted pork. I am more of a rice bubbles man myself so we went for the fish and the beef. The fish was perfect- not overdone and served hot. The thai beef was spicy - with plenty of chilli- and ample salad, if there is such a thing.
There is a large outdoor area which is great especially if you have kids, not so great if you don't and there are kids there.
Tip: choose a table away from the smoking area.
Rating: Ford Falcon
Cost for 2: $49 (including drinks)

Frank's Bar and Cafe

Bob Marley was playing Redemption song, it was a Friday lunchtime and everything was cool running. We sat down and looked at the giant whiteboard menu, its big. Lots of options. Still deciding Frank came up and recommended the mussels in white wine sauce which was listed on the specials for $18. Tempting but I had decided on a sandwich and coffee.

Located in a quiet out-of-the-way spot at the back of Stapleton Arcade, it is undercover and peaceful.

There is a big selection, breakfast menu until 2.00pm looked good, a good variety for lunch and on Friday night, the candles come out and it gets busy as a bar.
The food and coffee were both hot and the music cool. As the rasterman sings we should emancipate ourselves from mental slavery I thinking there might be something in that.
Cost for 2: $30
Rating: Toyota Corolla