Da Orazio Pizza + Porchetta

I had been looking forward to going here for ages, well ever since it opened really and I heard Maurice Terzini (of Icebergs etc fame) was one of Da Orazio‘s owners. It is completely different to Icebergs though, so don’t go there expecting fine dining and ocean views. I have labelled it as Beachside, as it is in Bondi and just a few minutes walk from the beach, but here the food and buzzing atmosphere make up for the lack of view. When I say buzzing, this means it is quite noisy, so I wouldn’t go here for a first date or a business meeting personally. Our booking was for 6pm on a Saturday night (as we were going to Ben & Jerry’s Openair Cinema afterwards) and it was already full. Mostly families. They are open from 12pm on weekends, so this is no surprise. It is very children friendly and they have a kids menu, plus highchairs. A lot of the families seemed to leave about 6.30pm, and I noticed that it did quieten down a bit around that time. Controversially, we decided not to order their famous pizzas, although we did order their other signature dish, Porchetta alla Romana, which was lovely and very juicy. The Prosciutto San Daniele with Buffalo Mozzarella, and Schiacciatina was also great, and enabled us to make our own pizza (if you like it blanc, without tomato, which I do). The food arrived quickly and the staff are very friendly. We sat inside, but there are also bar stools near the window, which are perfect for people watching. If you are looking for a casual, fun restaurant in Bondi, you can’t go wrong here.