The Basin Dining Room opens at Mona Vale Surf Club - Restaurants

Dec 21, 2022

First it was RSLs, now Sydney's surf clubs are elevating their food game to new heights and local diners are at the heart of their vision.

The humble Sydney surf club is riding the crest of a culinary boom, with a new guard offering food to match their world-class water views.

A few years ago RSL clubs elevated their restaurant offerings and it makes sense for surf clubs to follow suit. Traditionally, surf clubs have served simple food but with their postcard locations, large memberships and central role in their local community, they are in brilliant positions to attract diners.

Mona Vale Surf Club on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, recently underwent a $10 million rebuild and its new restaurant, Basin Dining, opened a few weeks ago, serving an elevated seafood menu.

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“We thought we could probably do something that would be beneficial to the community. You can see around the (northern) beaches that surf clubs are already giving it a good crack, Long Reef is coming along soon and Avalon as well,” owner Doug Fraser says.

Basin Dining is a mid-casual restaurant, spanning $35 fish and chips to a $50+ lobster risotto. A more affordable menu will open soon at Cook Terrace, the club’s bar.

“We’re really trying to match the view in terms of our offering. We’re definitely not a cheap restaurant, but we are serving quality produce. It was surprising, we thought the initial diners might have just wanted to check us out and try the cheaper items, but we’ve been selling mainly the lobster risotto,” Fraser says.

“We really wanted to hit a lower price point, but everyone knows by going to Woolies how much stuff costs these days. We still want people to be able to come enjoy that view, if they want a lower price point the bar will have stuff like snacks, burgers and fish and chips from $10-$35.”

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While finer-dining in surf clubs is a new concept in NSW, Fraser points out Queensland has been doing it for years. A roadblock for restaurateurs is that surf clubs are owned by local councils and it’s harder to negotiate commercial terms such as longer leases.

While Fraser’s Newport restaurant, Lovat, has a 25-year lease, Basin only has 10 years and he would like to extend it.

Avalon Surf Life Saving Club was the first on the Northern Beaches to update its restaurant. The Beach House Restaurant opened to great fanfare in 2015, but closed in 2020.

Operated by CBD-based Trippas White Group, one of the anecdotal reasons from locals for its failure was that it didn’t cater to the local market.

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The site is controlled by the Northern Beaches Council, which says it “expects to have a new operator in the venue within the next six months.”

Fraser believes being a local will ensure Basin Dining succeeds.

“We live around the corner, if there’s a problem we’re there. It’s our house on the line and we’re gonna do what we’re gonna do to make it happen,” he says.

“When I go for a morning walk, I see our guests and they tell me their feedback. Some of it hurts but we try our best and we really want to make sure that we look after the people that are going to be there for us.”