Numa Italian — Restaurant in Manning

Really wanted to enjoy this new Italian local but was sadly let down by a limited menu with poor execution and indifferent management attitude.

Unless you want pizza or pasta there are only 3 protein options available - one each of fish, chicken and steak. I had my eye on the ribeye steak which at $39 seemed pretty good value. Sadly, on ordering, I was told it was not available, but that there was a beef cheek special in lieu, which I duly ordered. It was especially galling, therefore, when I overheard the gentleman at the neighbouring table, who was seated after us, being asked how he preferred his steak cooked! A mixup with the kitchen apparently, terribly sorry sir!

My wife chose the fish, which was..fishy in taste…and mushy, in a manner reminiscent of a fish farmed in the Mekong delta.

Eldest daughter had the roast chicken which was well cooked and tender, but sadly drowning in pool of capsicum based sauce which covered the entire plate, and topped with a pile of raw sliced red chillies which were not to her taste.

My younger daughter chose the lamb ragu pasta which was meaty, but gloopy and dry like paste, with overcooked pasta. She found it unappetising but soldiered through half of it.

My beef cheek was tender and flavourful, but was let down by the accompanying half dozen overcooked green beans which had burst their contents into the pool of brown gravy, leaving only their stringy husks behind. Oh, that and the fact the beef cheek was cold. I mean not fridge cold, but a complete absence of heat one normally expects in a $40 restaurant meal. I find cold meat unappealing, so I sent it back after maybe 4 bites.

Now, in fairness, I was offered a replacement meal, but given the fact my family were halfway through, and not especially enjoying, their meals, and there was nothing else on the menu that appealed, I declined, deciding to cut my losses.

Upon settling the bill, I had not been charged for my meal - fair enough. However upon suggesting to the manager that as a gesture of goodwill, and to encourage my future returning custom, maybe taking a drink off the bill might be in order, I was accused of having sent my meal back “3 quarters eaten”. Very well then. Consider me a non-returning customer.

As a postscript, our neighbour’s steak looked excellent, was served medium rare with broccoli, not overcooked beans, and he appeared to enjoy...

We went to Numa to try this new place out as the place looks so nice and in the neighbourhood for one of us for my birthday. It was rather quiet on a Sunday afternoon however, we were told we couldn’t stay at the booth despite saying we could seat anywhere we like. The entree we ordered the burrata and mussels with broth dishes, the burrata was nice but bland and I guess you can’t fault the cheese itself as it’s an amazing cheese. The mussels weren’t very fresh with a few of them closed, the broth was salty and the crusty bread which came with it was hard as rock even butter we ordered on the side did not help make it edible at all. The main we ordered the lamb ragu tagliatelle which the pasta was nicely aldente with the slow cooked braised lamb meat dry and chewy drenched in tomato sauce which did not save the dish… the other main was the squid ink marinara type dish and the seafood again wasn’t fresh or well cooked with the mini scallops overcooked and the seafood seem lk it came from a frozen pack of marinara mix with tiny little prawns, the sauce was tasteless and we were not offered cheese or pepper with any of the pasta dishes. The service was mainly good except that it was hard to get the waitresses attention at times, not as attentive especially seeing that it was a quiet day. Not once did the owner or manager come to check on our meal or chat to us at all for us to even give any feedback. The grapefruit spritz I had, had some amaretto or cherry flavour in it which was strange and I didn’t recall the menu having that in it. My friends pink Grigio wine was not chilled. We didn’t bother getting more drinks or any dessert by the end of our meal as we were very disappointed with our experience. The only thing good was the aesthetically pleasing decor and place. I don’t think we will be back especially after I had food poisoning from the meal with terrible gastro straight after the meal. Overall a very disappointing meal despite the...

We weren't aware until recently that Manning had a new Italian restaurant - so thought we'd try for a date night. Located at the Bradshaw complex at the Manning Hub. Numa is open for lunch and dinner six days a week (closed for lunch on Monday & Tuesdays).

We went on a Friday night and booked in advance, as they have set sitting times. The restaurant is modern and spacious. The service was impeccable, from the moment we walked the staff were attentive, helpful and extremely friendly - made us feel totally at ease. The menu is simple and uncomplicated with a selection of Italian entrees/shared dishes, pizzas, and pasta/mains. We went with the pork belly for starters - the apple sauce was the perfect accompaniment. For mains the Brasato, (braised beef cheek) with parmesan mash, snow pea, truffle oil; and the grilled Barramundi, with dusted broccoli, creamy bisque, confit chilli, fried pachinko tomato. We also had an Italian salad as a side.

At the end of the day I think that our stomachs were smaller than we anticipated. The food was cooked well, it was just very heavy and very rich - neither of us could finished what we had ordered. The parmesan mash and truffle oil were almost overwhelming - there was too much confit chilli, and the creamy bisque overpowered the beautifully cooked fish. Also, there was way too creamy mayonnaise dressing in the Italian salad - that could be pared back significantly.

There was a lot to like about our experience at Numa (the staff were amazing) but also some areas for...