Bella Vista Manly — Restaurant in Sydney

Upon arrival waited for ages before asking a staff member if we could be seated and then being told someone would be with us shortly. Several minutes later approached by a young man who did not apologise for having us wait for a considerable time and who impressed as if we were “imposing” on him. Shown to a table in the centre of the veranda, quite exposed to staff and patrons walking and bumping on our chairs. Asked if we could have another table and the young man in a dismissive tone said words to the effect of “first in first served”. Told the young man I had booked and paid the booking fee more than 24hrs prior and that I specified that is was quite a special occasion (birthday) but that was shrugged by the young man with a disinterest look and basically a “this is the table we’ve got… take it or leave it. The food took a little time to arrive… my partner’s wine glass was positively disgusting with white, greasy marks (sent it back) and my ragù was less than ordinary. I’m Italian (born and bred there)… I know a good ragù when I eat one. That one was not a good ragù. Not sure about my partner’s choice of dish but she told me it was nothing to write home about. Needless to say, we did not have dessert and were also surprised to be charged $8 for just carbonated water. Surely a bottle of San Pellegrino would not have eaten into the restaurant’s profits that much.

In addition was not told if the $40 reservation fee I paid was deducted from the bill or not. I did not want to stop and ask as the entire atmosphere amongst the staff was one of stressed and unfriendly people. I’ll check my bank account shortly.

Overall… an experience never to be repeated.

Pity as I have been in your restaurant on quite a number of previous occasions and the experience had been...

A tad disappointed with this place all up. More can be done with this fantastic venue, and it's sad to see Bella Vista Manly serve up terrible food in such an excellent location with great views.

Coffee was good when it came out at first so I was very excited.

Menu was a tad strange. No real brunch options for what is really a brunch location... it's more like a dinner menu of heavy food items.

I ordered the salad and specifically mentioned that I did not want pancetta. However when it came out I noticed a few stray pieces of pancetta - looked like it had been picked off. Moreover the whole leaves and unpitted olives made for an awkward eating experience. Salad literally went everywhere. Also taste wasn't something I'd write home about. At almost $30 for this salad, it was I think the worst salad I've had in my year of having different food around Australia, including in more remote parts of Australia where talented labour is harder to find than 5min from Manly beach.

The burger was fine, except that it was terribly, extremely salty. Chips were good, but struggled to undo the salt burger.

Separately I noticed the men's toilet was basin was blocked. As I was leaving, mentioned it to thr wait staff in hope of someone tending to it. To my surprise I got told the wash basin was meant to stay...

We decided to visit North Head Sydney Harbour last Friday a beautiful day with little wind, sunny and about 18C. After a spectacular ride down Sydney harbour on the famous Manly Ferry (normally packed with tourists but virtually empty because of Covid 19), calm seas and beautiful views we walked for about 40 mins uphill to Bella Vista Café. OMG 😆 initially we thought it was closed because one could see tables and chairs stacked inside BUT around the corner we saw with great relief that it was open for take away and in fact has been open for take away since the virus 🦠 arrived on our shores. The staff were young, enthusiastic and very welcoming. The menu was excellent and we enjoyed our coffee and light lunch sitting outside. Just in that area there is the Lady Fairfax walk and the Memorial walk. We only had enough time to do the LADY FAIRFAX WALK. The views from the edge of the sandstone cliffs are just incredible. You look across to South Head and down the coast then across and right up the Harbour to the City high rise buildings and the famous Sydney Harbour Bridge. Would be a perfect spot to watch the start of the Sydney/Hobart yacht race on Boxing Day. The photo depicts a Bush Turkey hanging around the Café hoping to pick up...