Felons Brewing Co. Manly — Restaurant in Sydney

I arrived for lunch selected a table confirmed the seating was ok with the staff and floor manager. we ordered our meal whilst waiting for the arrival of another person joining us for lunch.

The area we were sat had no reservations and the tables were separated in seating for 2 or 4.

We had our main, with our additional guest arriving late : before that persons appearance the staff became somewhat agitated and returning to our table at increasing frequency, on one occasion I asked if there was a problem and was assured there wasn't.

Whilst awaiting the arrival of the main for our late arrival party member the waiter approached me and said you need to vacate by 12.45 as we have a booking for this table. I told him no one had mentioned this when I had sat down I had in fact confirmed there was no issue with sitting where we chose.

The staff then moved us to a less desirable spot and rearranged all the tables to provide seating for a larger number of people: clearly they had just received a booking for a big group and we were moved on: without so much as an apology.

Now in the 27 years I have lived in the manly area I have never been moved on from where I'm seating to allow an eatery to accommodate a bigger group. The forced move in itself is galling; but to not even do it in a polite apologetic way left me very upset.

The floor manager who clearly like her status tasked the role to a waiter who seemed to think telling us where to go was ok.

The floor manager was not busy just standing there directing traffic a professional would have taken the lead there and come and at least apologised.

Simple Abysmal service...

Now ask yourself if your reading this how the hell would you feel to be moved on during your meal so the PUB restaurant ( for thats what it is) can make more Cash.

So Service in this place is Garbage and the floor manager should get some training in customer service. As I wrote I'm a local and I will enjoy retelling this story to as many locals as I can .

Some advice before you seat here for your meal ...ask how long you have to finish your meal before they start playing musical...

Went for a friend’s birthday for the bottomless brunch, when we first arrived we waited about 20mins for the first drinks to be served then chased someone down to order the next lot of drinks as more people had arrived, the drinks came and the food soon followed this was about 45mins in, the food was horrible, we got some purple corn chips which were stale with what was supposed to be guacamole, the avocado tasted like it was going bad with a bit of chilli mixed in and a heap of olive oil dumped on top (could only taste the olive oil with a hint of chilli with no other flavour) there were 7 of us and we got about 1 small fish cocktail each, there was a small ramekin bowl of boiled chicken mixed with some chilli slices, salsa in another small bowl, and some shredded pork, there was also plain shredded cabbage on the plate, we got about 2 pieces of bread each which looked like it was from a packet that was heated in a microwave and it was stuck together, there were no serving utensils so we ended up using our hands to grab everything and put it together, we also got 3 little sauces like the small tubs that you would get from a fish and chips shop. This was all shared between 7 adults which we paid $89 each, this would have probably only fed 2 people, everything was very bland. Our waiter than disappeared for an hour and some of us were only on our first round of drinks, we then went to the bar to try and order some drinks and was told by the staff at the bar they don’t serve to the tables and that we need to wait for our waiter, I asked “who is our waiter” she replied she “I don’t know”. So I went to another waiter and asked to order drinks and was told that our waiter is on a break, this was already over 1.5hours into our bottomless brunch, she brought our last round of drinks and 7 small pieces of churros with about 15mins to go. All up we got about 3 rounds of drinks, and $30 worth of food to be shared between us and we all left starving. The bottomless brunch is not worth the money, and the service seems unorganised as we were left without a waiter for an hour and no one was aware....

Ah, Manly Wharf Bar, where the sea breeze carries a hint of confusion and the staff seem to have attended the runway school of bewildered looks. Our recent visit was an adventure in culinary slapstick, where the simple request for extra bread with a cheese plate turned into an amusing comedic performance.

Upon arrival, we were greeted by our QR code AI waiter. Might as well have booked a sunset date with your microwave on the beach for the same level of personal interaction.

We ordered a bottle of bubbles and a cheese plate. After nibbling away we made the daring move to request extra bread. Little did we know, this would launch a saga of epic proportions.

The first server stared at us with the sort of perplexed expression usually reserved for solving complex mathematical equations. Clearly, the concept of more bread was beyond the realm of their training. They disappeared into the kitchen, presumably to consult with a council of elders on the feasibility of such a request (either that, or they just ran off along the promenade fearing for their life).

Minutes ticked by… More bubbles were enjoyed.

The second server arrived (well, actually we had to trick them into coming over under the guise of asking for some water for the table), looking equally flummoxed when we asked for some extra bread.

The third waiter arrived… and by this point it was clear… There is NO flat bread available… NO FLAT BREAD FOR YOU. But how did they get it to start with…?

In summary, Manly Wharf Bar offers a dining experience where the cheese is sharp, but the staff are sharper still – in their ability to convey confusion. If you enjoy a side of comedic misunderstanding with your meal, this is the place for you. Otherwise, bring a flare gun to signal for assistance with your bread...