In Situ — Restaurant in Sydney

Manly is a happening place to hang out, especially in the warmer months. Stroll down the esplanade, pull up a towel and sunbake, walk through the markets of a weekend or stop by one of the many bars or restaurants for a drink and a bite to eat. Cafe by day, restaurant by night, you’ll be sure to find yourselves satisfied at any visit. We will help make it easy to choose the right place to visit. Insitu on this occasion, and true to its name, it’s been in place for many years now, becoming a popular venue for amazing food and cocktails. Of an evening the place is buzzing with hens parties, birthdays, date nights and groups of friends catching up for a drink (or a few). And, why not, when the cocktails were only $10 at happy hour! An incredible price for some amazing concoctions. The Jalepeno Capricosa is a must, a Brazilian specialty in this case prepared by the barman of Brazilian heritage. This drink is refreshing and also has a slight kick of spice, perfect to get the night going. The apple crumble martini tasted of an apple pie, an enjoyable cocktail to sip on.

With a tapas style menu at the time we were visiting as a group, deciding to share a few items. The Schezuan spiced calamari with lime Aioli has us fighting for the lions share. Insitu also Gruyere Arancini which you cant go past ordering! We were also pretty keen on the seared prawns which were super fresh and tasty!

For a larger share option the Pizzas are a popular option, and we can see why - super tasty, crispy base. With many tasty flavour combinations the choice was difficult, we opted for the roasted pumpkin pizza, sprinkled with quinoa, cream cheese and a bit of a kick from the jalapeños! We accompanied this with a goats cheese salad, with a honey and balsamic dressing topped with poached chicken.

The ambience is awesome - it’s has a fun vibe to it, a few musicians playing some tunes and cool bartenders making their work look fun. The outdoor seating down the back was a great place to sit with fresh air and a comfortable...

Please note this review is given for the breakfast so perhaps they get the latter part of the day right. However we went for a family gathering only 4 of us adults and it was a truly sad and woeful experience. We all agreed In Situ used to have the biggest and the best breaky in Manly. Note the word USED to. Management or ownership appears to have changed and the top notch breaky is sadly a thing of the past. With maybe only 6 items on the menu now including a bowl of what were frozen potato gems they were ok they were out of hollondaise sauce (pardon?.. it’s on the menu?) and a BnE roll and shakshuka eggs which were so hard and rubbery they needed a machete to cut through them. Well they did take AN HOUR to come out! That was really all there was menu wise oh there was a mushroom dish we were offered that no one had ordered. The service was embarrassingly lack lustre. Not sure exactly what the wait staff do except deliver the wrong orders as we had to order our own on a QR code which then charges you about $2 more for every item presumably to pay for the QR company(??) we kept getting things we didn’t order sent out. My sons ice mocha was like cold swilled milky coffee slopped into saucer no cream or chocolate in sight just a huge ice cube in it. Oh dear… we laughed, we cried it was baffling to witness what an enormous fail it was on every level!. In the end without us saying much to the waitress (perhaps we asked…can you tell us where our breakfast is?… we ordered over an hour ago?) the manager came and to his credit he offered us a full refund. The fact there were hardly any customers on a busy recent Sunday should have been a warning but wow it’s hard to fathom what a massacre job they are doing on what was a great cafe for years. Read the dates on the good reviews guys if you care about splashing out on a yummy breakfast. Sorry I’m Situ go back to the old school ways this place was run or you’ll run it into the ground. You have a fantastic location please...

A major complaint regarding my birthday celebration at your venue on the 7th of September. I made a booking for 27 people a month in advance, received two confirmation emails, and even a birthday celebration email, which I was initially excited about. However, the actual experience was beyond disappointing.

Upon arrival, we were seated at a table at the back of the courtyard that had no lighting, making it difficult to see or interact with my guests. There were also no QR codes to order food or drinks. When I asked your staff member, Luke, to turn on the lights, I was told they didn’t work. He then mentioned that my booking shouldn’t have been approved due to its size, which I found incredibly dismissive and unprofessional. If this was the case, why wasn’t I informed beforehand? I received confirmation emails welcoming the booking, so the lack of communication and management is shocking.

What made matters worse was Luke’s attitude—he was neither empathetic nor helpful. This was my birthday, and there was no effort made by your staff to ensure we were comfortable or taken care of. The QR codes weren’t functioning, forcing us to order from the bar, where the service was extremely slow, leaving us waiting far too long for food and drinks.

To top it off, a RAT ran across the floor near one of my friends, which is an alarming health hazard. The final straw came when we had to beg for a knife to cut the birthday cake. Luke initially refused and suggested we should have brought our own, which is completely unreasonable. When he eventually gave us a knife, it was done with no enthusiasm or care, making us feel like an inconvenience.

The entire night was a disaster. Your venue was understaffed, the service was rude, and the overall experience was appalling. We were a group of 27 paying customers, yet not one of us felt respected or valued. Had I known in advance, I would have booked another venue without hesitation. You should be ashamed of how this...