The Egg Leaving Incident, or where not to eat in Manly

You would think, in this day and age, this age of Masterchef and a proliferation of foodie magazines, that you could rely on most cafes in Manly, a fairly upmarket suburb of Sydney and one full of international tourists, to serve decent food and offer above average service. No so on South Steyne, east of the Corso on Manly. Most cafes on this strip appear to serve overpriced, badly cooked meals, served with plenty of attitude and not much appreciation for the paying customer.

My experience this weekend has made made me vow never to sample this part of Manly again. I’ll leave it for the unknowing tourists.

I was actually looking forward to a breakfast at Whitewater, where I remember recently enjoying wok fried eggs, and was hoping to share this local treat with a friend visiting from Melbourne. Having arrived at 11am, we are told unceremoniously that they had finished serving breakfast and would not be serving lunch until 1230. Confronted by this, my Melbournian friend was rightly outraged – if any cafe in Melbourne tried to stop serving breakfast before 3pm they would go out of business within weeks. How can a cafe in Manly get away with this?

They recommend we go next door to Cafe Rouge. I bypass this suggestion having dined there the day before on possibly the worst risotto I have ever tasted which left me with an after-taste of garlic all day long.

We, my friend and my two daughters, opt for Manly Grill, two doors down. Promised breakfast until 2pm. So we sit down and inspect the uninspiring menu. When the bored looking waitress finally deems to take our order, I’m told they “don’t serve scrambled eggs”. Are you kidding me? “Only poached or fried.” “Can you check with the chef?” She wanders over to the counter and hovers there for a while before returning to say “no, sorry, we can’t cook scrambled eggs.”

So by this stage I’ve had it with Manly, and to the mortification of my daughters I say to the waitress, “that’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. We’re leaving.” My daughters think I’m the most embarrassing mother on the planet. They’ll learn.

Happily (well my daughters aren’t happy) we wander west of the Corso through the craft markets and decide on a cafe in Manly’s lane-ways called In Situ where we are served exactly what we want in large portions for a reasonable price. The waitress actually apologises to me because although I’d only ordered one egg I’d been served two and she assures me I’ll only be charged for one. So a happy ending.

Recommended in Manly:

North Steyne: Honolulu Grill, JellyFish, Ash’s Table.
Queenscliff: Splat