The Sydney dining scene is a diverse one but there are some things that you could call a quintessential Sydney dining experience, especially if you’re trying to recommend an experience to overseas friends. The one thing that springs to mind first is a place involving a view of the water. Sydney is known for its spectacular waterfront spanning across several areas of Sydney. Another thing, one that gets derided by other smaller cities, is a place that is somewhat a bit posey, where beautiful creatures go to roam at night. “It’s SO Sydney” they mock. Tonight, we are combining the two. At the early hour of 6pm, as the Manly Ferry heads towards the wharf, we are meeting at Hugos (no apostrophe!) at Manly.
Open just a couple of months earlier, Hugos Manly is part of the Hugos chain (although they’d probably be horrified to be part of a chain) co-owned by television chef Pete Evans and his brother David. I’d been to the now closed Hugos at Bondi many, many years ago and I recall that there was a lovely view there and that my husband was disgruntled at the size of his pasta main.
Located on the right hand side of Manly Wharf, the view of the water is stunning. And so to are the staff with the hostesses some modelish towering species of human skyscraper in incredibly high heels to make them seem even taller. I’ve been to fashion shows before but I’ve never seen women this tall before-even the tall amongst our party are agape. They and the staff are surprisingly friendly and helpful but in the evenings there is a no bookings policy (hence why we are dining at 6pm, some of the boys hate waiting) and all members of the table must be present before being seated. People are also able to sit on the outside section, bar style, and enjoy a drink.
Waiting what seems like an eternity for the rest of our table to arrive (in reality it’s only 5-10 minutes), the towering hostess in yellow has managed to find us a prized outside table (outside is not really outside, it’s still inside but well you know what I mean). The restaurant is loud and made even louder throughout the night but the light drizzle which sends all of their customers that usually wait outside, inside.
We’re given our menus, a mix of entrees, mains and pizzas which are not too badly priced given the location and restaurant. I realise that Peter Evans’ specialty is fish (after all that is what his cookbook is called) but we’re in the mood for pizza. We choose a few things, mostly from the pizza menu and one of the tasting plates for 2 so that we can get a selection of his regular dishes. The vegetarians amongst us have trouble deciding. “We’ve never had this much choice before!” they exclaim.
We’ve heard service is hard to get but once you get their attention, they’re very attentive and they’re right, The Assman has to signal a member of the waitstaff by waving but for the rest of the night they’re extremely attentive, our smiling waitress coming back several times to check that we’re happy with everything.
We’re not waiting long for our pizzas and they arrive on bamboo boards, sizable enough to satisfy with a thin base. They look delicious and we can’t wait to dig in. The tasting plate for 2 also looks good as does the Sugar snaps with salted ricotta.
Tasting platter for two: italian meatballs, fried calamari, oysters, salmon carpaccio $38
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