“I’ve been looking for this place for over half an hour!” Blythe wails telling us that she had even asked the convenience store next door for directions here having overlooked China Beach. Located right on the esplanade on Manly beach in prime position with the beach across the road the room it still manages to elude those searching for it by foot or by car. The room is long and eyecatching in tones of red and white designed by Iain Halliday.

The menu here is similar to the menu at sister restaurant China Doll at Woolloomooloo wharf – some Chinese, Japanese, Thai and Vietnamese. This should technically sound warning bells but we were assured by friends that this worked. The mains actually sound a little more enticing than the entrees which is a change so we order a couple of entrees and plenty of mains. They explain to us that the dishes are designed to share and that for entrees there are usually four pieces of each but they can be upsized to suit the number of people dining (at extra cost of course).

Betel leaf with house smoked trout, grilled eggplant and green chilli nam jim $4 each

We start with the betel leaf topped with a smokey house smoked trout which still retains a good amount of juiciness and isn’t smoked until it is dry. There’s some grilled eggplant which also adds to the silky voluptuous texture and a green chilli nam jim to give it a little punchiness as well as lots of fresh herbs.

Chinese 5 spice crispy prawns with toasted chilli and lemon $16 ($20 for 5 prawns)

The five spice prawns come with a little five spice powder and a lemon wedge which we squeeze onto the five prawns (upsized from four). They’re tempura battered and served hot and crunchy although if you are looking for a similar dish but larger the squid might be your choice.

Grilled lamb cutlets with green papaya salad, cherry tomato, sweet fish sauce $24

The grilled lamb cutlets end up being everyone’s favourite dish of the night. The grilled lamb is buttery soft and tenderly pink in the middle and the piquant green papaya salad redolent in fish sauce and Thai basil suddenly makes perfect sense to cut through the rich, buttery lamb.

Twice cooked free range duck with sweet tamarind, lychee, ginger and crispy eschallot $29

I had had a similar dish at China Doll and it reminds me somewhat of Kylie Kwong’s duck dish. It is a generously sized portion (indeed prices are very reasonable considering the proximity to the beach) and the sweet tamarind goes perfectly with the juicy duck pieces whilst the crisp eschallot give it a savoury aspect.

Roasted pork belly stir fried with mama’s curry paste, snake bean, lime leaf and basil $28

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Like children, you should never favour one parent over the other. When we went to celebrate a late Father’s Day this year, as we had booked into Garfish Kirriblli for Mother’s Day, we booked into Garfish Manly for our belated Father’s day. It was aided by the fact that I had a $50 gift voucher from the nice people at Garfish. You see they had seen my review where I was a bit confused at why a sauce was taken away and then replaced and then charged for and sent me the voucher as a way to make up for it. And whilst I never expected them to do that,  I did think that it was a very nice way of them to respond.

We make a booking at the Manly Garfish which sits opposite the ferry wharf. Interestingly, even though they have our booking, there is no table set aside for us and we received the best available table at the time. As we were eating at 1pm and most of the restaurant was already full this meant that the table was pretty far back form the front and from the view. I think if anything, dining a bit earlier might nab you a prized front table in front of the view. It is an airy, chic very North Shore and Manly dining space with maximum views and lots of light colours and a bar at the side. And there are huge flatscreen televisions which play footage from the open kitchen.

Ze instruments of torture!

Wood fired focaccia with house made taramasalata $7

I was hungry as I had missed breakfast and it was getting onto 1:30pm so we ordered some quick tummy fillers. We could have the foccacia with caramelised garlic and rosemary but I am a taramasalata fiend so it was a no brainer for me. The bread is warm and buttery and soft and my mother and I are big fans of the spongey bread and the creamy dip.

Sour dough with EVOO and za’atar $3.50

None of us were particularly smitten with the combination here. Perhaps it was because we all really loved the foccacia or maybe none of the three elements really stood out for us.

Live Southern Rock Lobster $84.50

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There’s nothing more painful than ill conceived or contrived beachside chic and conversely there’s nothing better than welcoming true beachside chic. Sydney does it so well and so badly at times. Badly is when the view speaks or shouts louder than the food which is a scant afterthought and prices rival that of a 5 star restaurant just because you happen to be sitting across from the ocean. Vespacific cafe is of the other ilk, a little retro style beachside cafe with a Vespa theme running through it in Narrabeen on Sydney’s Northern Beaches. Service is said to be friendly, servings tasty and huge and they also happen to be very vegetarian friendly (and incidentally we see that they also compost but not in that in your face kind of way that shouts “I’m fashionably green!”). It’s a beautiful sunny Winter’s day in Sydney so what better way to spend it than to be beachside. I confess it’s a compulsion of mine whenever we get a nice sunny weekend day in Winter.

Vespacific is relaxed – when I call them to see if I need a booking the woman says “Oh ok sure, for how many people?” and when I answer “Two” I hear her tell the staff “Hey guys there’ll be a table of two at two o’clock, just keep a table for them”. When we arrive, we see that the cafe is located across from the water where there is a raised wooden viewing platform. And what’s this for? For checking out the surf of course. Canny locals get their sustenance to take away from Vespacific and watch the waves breaking.

When we arrive we nab a table near the window. It’s not quite an ocean view, more a grassy view but there is some comfort to know that the ocean is past the grass. I breathe a sigh of relief to find that the menu features all day breakfast items. That means that their famous Mega Bacon and Egg roll is available and it’s got my name on it. We order the Punjabi Eggs for my husband and a croissant with banana and a liquid chocolate shot to share. The menu has a wide range of vegetarian options including some that have me switching allegiences from omnivore to vegetarian such as the “Gourmet toast with roasted capsicum, eggplant, caramelised onion, capsicum and olive tapenade topped with fried halloumi and fresh herbs”. Prices are extremely reasonable with most items under $10. I kid you not.

Australian Meat!

I look around. It’s almost like a set of Home and Away it’s so beachy and laidback. There’s plenty to see including a bookshelf with a book “How to do sex properly” and a battered but well loved 1869 edition of “Mrs Beeton’s Book of Household Management” simply propped up on the shelf without ceremony. I enjoy flipping through it and reading about the “Mulligatwany Soup made with Australian Meat” and the wages awarded to male and female household servants with different wages suggested for those that receive sugar, tea and beer.

Also true to the name, there’s a red Vespa adorning one wall behind a print of a surfer midflight (we spy a mini Vespa keyring on the owner’s key chain too), paintings from local artists and Barbie, Skipper and Ken in a red convertible on the countertop. Perhaps I’ve been too absorbed in my copy of Mrs Beeton’s Guide to Household Management but the food arrives quickly. It’s freshly made and hot and smells inviting so I dig in eagerly.

Cappucino in a Mug $3.50

Mega Bacon and Egg Roll $12

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