46 Pittwater Rd, Manly

With red-and-white check tablecloths, green and white umbrellas and sheer, lacy curtains, Pocket Pizza is a kitsch vintage Italian delight. Eat like you’re in the Sopranos and start with an antipasto spread with plates filled with olives, burrata and prosciutto. Next, move to pasta – our pick is the fusilli with vodka – before getting stuck into the pizzas, which have the perfect amount of char and chew. Make friends with mushrooms and try the 'Funghitown' with field 'shrooms, thyme, fried kale, ricotta and truffle; or the 'Can you pig it?' with pork and fennel sausage, cavelo nero and chilli. Just a heads up, Pocket Pizza gets super busy – we recommend an early, or a late feed. It's worth it.

1 Marine Parade, Manly

When the sun is shining there are few nicer spots to eat brekky or lunch than the Boathouse at idyllic Shelly Beach. This spot is tucked away right around the bend from Manly Beach, and it's a triple threat: kiosk, café and restaurant in one. Begin with the Boathouse classic: poached eggs, roast tomato with sourdough (and Pepe Saya butter). On the weekends we usually pair it with a Bloody Mary, and fresh OJ during the week. For lunch, it's hard to pass up the beer-battered flathead and chips – perfectly golden and crunchy, just as it should be. Soak up the views and enjoy.

22-23 Manly Wharf, Manly

Merivale's high-end Cantonese restaurant Queen Chow Manly, located right on the sparkling water at Manly Wharf, is a contender for Best Views. But for us, it's the food that really does the talking. Think plump prawn dumplings, glistening roast duck, kung pao chicken with a real pow, fragrant and fresh seafood, and moreish fried rice. Finish with a rich, decadent salted caramel brûlée tart – and don't dare share it. With a sunlit dining room, opulent interiors and a faint coastal breeze, the sister veunue to the OG Enmore spot is one of our favourite places for a long, boozy lunch in Manly – if not Sydney. 



Shop 1, Manly Wharf, East Esplanade, Manly

Hugo's has been slinging delicious pizzas and fruity cocktails to locals and tourists alike since it opened its doors back in 2009. So it's fair to say the well-oiled machine is as much of a part of Manly's DNA as the cheeky seagulls and surfers. Start with oysters and yellowfin tuna, before the pizzas. Choose the slow-roasted lamb pizza with feta, Sicilian olives and rocket; or one with fresh figs with pancetta and gorgonzola. If a view of the ocean with your squeeze is what you're after, be sure to book ahead for deck seating. The Mango Daiquiris go down a treat, too.


26 Pittwater Rd, Manly

If you're looking for a fun night out in Manly and a banging dinner, head to Sunset Sabi, Manly's funky Japanese restaurant and bar by the team behind nearby Busta and Chica Bonita. From cheeseburger gyozas to kingfish with strawberry, cucumber, chilli and yuzu, Sunset Sabi doesn't follow any rule books – and it works in their favour in spades. The karage chicken is a must-order (when is it not?), as is the kingfish in Mexico sushi roll with avocado, cucumber, pineapple and jalapeno. The latter is one of our favourite bites in the coastal suburb.

2-10 Pittwater Rd, Manly

Manly got a little bit cooler with the opening of Busta, a sexy little mod trattoria on Pittwater Road from the team that brought Chica Bonita and Sunset Sabi to life. If you pop by for an afternoon aperitivo and snack in the sunshine you may find yourself staying for hours. Which really, wouldn't be a bad thing. We love the retro Milan-meets-Amalfi design, the thirst-quenching cocktails and faultless tiramisù.

Whistler Street, Manly

Banco is a smart-casual hole-in-the-wall restaurant from the team behind Corretto Dee Why. You’ll find it hidden away on Whistler Street, a big neon bottle and a couple of street-side tables signalling that good times await. A vibrant and progressive addition to the Manly scene, Banco's warm and enthusiastic service is a highlight. The beverage offering must be among the best in Manly; the kitchen fare is deliberately rich and rustic, a love letter to Great Britain. Check it out, you won’t be disappointed.

9A/B, 9 The Corso, Manly

Chica Bonita (Spanish for 'beautiful girl') is a tiny bustling taqueria hidden in a dingy walkway just off the Corso in Manly. Silver, star-shaped lightshades dangle overhead, throwing shards of light against worn, dark brick walls. There are melting candles and crumbling plaster everywhere. Everyone’s sitting on metal chairs and ripping into loaded fries, which come out of the kitchen covered in layers of beans and guacamole, looking like corn-chip birthday cakes. But we go straight for the tacos: pork with chipotle pineapple salsa and onion; chicken with braised kale, lemon potato and achiote jus; and the fish taco with Baja sauce, cabbage, coriander and lime.

Hemingway’s (48 N Steyne) is the tiny Manly small bar offering the Northern Beaches a double dose of fun drinks and a whole lot of literature directly across from the famous golden sands of Manly Beach.

Donny’s Bar (7 Market Pl) is a bare-brick American-style loft bar where you can get a Bloody Caesar and a slider and pretend like you’re Stateside.

InSitu (1/18 Sydney Rd) is a retro-themed small bar and restaurant that also does bottomless Mimosas and tapas for brunch on weekends.

Manly’s bar scene gets a touch of glamour at the Cumberland (17-19 Central Ave), an underground speakeasy hidden below an old-world delicatessen.

On a sunny evening in summer the seats out on the deck over the water at the Manly Wharf Hotel (Manly Wharf, East Esplanade) are some of the most sought after real estate in the suburb.

The Hotel Steyne (75 The Corso) is a vast enterprise with different zones catering to any whim that may take you, be it cocktails, cider, Chinese food, pub classics, pizza, or a simple lager with the football on TV.

Manly Wine (8/13 S Steyne) has more than a hundred bottles on the wine list, organised into helpful categories that suggest more about how the wine will actually taste than a technical classification.

Born and bred on the beaches, Barrel One is a northern coffee institution pedalling quality bagels, sangas and a house roasted bean so good it’ll make you want to order another, almost immediately. With locations now dotting across the whole city, the Manly edition (40 E Esplanade) is one of the earliest OGs – and it shows. Not a fan of coffee? Go for the oat jaffa hot chocolate instead.

Norma's Deli is a new and very welcome kid on the block. A gigantic Greek-style food emporium, you can get quality coffee, epic take-away sandwiches and a heap of groceries all in one fell swoop.

Skittle Lane (81–83 Pittwater Road) is kind of peak-Manly. White linen, airy interiors and seriously quality coffee (think house seasonal blends) reign supreme at this tiny coffee shop. Opening up onto an Assembly the Label store, this is northern beaches neutral living at its finest.

For bread, butter and bloody good coffee, there ain’t nothing better than Berkelo Manly. Fresh sourdough and actually really good gluten-free banana bread are excellent additions to any cup o’ joe.

In a laneway off the Corso you’ll find Rollers Bakehouse (19 Rialto Ln) in a baby pink garage, baking croissants in every flavour imaginable and serving up their house coffee in white, black, filter or bottomless form.

Pair your coffee with a side of Scandinavian comfort food from Fika Swedish Kitchen (5B Market Pl), like a sugar-crusted, spiced cardamom bun.

The simple pleasures of good coffee and a Belgian waffles cannot be overstated at Barefoot Coffee Traders (18 Whistler St).

Get a colourful, tasty breakfast at Market Lane Cafe (9-11/37-39 The Corso) that ranges from a superfood salad to masala scrambled egg or hot cakes, with Allpress.