The Bower Manly

We stumbled upon this Idyllic quaint bistro cafe right smack on the waterfront of Cabbage Tree Aquatic reserve as we strolled from Manly beach to Shelly beach along the waterside walkway. We stopped for lunch and a quick refreshments. The food was great and the sea view is spectacular sun bathers paradise around the tidal rock pool. Easy access but popular location, However we were lucky to get a seat outside on a warm day the sea breeze so refreshing. Bring yr swimming gear, Highly recommended!

Happy to say I'll never be seeing the new owners of bower again after being laughed at by the staff and publicly humiliated. I can not eat egg yolk. I kindly asked for them to remove the egg yolk prior cooking. I paid near $70 dollars for my breakfast. They said you can remove the yolk once we bring it to you. I explained to them how simple it was to separate the yolk three staff laughed and said once more “ you can remove it once we bring it out “ I asked not to worry about it and simply refund my money and ill take my business else where. They said “ okay we will do it” I explained I have already been laughed at in front of the restaurant and would just like to leave with a full refund. They also tried to sting me for this. Nothing was eaten or served i had to show them the transaction to be fully refunded. The service was unprofessional in so many ways. I will never go back to the bower under this new management and staff ever again! The local corner coffee shop down the road were incredible and will take my business, my friends and family there in the future. I can confidently say i was nothing but humiliated and shamed upon for the Bowers lack of efforts and customer service, it really is not worth the view! Absolutely terrible customer service and experience!

This place probably gets great reviews. People around me were eating what looked like delicious meals. But we just stopped in for tea, coffee and toast. Coffee was OK, tea was ordinary and $8 for a slice of fruit toast served in a bowl (who does that) not well toasted was rubbish. Would you be happy for two slices of fruit toast for $16. An experience not worth the spectacular view.

Wanted to grab a spot of lunch after a little seaside walk. We were lucky enough to get a table outside just after 1:30pm on which seemed to be a moderately busy day at the beach. It seems there are a few options to order here, you can download an app to order & pay or you can order & pay at the bar. The food came out pretty quick. The fish tacos were fantastic as was the rice salad & shoestring fries. Definitely a lovely place to have a relaxing meal & drink with the beach as your view.

AVERAGE AT BEST. Had a seafood platter for 2 (which includes wine - the wines were good!) for $90. To be honest, the grilled fish was good. Every other fish/seafood was « meh » at most. The prawns had NO FLAVOUR AT ALL! The « sashimi » & oysters were not bad but simply absolutely TASTELESS. I personally felt bad for the employees (both the italian waiter and the young girl working there were sweet and had great manners, they were NOT responsible for this situation I believe) as they looked understaffed and they came twice to offer me drinks i didnt order, i seen 2 tables around me also telling the waiters their orders were wrong. I guess except the veeery average (unexciting) food, the biggest issue is really that there is no table service / customer service almost. When we walked in, nobody greeted us, nobody said a “thank you” when we left. When you speak to the employees they are very nice but none of them seems to approach you if you don’t directly approach them (problem is, this isn’t a fish & chips or a mcDonalds, when you pay a decent price you also expect a decent service). The location is GORGEOUS and this is such a shame that such well located establishment seems so terribly managed.