Manly has always been a place people come for the water. The dining scene that has grown around it is, by now, a reason to visit in its own right.
Cibaria – at the base of Elysium Manly – received its first SMH Good Food Guide hat in 2026, confirmation of what Alessandro Pavoni and his team have built here: Italian coastal dining of genuine ambition on one of Sydney's most iconic beachfronts. It is the natural starting point for a serious meal in Manly.
But this guide extends well beyond the hotel's footprint. From French-inspired bistro dining and long harbourside lunches to wood-fired pizza, Japanese omakase and Thai street food – the restaurants below reflect the full range of what this neighbourhood offers at the table, and they are all worth knowing.
Cibaria Manly
At the base of Elysium Manly, Cibaria is the work of Alessandro and Anna Pavoni – the husband-and-wife team behind Ormeggio at The Spit, one of Sydney's most enduring Italian restaurants. It received its first SMH Good Food Guide hat in 2026, a recognition that was, to anyone paying attention, only a matter of time.
The venue is structured around distinct dining experiences that flow into one another: the Caffetteria for morning coffee and pastries, the Trattoria for long lunches and dinners built around handmade pasta, wood-fired dishes and chargrilled meats and seafood, and the Gelateria for something sweet to finish. Aperitivo in the afternoon. The Terrazza on level two – with panoramic views over Manly Beach – available for private hire and events.
It is Italian dining with a genuine Northern Beaches address, and it shows in every detail.
Bistro Manly
On the ground floor of Elysium Manly, Bistro Manly takes French bistro cooking and places it squarely on the Manly beachfront – light-filled interiors, marble accents, booth seating and views directly over the sand.
Executive Chef Ryan Dawson brings classical French technique to local seafood and seasonal produce. The menu suits a long Friday lunch as easily as a quiet dinner mid-week – unhurried, well-made, with the beach as a constant backdrop.
Hugos Manly
Hugos has been at Manly Wharf long enough to have earned an unshakeable local following – and the reputation of its pizza, consistently ranked among the best in Australia, has a lot to do with it. The menu is contemporary Italian with a strong seafood presence, the cocktail list is inventive, and the outdoor deck faces west across the harbour in a way that makes it one of the better places in Manly to watch the sun go down.
The location is its own draw – right on the wharf, a step from the ferry terminal, with harbour views from both the indoor dining room and the deck.
Busta
From the team behind Chica Bonita and Sunset Sabi, Busta arrived on Pittwater Road with a simple brief – a place to eat good pasta and drink natural wine. The name came from a graffiti tag someone left on the window before opening. It stuck.
The space is intimate and warm – terrazzo floors, a curved central bar, an open kitchen. The menu is deliberately tight: antipasti, three pastas made daily with single-origin flour, mains and dessert. A concise natural wine list alongside more traditional Italian varietals. Walk-ins only.
Chica Bonita
From the same group behind Busta and Sunset Sabi, Chica Bonita has been on the Corso since before either of them existed – a compact, fully licensed Mexican restaurant and bar inspired by the street food of Mexico and Baja California. The menu is deliberately small and built around the kind of food – tacos, ceviche, tuna tostadas, carne asada fries – that pairs naturally with a margarita. Or several.
The margaritas have a devoted following. The room has the energy to match.
DeVita – Tastes of Napoli
DeVita has been on Darley Road for over a decade, run by Neapolitans who take the provenance of their pizza seriously. The wood-fired oven was built in Naples using ancient stones from the Amalfi Coast, and the pizzaiolo is a fourth-generation maker. These are not incidental details – they show in the result.
The menu moves between traditional and contemporary, with pasta and Southern Italian desserts alongside the pizzas. It is also BYO, which the locals have long considered one of its better qualities.
Garfish Restaurant & Bar
Garfish has been at East Esplanade since 2006, overlooking Manly Harbour with a view directly across to the ferry wharf. In that time it has built a reputation as the Northern Beaches' most reliable seafood restaurant – not through reinvention, but through consistency and a straightforward commitment to what's fresh.
The blackboard changes daily, built around whatever the kitchen has sourced that morning. The wood-fired oven adds a dimension that separates it from the usual coastal seafood formula – wood-roasted barramundi, scallops, prawn. The snapper pie has its own following among regulars who rarely bother looking at anything else. SuGarfish, the adjoining bar, opens from midday under a covered harbour-facing deck.
Pocket Pizza
Inspired by the back lanes of Little Italy rather than any Italian original, Pocket Pizza on Pittwater Road is a deliberate tribute to New York's neighbourhood pizza parlours – lace curtains, red and white checkered tablecloths, exposed brick, and forty seats that fill quickly. The bases are hand-stretched in house and the menu runs wider than the room suggests, with pasta, burrata and tinned sardines alongside the pizzas.
Bookings recommended. Takeaway available for those who'd rather eat on the beach.
St. Alma
St. Alma sits in Freshwater village in the old Bendigo Bank building on Albert Street – a considered fit-out of open kitchen, bar seating and large street-facing windows that have settled naturally into the neighbourhood. The restaurant is the work of owners who spent time eating their way through Mexico's east coast before writing the menu, and it shows in the specificity of what arrives at the table.
The focus is seafood-led sharing plates inspired by coastal Mexico – salmon ceviche, scallop tostadas, mezcal-cured kingfish, agave beef short ribs built for passing around. The cocktail list is agave-forward and taken seriously. The "trust the chef" and "trust the barman" options exist for good reason.
A short drive from Elysium Manly, or a scenic walk through Freshwater village.
Sunset Sabi
From the same group behind Chica Bonita and Busta, Sunset Sabi takes a different direction – a Japanese izakaya on Pittwater Road where the menu crosses comfortably between Japanese and Mexican influences. Sushi rolls, sashimi and gyoza sit alongside Japanese beef tacos and wasabi margaritas without any apparent conflict.
The space is minimal – raw timber, soft blue furnishings, a sushi bar where the chefs work in full view. The prawn and scallop toast has become something of a signature. The cocktail list is inventive and taken seriously.
Sushi Waka
On Pittwater Road since 2013, Sushi Waka is a neighbourhood izakaya in the quieter sense – unpretentious, consistently good, and the kind of place that accumulates a loyal following of locals who return without much deliberation. The interior nods to its setting with white sand décor; the menu covers the full izakaya range from bento boxes and sashimi to wagyu udon, gyoza and tempura.
BYO wine. A dedicated gluten-free menu available.
The Herring Room
"You don't see many restaurants like this anymore," Broadsheet wrote when it opened. That was 2015, and the observation has only become more accurate since. The Herring Room is family-owned and run by veterans of the industry – the same team behind the long-running Sardine Room in Potts Point – set in a 1920s-inspired space on Pittwater Road that has resisted every passing trend.
The menu is seafood-focused and bistro-styled, inspired by flavours from around the world and built around sustainable Australian and New Zealand sourcing. The crispy red snapper has its following; so does the lobster and prawn pasta. Degustation evenings run regularly. BYO wine.
Ormeggio at The Spit
For those who want to understand what Alessandro and Anna Pavoni built before Cibaria, Ormeggio at The Spit is the answer. Open since 2009 at D'Albora Marina in Mosman, it holds two SMH Good Food Guide hats and has been awarded three glasses in the Gourmet Traveller wine list awards every year since 2013 – one of Sydney's most consistently decorated Italian restaurants.
The menu is entirely seafood and meat-free, built around the finest sustainable Australian and New Zealand catch and structured as a "trip through Italy." The Pavoni risotto and the coppa gelato – made at the bar with house-made gelato – have become signatures. Middle Harbour views, aperitivo terrace, and the kind of service that earns its own mention in reviews.
Ormeggio is in Mosman, a 15-minute drive from Elysium Manly.
Yok Thai
On Wentworth Street, Yok Thai takes a less predictable approach to Thai cooking. The menu is built around Gub Glam – Thai tapas – with dishes designed for sharing: stuffed zucchini flowers, prawn on betel leaf, slow-cooked beef cheek curry and a low-carb pad thai alongside the classics. Chef and owner Jay Phoa-Chinda's cooking has earned a quiet but devoted following among Manly locals who consider it the best Thai on the Northern Beaches.
Fresh curry pastes made in small batches. A considered wine list to match.
