Whitewater

1.3 Not Recommended

Food  2      Ambience  1      Service  1      Value  1     

I am at this restaurant right now and I am uploading this because I got so annoyed with the food and the service. It took over twenty minutes for a plate and it's cold! And had I asked them to cook it extra crispy and the fries are so wet and the smell of fish is too fishy.

Moreover, the price of the food is much more expensive than others, and the taste is not better than others. This is the most awful restaurant in Manly. And they are not friendly to us because we are with our lovely puppy. Strongly Not recommended for the people with their pets.

Apr 09, 2012 

1.5 Not Recommended

Food  2      Ambience  2      Service  1      Value  1     

We should have known as locals, a restaurant on the beach at manly, it's only there to make profit from tourists! We started with a drink at the bar, ordering 2 caprioskas and 1 mhojito - I watched the bar waitress make these only half full, then filled them up with soda and tonic water. They were horrible.

We had duck pancake for entree, this was the best part of the night, it was nice. 3 of us ordered the Waygu - 2 x medium and 1 x medium rare.and bleeding. The chips were doused with salt, impossible to eat. When they collected our half eaten plates I advised we were disappointed, the backpacker serving us said he would tell the chef.

We also had the crab pasta which said it came in a white wine sauce, it was a tomato based sauce, and was covered with landfill (some sort of lettuce) and was so dry it looked like it has been baked!

We then ordered dessert, couldn't get that wrong right? Creme caramel, it was runny cream! We sent it back and were told by the head waitress the chef passed on his apologies and that there was a 'bad batch', why are these being pre-prepared? It was $16! I had the white choc cheesecake, it was still frozen, and we also had the choc brownie, again, dry and inedible. Definitely never going back! Extremely disappointing.

Mar 04, 2012 

3.3 Below Average

Food  2      Ambience  7      Service  2      Value  2     

We went for dinner recently and were very disappointed. We started with some cocktails which were awesome. My partner ordered an entree of Grilled King Prawns which were also nicely done. However, it all went downhill for the mains - I had the Ocean Trout and my partner had the snapper. The trout was the worst meal out I've had in recent years, the whole dish was dry and bland and inedible. The snapper was sorta passable.

We would definitely never go back, I can do better on my George Foreman grill! Overall, great view, non-existent table service and very below average food aimed at the tourist crowd.

Feb 02, 2012 

6.8 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  8      Service  6      Value  6     

My wife and I went for lunch yesterday. We had no booking but somehow managed to time a vacant table out the front. It's nice to have the restaurant on one side of you and the manly setting on the other. We're not manly locals so have no prior experience with this restaurant at all.

The first thing I'll note was the service. The senior staff who greeted us out front gets a 2 out of 10. She was terrible. I don't care how busy you are, as a senior staff you have to smile and be welcoming. As a diner I want the senior staff to be warm and I want to feel welcomed into their restaurant. There was none of that.

Everyone else was much better and I mean everyone else. We were served by at least four different waiters/waitresses. There didn't seem to be any order as to how the restaurant was served. That doesn't really bother me, but I to tend to prefer the idea of knowing who is specifically looking after us and their method kind of fell over when our mains turned up and we were still waiting to order some wine to go with it. We'd started with a beer each, but no-one seemed to notice those beers were empty and so on and so on.

The food itself was very nice. We shared the duck pancakes for an entree. I've always been a sucker for duck pancakes and these ticked all the right boxes.

We both had the wagyu rump, medium rare, both were cooked perfectly. The menu said chips and salad. The chips were served in a separate bowl and were crispy and nice but the salad was a joke. It was just a small pile of mixed lettuce leaves, not good enough.

The wine list was pretty narrow. I do have a gripe about the affordability of wines on offer. My memory is a little hazy, but in one of the red sections I seem to remember maybe 7 or 8 options. The cheapest was around $45, the next around $75 and the next was $88. The other bottles were over $100 and $200. We paid $120 for ours and it was beautiful, but then at price you'd expect it to be so. There should be more affordable wine.

So all up, we had a nice lunch. Not amazing, but that didn't matter. Would I go back? not being a local, unlikely, I'd rather check out somewhere else. I'm sure this place will consistently pull in the tourists like us.

Jan 27, 2012 

2.5 Not Recommended

Food  2      Ambience  4      Service  2      Value  2     

We have been to Whitewater many times over the past few years and have always found both the food and service to be really good quality. Today was a massive disappointment.

We waited 45 minutes for our lunch, when we asked where it was we were told by a very surly waitress that they were very busy and how long ago did we order it? No apology or 'I will check for you'. When it did come my guest's chicken was raw inside, another dish came out cold when it wasn't supposed to be so we sent it back and the other two dishes were poorly cooked and extremely overpriced for what we got.

The dish we sent back did not turn back up so we asked for both it and the chicken dish to be removed from the bill. The waiter informed us there were new owners and he himself was about to walk out.

Such a stunning location, very disappointing that what used to be a very nice restaurant on the waterfront is now very poor. We certainly won't ever be going back.

Jan 22, 2012 

3.3 Below Average

Food  2      Ambience  5      Service  3      Value  3     

Manly's restaurants are very average especially along the water front. They tend to serve tourist food at inflated prices. Its all very same same. Whitewater was stand out and I stress the word 'was'. They use to be a cut above the rest.

The prices were too but it was worth paying the extra to go there. I'm not sure what happened, perhaps, they weren't making enough money but upon our recent visit the first thing we noticed was that they now have tacky pictures of food up outside (never a good sign) and the entire menu has changed. They now serve the same old boring tourist food that all the others are serving. Is this really what restaurants have to do in manly to survive?

Are tourists and manly locals really that unadventurous that they won't eat anything other than bland pasta and grills etc. We will now add whitewater to all the other restaurants we walk past but never eat in. The tourists can have it.

Dec 15, 2011 

4.3 Below Average

Food  4      Ambience  7      Service  3      Value  3     

Not our favourite anymore. A disappointing experience for us, Whitewater was always our 'go to' place for Sunday lunch with interstate visitors. After we had talked it up we were there last Sunday, with a party of 10. We waited a very long time for our order to be taken then a very long time for the meals to arrive.

The restaurant was not full so no excuse. The service was rude and indifferent. The two people who ordered the fillet steak were extremely disappointed in both the size, and how their steak was cooked and presented (a small serving of chips and not served with salad?) They would have ordered a salad if this was explained to them.

Our biggest disappointment was the wholesale change in the menu, all the favourites had disappeared and there were very few items that were easy to share on offer. Not surprising when we left, that all the restaurants on either side were full and busy. You have lost the plot Whitewater, a pity as the ambience is lovely.

Nov 29, 2011 

4.5 Below Average

Food  4      Ambience  6      Service  4      Value  4     

A disappointing experience from start to finish. We waited 30 minutes for our table which they gave to someone else and then tried to seat is by the front door. While we waited at the bar no one served us a drink. We got offered a free bottle of wine when we complained about the wait and lack of service. The starters were quite good (oysters, duck pancake) or average (crab, squid).

Mains were poor (trout, steak, tempura flathead) or good (chicken). Chocolate dessert plate was poor. Service at the table was quite good except for the times they forgot drinks and the time they cleared half the table and forgot the other half for ten minutes. Won't be back.

Nov 06, 2011 

2.3 Not Recommended

Food  2      Ambience  3      Service  2      Value  2     

Terrible experience at Whitewater. We made a reservation a week in advance and turned up on time only to be asked 'have you really?' and then be asked to stand at the service and POS area of the bar to wait for a seat (getting in the way of the bar and wait staff) as our table was just being reset and would be ready shortly. Then 30 minutes later we were told our table was ready outside, 5 minutes later were put on a table inside next to the toilets. Waited 15 minutes with no one attending to the table before we asked for menus.

Entree of duck pancakes was pretty good (maybe we were just so hungry after the 45 minute wait). Main course of beef cheeks was simply woeful - beef was very tender but little flavour. The accompanying colcannon was totally bland and runny and the horseradish cream so mild it may as well have been plain cream.

The entire main course was bland and texturely uninteresting. Again a 20 minute wait to be offered a dessert menu. Did not bother with dessert. Paid the bill and it came back minus the credit card. This is the third visit in 6 years - previous visits were average. Will not be going back or recommending. Appalling customer service, half hearted and insincere apologies.

This restaurant is overrated. There are far better restaurants in the area with superior food and service offerings. Whitewater seems to be aiming for a fine dining experience but the reality is nowhere close.

Nov 06, 2011 

6.5 Recommended

Food  5      Ambience  6      Service  8      Value  7     

I came for a dinner with my family to celebrate a moment, We were all well received and had a good time as it was supposed to be, the place is beautiful. We were welcome to have a nice dining experience but we had distinct oppinions around the table, Their oyster are fresh and thats enough, I regretted by asking to have it in so many special ways, the best I tried was the plain rock oyster with lemon, maybe its just me, food wasn't too fast but not too slow either, besides it was a monday night, half enjoyed their main meal and half didn't , I guess I expected a bit better, anyway the servce didn't let go even for a second so we still had a good time , I'd say we would be back cause we need to know more about the food that goes in this restaurant.

Jul 07, 2011