The Fish Cafe at Manly - a horrible eating experience for us..

Hello Everyone..

I like to post about local business's that are doing a great job and providing great service, but every once in a while I come across a business in my travels that is just so bad that I feel I have to share it and last night my husband and I came across just such a business when we went to Manly, near Brisbane for dinner.

We had a lovely ride into Manly, we usually have dinner there at the Boat Shed on the Jetty (HIGHLY recommend them)..but tonight we got there late as it wasn't planned so we decided to eat at a restaurant near there that also had a take away section off it, the take away is called "Barramundi Boys Fish Cafe - Manly's favourite cafe and wine bar"

Anyway..we went in and ordered and encountered our first problem, I ordered first and I ordered salt and pepper calamari, my husband then said he would like the calamari pieces with sweet chilli sauce..obviously we didn't make ourselves clear because she put them both through as salt and pepper calamari...

Then we bought a drink each and I nearly died as the drinks there were each $3-85 and they were only small bottles!...

she asked if we want any chips with the salt and pepper calamari, so hubby says yes please and orders them as well (they were not cooked well and so terrible we only ate a few of the whole box).

We finally get our meal and thats when we first see we both got the same meal and not what we ordered.

Now salt and pepper calamari is something I try at everyplace we go as its one of my absolute favourite things to eat. I have eaten it in the Northern Territory, in Western Australia, all over Queensland, absolutely everywhere..and this salt and pepper calamari was the worst I have ever had in the last 5 years.

So much coating on it that you had to scrape it off to even get to the calamari and it had like cinnamon in the coating, just not nice at all.

The tables they have outside were lovely wooden ones, but filthy dirty and they made no effort while we were there to clean them and even when she put our take away on the table and you could see food on the table..she still didn't make any effort to clean it off!

We didn't eat most of our dinner and left. I was so disappointed to get such bad service and cleanliness from a favourite area such as this popular place.

Everywhere we have had this meal, its always well presented on a plate with salad (even if only mixed leaves and tomato) and a small amount of hot fresh chips, from this place, when you order salt and pepper calamari, you only get that..and a few old lettuce leaves like mine where one entire leaf was totally clear it was so old and saggy and icky, over cooked, and some even brown, chips that were like rubber we had to pay extra for..so not a good eating experience!

We wont be going there again and anytime we are asked for a recommendation for a local place to eat there, they will be ones we do not put their name forward!

I thought maybe it was because we rode a motorbike in, but I wore a nice shirt with my black jeans and we are not uncouth people with no manners who don't speak well etc so I can't really see that would have made a difference, and the tables out front were all filthy when we got there, so goodness knows how long they were all not even wiped down for before that, just a real shame as I have eaten there before about a year ago and it was quite good.

I hope for their sakes that they really pick their game up as there are so many food places around there that they really can't afford to coast by on their 'good name' for long.

Come on people..present the food nicely even if its from the take out section, dont reheat cooked chips as thats what it looked like we got, make sure if you give salad (or even just the lettuce leaves) that they are at least resembling fresh, for goodness sakes smile and be pleasant when dealing with customers and most importantly CLEAN YOUR AREA where you expect people to sit and eat your food for goodness sakes! Over all a totally bad experience and not worth the time it took to get there or the money it cost us to eat. Such a shame!