Beware the Bavarian Beer Cafe at Manly
We had the worst dining experience we can remember at Manly today at the Bavarian Beer Cafe. For out-of-towners, Manly is a famous beachside 'village' in Sydney, Australia. The Bavarian Beer Cafe is a tourist trap, situated just where you get off the Manly Ferry, the most popular way to reach Manly from the City.
What was so bad about it? The food. The beverages. The service. The hygene. Did I miss anything?
Louisa and I both ordered the beer-battered flathead, normally a succulent eating fish. What we were served may have been flathead, but it was heavily disguised as reconstituted fish-like material. The chef had managed to dry it out, either by buying it frozen or by overcooking it. It was tasteless and inedible.
The beer. I ordered a "Hell" and a German lager. The "Hell" was Ok but the lager, all half a litre, was warm. Premium prices charged for undrinkable beer.
The service. We asked the wait-person who took our order for an additional small plate to share my chips with the grandson. It did not arrive with the food, so we asked for it again. No action. We asked another wait person. Nothing. In the end I had to go to the bar and ask a waitress (whose command of the English language was such she couldn't understand me) to get me a plate. She did so, with a look of bemused contempt in her eyes.
By this stage I was starting to believe we had wandered onto the set of a new version of Faulty Towers being shot in Australia.
The hygene. My wife took our grandson to the toilet, lifted the lid and found either faeces or vomit all over the seat back.
She warned the staff.
And now I'm warning you.
Beware the Bavarian Beer Cafe in Manly if you like good food, cold beer, smart service, and clean toilets.  ¶ 3:32 AM