Manfred

Manfred does great coffees. Excellent.
We decided to see how their food stood up so we visited mid week for lunch. We felt like it was a private dining room as we were the only ones present.
I ordered the pulled pork panini and side or fries. The 'panini' came out as a brioche. I am not sure if I would ordered the dish if I had of known it was going to be a brioche- sweet and sweet?!
The chips were freshly made and crunchy. The pulled pork brioche was ok. Nothing special but ok.
I would go back and try lunch again as the staff and owner are so lovely.
I hope it works for them.

Manfred is a relatively new restaurant/bar along High Street. This place used to be a great restaurant called Lil Boy Blue and was up there in my top 5 places to eat. It must have changed hands because it's been a dead spot for a while.

I was only there for a catch up coffee, but was a little peckish so I ordered the eggplant parmigiana (I think it was the cheapest thing on the lunch menu & I was being a tight!). When it came out, it's hard to say it looked pretty. The salad on the side could do with something to gloss it up; it looked rocket straight from the bag. Even a wedge of lemon on the plate may have distracted me from how matte the rocket looked.

I was also expecting something different looking. Maybe I read it wrong but I saw parmigiana and assumed something would be crumbed, like a chicken parma. In saying that, it actually was really nice. The sauce on it was delicious and for something as simple as eggplant, was a pleasant afternoon snack and could have eaten more. So nice that I'd be easily convinced to go back there & try other things on the menu.

UPDATE:
After a previous brunch attempt, I returned for dinner on a Sunday. The food was ok. We shared two different pasta dishes. I felt like they both didn't have enough depth of flavor.
We got dessert as well and I was hoping it would pull this place over the line. However they fell short. The meringue of the pavlova was rock hard. The crash-your-spoon-on-the-plate-and-meringue-goes-flying sorta hard. It also came with summer fruits that were either stewed or not so fresh. I think I was more disappointed with their tiramisu. I was lured in by the idea it was house-made, but like the pasta dishes, felt like it lacked depth. There was no coffee flavour & didn't have enough mascarpone.

I'm really wanting this place to do well. The staff are so so lovely, the restaurant is beautiful & it's got so much potential. I'd come back again in a month or two, to see if they've found their mojo. Like I said, this place could be great & if the food matched the service it would be amazing.

Great find. Gorgeous local cafe/bar with amazing food and now opening for dinner ! Fab calamari and pasta tonight, great friendly service and reasonably priced. Definitely a new regular for us :)

My favourite coffee in the area. It's turning into a daily addiction! Great brekky and seriously amazing pasta for dinner. Friday nights are fabulous - try the pumpkin pasta, I've never seen it served this way before 👌 5 stars from me!!

My favourite morning coffee stop!  Love catching up with Flami and the gang and especially love the fabulous Manfred Classico for brekkie ... its the best! Cant wait to come back and try your new Dinner menu... it looks delicious!