Bar Tropic

The Verdict

Manly’s famed Wharf Bar has just reopened after an extensive renovation—and this time around, it sports a brand new Mediterranean-inspired restaurant filled with high terrazzo tables, prawn cocktails on ice, wood-fired bread, and a spiced pineapple margarita worthy of your summer sipping.

With a food line-up led by executive chef Francois Poulard (formerly head chef at Woollhara’s Chiswick), the entire space has taken a leaf out of its sister venue on the Gold Coast—Burleigh Pavilion, so expect a touch of Palm Springs on Sydney’s Northern Beaches.

Bar Tropic has been designed to centre around an open kitchen, which means you’ll have front row seats to watch Poulard and the Bar Tropic crew cook up some pretty hefty seafood feasts. Inside and outside set-ups are available with freshly shucked oysters, lightly fried school prawns, grilled scallops, burrata, and salami Picante all on offer.

Moving past the small plates, you’ll want to hone in on the cold seafood platter, a hero item here loaded with spanner crab salad, scallop ceviche, chilled tiger prawns, kingfish crudo, Eastern rock lobster frites, and a 1.3kg Tomahawk steak frites.

Cocktails here are super fresh and simple, all inspired by cities around the Mediterranean. There are contemporary twists on classics including the limoncello-led "Amalfi" and the "Saint Maxime", a summery take on flavours of the south of France.

For group bookings, you'll want to check out the private dining room. Built for up to 30, it spills out onto the deck overlooking the water—and we can't imagine a better spot to be in summer.

Image credit: Steven Woodburn