Banter Coffee House

Banter Coffee House is an absolute gem of a café tucked away in Wondall Road Village, Manly West, from where it quietly dishes up what is arguably the best food and coffee on the bayside.

Seating at this super child friendly café (a sibling of popular eastside Deedot Coffee House) is in a high-ceilinged contemporary pavilion, which has plenty of room for prams and wheelchairs and features a little Astroturf corner with faux autumn tree and pillows perfect for restless littlies as well as a stack of high chairs.

Banter Coffee House serves All Day Breakfast, with a fantastic selection of creative and delectable dishes that would ace it in any inner-city café precinct.

As well as the lighter Avo on Toast, Maple Macadamia Granola or Ricotta on Fruit Toast and Polenta Fromage with Poached Rhubarb, the main dishes are a real standout – think Soy-Glazed Pork Belly with fried bread, poached eggs, cured radicchio and oregano; Chilli Scrambled Eggs with pork skin noodles; Brioche Waffle with honeycomb crumbed strawberries, salted caramel anglaise, bee pollen sweet potato chips and Chantilly cream; and a must-try is the Crab Benedict – tempura soft shell crab, dill-infused hollandaise, poached eggs on French baguette with paw paw salad.

Lunch is served from 11.30am and the offerings are every bit as delicious – Octopus Salad, Cheese and Corn Risotto, Asparagus Flan, Cheese or Mushroom Burgers or Pepper Roasted Pear Salad.

Behind the counter there’s BLT rolls and Ham and cheese croissants, as well as chocolate and macadamia brownies, friands, vanilla slices and cup cakes.

Also on offer at banter Coffee House are a small range of providore items such as jars of the in-house jam and coffee beans from local roaster Uncle Joe's.

The creativity doesn’t end with the food menu at Banter Coffee House – another must try are the Fancy Shmancy Shakes with flavours such as apple and blueberry pie, banana split or snickerdot, while even the standard milkshakes come in flavours such as salted caramel popcorn. Meantime along with acai, super green or protein, mango or banana, there’s also a Banoffee smoothie.

In addition there’s  a selection of Tea Masters Specialty Tea, DIY Cold Drip Coffee, Frappes, fresh juices, and a super range of iced drinks including Iced Long Black/Chai/Latte/Mocha or even Ice Crème Brulee, as well as Sparkling Iced Teas.

Otherwise what makes dining here a pleasure is the little things, such as the warm welcome from the friendly owner and his staff, a basket of roll-up rugs by the counter for use by customers when it gets chilly and the help-yourself cool water which is infused with fresh lime and lemon. 

Nice to know – There’s a child’s all-day breakfast of scrambled egg and bacon on toast with choice of juice. Adjacent to the café are clean, well-maintained amenities including a parents room with baby change facilities.

Need to know – There’s no need to worry about parking, with plenty of convenient off-street parking nearby at the shopping centre.

The menu may have changed since our visit.