The Arrival
Welcome to The Gopher Manly bar review. I have history with this basement. Long before it was The Gopher, this was the Manly Boatshed the kind of venue where I didn’t so much walk down the stairs as get swept down them, into a room heaving with bodies, a band going full throttle, and a level of humidity generally reserved for rainforests. I met my partner in Manly many years ago. Our first dates, were were here. This is the first time I have returned.
The Backstory: Same Bones, New Glamour— The Gopher Manly Bar Review
Gopher hasn’t pretended the history never happened. The stairs are the same stairs. The stage is the same stage, still front and centre, still very much in use. But everything around that skeleton has had a serious glow up new carpet underfoot, curved booths that actually fit more than two skinny 25 year olds, and a finish that reads early-1900s New York dive bar dressed for a night out, rather than early-2020s sticky-floor situation. The name comes from the Gopher Gang, an actual Irish-American street crew who ran Hell’s Kitchen a century ago, and that Hell’s Kitchen-meets-Dublin energy is threaded through every corner without ever tipping into theme-park territory.
The Arrival
We go on a Sunday night, which I’m going to go ahead and recommend as the smart move. No queue on the stairs, no shouting over the person next to you, just a room that gets to show off its bones properly. There’s something almost indulgent about having a venue this good to ourselves. We slide into one of the booths generous enough that we’re not knee-to-knee with strangers and by the time we’re leaving, the bar itself has properly turned it on: warm light bouncing off the timber, that stage sitting there patiently waiting for the band to arrive, all of it looking genuinely glamorous rather than trying too hard to be.
The Drinks
No prizes for guessing the first order: a Guinness. Obviously. But the real discovery of the night is the Kilkenny an Irish red ale that settles with that same slow, ceremonial pour and just as much silky charm. This is a bar that takes its Irish whiskey seriously too. It has a cracking cocktail list. So we go with Hell’s Bells ($40)- which includes a Redbreast 12YR Irish with Sazerac 6YO rye, 666 Butter vodka and Aztec chocolate bitters.
It’s theatrical. It starts with our server setting alight the cocktail as he pours liquid flame from one metal beaker to another,all at our table so we feel like rock stars without even getting on stage. Its $40 of drama, fun and wow! The first inhale is better than Vicks to clear all sinus issues. The cocktail is amazing, wonderfully balanced, a riff on a hot toddy with a lot more flair.
The Food
The menu itself reads like a well-edited Irish pub cookbook, nothing there just to look clever, every dish clearly built to be shared, argued over and ordered again.
We start with the Snowy Mountain Trout Pâté ($14), whipped Australian hot-smoked rainbow trout with horseradish and crisp bread. It’s silky and smoky with just enough horseradish heat, its excellent. We order a few more crackers. Mr G also can’t go past the Black Pudding Scotch Egg ($16) a soft-centered egg wrapped in Cumberland sausage and black pudding, finished with mustard mayo. This is a dish that looks deceptively simple and is notoriously easy to get wrong: too long in the fryer and the yolk turns chalky, too short and the sausage meat’s raw in the middle. The Gopher nails it, a proper jammy centre inside a crisp, well-seasoned casing. It’s tells me the kitchen knows exactly what it’s doing. Pork & Fennel Sausage Rolls ($12 for three, more at $3.50 each) are three cute little parcels, each one gloriously evenly golden, flaky pastry giving way to nicely seasoned pork and fennel with an Irish whiskey-spiked ketchup on the side for dunking.. Alongside it, the Colcannon Croquettes ($15 for three, more at $5 each) are a much lighter snack, golden-fried potato, cabbage, kale and English cheddar, finished with a smoked garlic sauce and a dusting of crispy bacon.
Onto the mains. I love fish pies. Good ones are rare, and ridiculously expensive. The Fisherman’s Pie ($15) arrives, it is a rich blend of salmon, smoked cod, white fish in a creamy leek and herb sauce, topped with buttery mash in a modest little pot, maybe the size of a large mug. What a cracker. It’s stacked with fish, and the mash on top which has gone properly crisp and golden. For $15 it is the best fish pie for value in Sydney easily.
But the pièce de la resistance, is the Pulled Beef Yorkshire Pudding Pies ($23) Guinness-braised beef cheeks baked into a Yorkshire pudding shell with mashed potato, smothered in gravy with a fun top hat of puff pastry. Mr G practically commandeers the plate the second it lands. It’s an innovative play on a classic: slow-braised beef cheek, encased in a crisp, golden Yorkshire, drowned in a gravy. It’s a clever play on a classic and is our must have dish.
Note, if you’re coming midweek, the specials are a steal Pie & Pint Tuesdays ($28 for a pie, a side and a drink) and $20
The Verdict
What are we Addicted to? This basement has soul, and The Gopher has had the good sense to keep every ounce of it while giving it new carpets, curved booths, that ever-present stage. The venue is famous for its music so check the line up out. But if you are looking for awesome comfort food, the food prices are outrageously fair for the quality. Those beef cheek Yorkshire puddings, Trout pate and the Fish Pie are worth the trip alone.The Gopher Manly bar review is, frankly, one of Sydney’s best nights out.
What do we need to be more Addicted? The fish pie is delicious but modest in size, I would love to see it as the hero with a bigger portion. We did try the Irish Spice Bag but it was just a pile of chips with a few things thrown in. It could be great, but needs a rethink and lots more curry sauce.
The Gopher, Manly 40 The Corso, Manly NSW 2095 Open late, most nights, with live music from early evening