Ripples At Chowder Bay

Reviewing this restaurant objectively isn’t easy as we had an excellent afternoon as a whole and the time we spent in the restaurant contributed to a ⁵⁄₅ experience.
It’s sunny, warm enough to wear shorts (for some of us, this pre-​winter weather is like summer) and we decided to for a natural walk from Taronga Zoo, along the coastline towards the National Park (recommended too!). We came across this restaurant and went in for lunch.
There was a wedding going on in the evening, so they did mention that they would need to pack the area in 2 hours. We didn’t expect to stay there for 2 hours, but we did indeed because we had a blast!
The high quality food was top game from first to last course. Their bread came with home made butter, their beer and wine selection was excellent and we were left with very satisfied bellies.
Best of all, we do praise outstanding service, and part of the reason we enjoyed ourselves it came from the staff. Friendly doesn’t come close enough. Had really fun chats with some waiters and we even ended making new friends with a separate table who were celebrating a birthday! All and all, the atmosphere was fantastic.
It did come at a prize, it isn’t a cheap restaurant but at now point we felt that we didn’t pay for something we didn’t get. We will be coming back for sure!

Quality food with beautiful views.
I was pleasantly surprised with the food. I ordered the Saffron Spaghettini as a main, and it was beautiful. Pasta was fresh and perfectly cooked al dente. There was a surprising amount of mussels mixed through the dish as well. We also ordered chips on the side for our table to share– they were average. For dessert, I ordered the cherry chocolate mousse, which had a wonderful balance of sour and sweet elements.
Most menu items were quite expensive for what they were and portions were a bit small. Overall, the food is well presented and tasty. I would probably return if I was in the area and wanted a fancy meal with a view.
–1 for the 15% surcharge we were charged when it wasn’t technically a public holiday.

I do mark these expensive restaurants harder as I like to see value for money. We had lunch on a brilliant sunny day and we were there for quite some time too. We sat on the balcony and I could see that eating inside would be pretty dark and impossible to see your dinner of an evening.
Opting for the $ 5 per head sparkling mineral water in a bottomless glass was the way to go on such a hot day and we were served throughout the meal. The restaurant is BYO and that is a cost of $ 12 per bottle. Generally we served our own wine to each other.
The food was very good but they were small portions and sides are needed if you are a big eater. I am not sure why some restaurant chefs believe that they cannot deliver a proportioned meal with sides included on the plate; home cooks do it all the time.
They had some odd names for their meals e.g. Barramundi was served with a consume according to the waiter; the menu said it was a bouillabaisse; it was really neither but was very nice. The sourdough was a biscuit which made it a bit difficult to soak up the consume or bouillabaisse so you had to resort to your dessert spoon which was then complicated with the poor choice in serving bowls as they had deep ridges.
A couple of our group had the cinnamon apples for dessert and they just raved about them.
However, this same couple had to fight off the delivery of their affogatos twice whilst they were having their apples. The waiter tried to explain that they had ordered two desserts and this is why they came out together.
It is definitely worth a visit on a sunny day but do your homework and look at the menus on the website AND check out Unilocal photos of the food.
Parking will cost unless you have a National Parks ticket and then you can only park for 4 hours further away from the restaurant.

This is our local sure thing. Views, service and food is always spot on. The only negative is at lunch the entrée vs main size is not worth the extra money (unless you think one extra prawn would do the trick)!

Wonderful food and a sensational view overlooking the beach at Clifton Gardens, just around from Taronga Zoo.
For entrée I had the Yamba prawns in garlic, chilli, lemon, parsley and smoked
capsicum powder. Was perfection on a plate.
My main was Barramundi with scallops, clams, mussels, sweet potato
’bouillabaisse’, and a sourdough chip. A really pleasant dish. Others had the whole snapper which looked amazing.
The service was attentive without being annoying.
It’s on the pricier end but it’s well worth it for a special occasion or when friends are visiting.
I had the barramundi

Coming to Ripples for dinner felt like going for a special dinner at an exotic, faraway place during a holiday.
The walk from the parking lot to the restaurant involves walking down a gentle slope surrounded by parklands, the path lit up by lights spaced apart evenly, and the magnificent views of the quiet and pristine Chowder Bay can be seen once you reach the restaurant.
The restaurant is housed in a historical house overlooking the bay and out to Vaucluse — a view of the harbour you wouldn’t usually see. The vibe was modern, a little rustic, quiet and magical. Exactly like being on holidays. I didn’t feel like I was in Australia (until a rowdy table of 12 arrived!!!).
Friendly service and very accommodating staff. Service was slower when the restaurant filled up.
Quality food and the servings are massive!!! Especially the mains. We had the blue eye cod and the beef tenderloins and neither of us could finish. The risotto was rich and perfectly cooked.
All in all, great for the views and calm vibe.

I felt that the food quality fell short of its price but WOW — what a great view. Waitress and Sommelier were friendly and appropriately attentive.

I’m always really impressed by this place. The food is always pretty good and I find the value great for the service, atmosphere and food quality that you get. Even though I always sit outside, I’m never cold thanks to the great heating. Oh did I mention how awesome it is that you can BYO at what feels like fine dining?
Our latest night out was exceptionally nice! There was a winter promotion offering an entrée and main for $ 28! Some of the mains alone are normally that price. You could also add a dessert for $ 10. We ended up splurging and getting some bread, 2 entrees, 2 mains and a dessert and were shocked with how cheap it was. I definitely want to head back before the promotion is over.
My only gripes? They used to have this amazing butternut pumpkin ravioli with burnt butter sauce– it was my FAV. OU. RITE. So so good. They’ve scrapped that and replaced it with a pumpkin gnocchi which isn’t nearly as good. It was a bit bland and I wasn’t a massive fan. Felt like something I could cook at home. But my tomato salad entrée was heavenly. I could have eaten four of those and been happy! Also, not cool that you have to pay to park– there aren’t even options to park a bit farther and walk a ways. You want dinner here, you must fork out for parking.

Ripples was such a delight. Booked it for a Friday night birthday dinner with a group of friends. Their service was friendly and their staff were attentive. The food was delicious and fresh. I particularly recommend the Yamba Prawns entrée and the Barramundi main, which was soft and moist, cooked to perfection. The rhubarb dessert hit all my taste buds happily. They also wrote Happy Birthday and put a sparkling candle in the birthday boy’s dessert plate.
The deck is a great area to sit and the ambience is very nice at night. During the day time I am guessing the views of the harbour must be exhilarating.

Like The Bathers Pavilion, Ripples Chowder Bay is a winning combination of beautiful historical building and positioning that catches the beauty of the nearby beach and bay. While the food and wine is very good, it isn’t a cheap meal, and you will probably have to deal with dining next to well-​to-​dos and their offspring.

Terrific views. Great barramundi. Extremely dark — couldn’t even see my fish to know if there was skin on it. Everyone had to use their iPhones as flashlights to see, read the menu, see the food, pay the bill. Whatever was with my barramundi was consumed only because I could see something white in sauce around the fish so I ate it.
Great setting. Not busy on a Monday evening, but the service was still inattentive.
I wanted to give the restaurant four stars, but realize now it was only because of the great company we were with, and the excellent piece of fish, that it was a good evening. That’s only thee stars for the restaurant.

Came here for our work Christmas party this year. I’ll be honest, the location is spectacular… but terrible if you want to drink. Even trying to get a taxi can be a fight. Luckily we were pre-​warned and booked a minibus for our group!
The restaurant itself overlooks the water and has a huge covered balcony for most of the tables. It’s a well know fact that large groups are never going to get the most amazing food a restaurant can produce — it has to be practical catering options only. Having said that, the event menu was pretty great. I tried the veal carpaccio which was pretty good. Then the beef tenderloins (medium rare) which were delicious. The chocolate tart was a huge serving and overly rich.
The group drinks package is fantastic. Bubbles on arrival, house red and white wines, little creatures pals ale, peroni, pipsqueak cider all available unlimited for 4 hours. Then Butterscotch, schnapps, port and coffee offered during dessert.
The thing that really made Ripples great were the staff. They were professional, flexible and un-​flustered despite the place being packed with 3 or four very drunken Christmas party groups. They were quick to top up drinks, take orders and serve food. Amazing.

Breakfast is a brief affair here, finishing at 10:30. I was pleasantly surprised to turn up on a Sunday morning without a booking and get a table no problem. The out of the way location and the short breakfast may be the reason for this, the breakfast was good as was the view, it also felt a little more chilled out than the Riples at Milsoms Point.
The staff were friendly and helpful, the menu was mainly classic breakfast fare.
The food was a bit pricey but you expect that with the view. I’d recommend for an intimate breakfast or if looking to impress someone at breakfast.

We christened our arrival in Mosman at Ripples Chowder Bay, and you couldn’t ask for a prettier setting — though actually looking AT it is possibly better than the view from IN it. Its secluded location almost feels like a secret getaway — besides the low-​level hum on conversation from within, the only outside noise is the chug of the passing Manly ferry and the gently breaking waves.
Whilst I understand other reviewers comments on access, we actually like the fact you can park over at Clifton Gardens and end your meal walking over the sand and through the park (I perhaps wouldn’t recommend this alone after dark, and you do have to get the restaurant to unlock the Headland Park gate which is closed at dusk). It’s all just a nice quirk of the experience.
As to the food. I give it a thumbs up but it doesn’t stand out in my mind enough (from any of my four visits) to specify what I ate. There was definitely a standout chocolate dessert in there somewhere, and the home baked focaccia is worth making room for. It is on the pricey side, but lovely for a special occasion.

As with Ripples Milsons Point — Ripples Chowder Bay should be a byword for ‘great location but not much else’.
This restaurant is based on former Military land at Chowder Bay in Mosman and overlooks Clifton Gardens and the Harbour.
Given its secluded location, it is only really accessible by car and parking is paid only. There is a bus to Clifton Gardens but that only runs during the day.
It does a decent lunch time trade and when we pass at weekends on walks, it’s always busy but it’s a touch expensive for me at lunch.
In the evening, when the view is lost, it loses its charm and becomes a tent with candles. I got major mosquito bites (not their fault of course) but that tarnishes a quality dining experience for me.
We went for dinner on a balmy evening and I have to say I wasn’t that impressed. The Italian inspired cuisine was tasty though a touch rich and hearty for me. Mash that leaves a coating in the mouth, not really my thing.
Some of the floor is uneven too — so watch out in heels!
Given the tricky location, paid parking and the lack lustre experience — not likely to go back.

Unique to Ripples Chowder Bay is the tranquillity overlooking Chowder Bay and Clifton Gardens and there is nowhere else in the world where one moment you can be racing through the traffic to arrive at a restaurant where you can feel relaxed in a strange sense of isolation. Along with this you get amazing food in generous portions, fully licensed with a diverse wine list in a beautiful outdoors restaurant which is also BYO.
When Ripples Chowder Bay opened it was historical for this site because it was the first time that that public could access this area which was reserved for military operations to defend Sydney Harbour.
On every occasion I have visited it has been a success as we have our girls annual Christmas lunch, family gatherings and today is such an occasion to celebrate our girlfriend’s birthday.
So the birthday lunch begins. The most sensational sense evoking taste in the world for me is the ‘forest floor’ and aroma of truffle in all forms and today I am enjoying truffle oil within a combination of wild mushroom polenta fritter with goats cheese. It is purely and simply sensational. I decide to order the pan friend scallops with cauliflower risotto cakes and crisp pancetta for main. The risotto cakes are the hero of this dish which gives the subtle taste for otherwise flat scallops that could of done with a just a bit of kick. I complete my lunch with a passionfruit brulee and coconut biscotti. Cracking through the top layer I hear that perfect crunch noise. Smooth with the subtleness of passionfruit.
Ripples is perfect for any breakfast, lunch and dinner. It has opulent natural surroundings yet still remains unpretentious in both service and environment. Successful in every aspect.

There are a couple of Ripples about town, but the experience at each is actually very different. Ripples Chowder Bay is such a special spot. Once you’ve wound down the incredibly long road that leads to Ripples (you may actually think you’re lost, especially if it is night time, but trust me, keep going!) you’ll be amazed at the stunning views over Sydney Harbour. What was once a former Navy site looks back at Rose Bay and Watsons Bay. The dining area is essentially a verandah which boasts the best seats in the house for enjoying those views. But don’t think this is a summertime experience only — the clear pull downs block the wind or rain, the heating is turned up slightly and wool blankets sit on chairs waiting to be wrapped around shoulders. This is how I experience Ripples Chowder Bay and while I’ll be back this summer, it was great to sit on the water, toasty warm in the middle of winter. In keeping with the Ripples philosophy of reasonable prices in million dollar locations, the Italian inspired menu has a delicious selection of mains for under $ 30. Overall a Sydney must-​try.