This Manly restaurant is fit for a foodie
Busta is a bustling, yet intimate restaurant that combines the low-key, cosy feel of a neighbourhood restaurant, with the quality food and service of a restaurant fit for a foodie.
It’s a cold winter’s night when we arrive and are warmly welcomed before being escorted to a table to the side of the bar.
With welcoming servers and hosts, candlelit tables inside and out, and bar seating with views of the small open prep kitchen and bartender preparing drinks, it’s an inviting and unpretentious space.
Located in Manly, Busta sits next door to Winona Wine, which joins Busta as a part of Good Good Company, the hospitality group behind Sunset Sabi, Noon, Chica Bonita and Effies.
We start with cocktails and a generous serve of meaty black and green olives and focaccia, mile-high with a crunchy, slightly tangy exterior that gives way to a chewy, soft inside.
Next, an antipasto of crudo (raw) yellowfish tuna and persimmon, almond puree, lime and capers. The stained-glass cubes of orange persimmon and red tuna sit in an almond puree that’s silky, zesty and nutty, with a scattering of fried capers atop.
While the Kingfish crostino and cecina are customer favourites, I can’t go past the bistecca and tagliolini. The tender grass-fed scotch fillet is paired with bright, lemony rainbow chard, cooked to perfection with leaves just wilted and a spine still crunchy. The tagliolini has a powerful lemon zest punch with generous chunks of blue swimmer crab, a broccoli rabe sauce and a smattering of pan grattato that crunches like a delicious edible sand.
Owner Luke Miller opened Busta in 2019 with the intent of creating the type of restaurant he loves to spend time in himself. Its short, changing menu focuses on a ‘simple love of pasta, wine and snacky starters,’ Luke says.
Core to Busta has always been the desire to work with people passionate about food, he adds. He points to his kitchen team, which he describes as dedicated, creative and amazing examples of the modern chef.
This passion extends to how Busta sources its ingredients. “We work with a range of Sydney providers but there are some quality driven artisans that we just can’t go past,” Luke says. From driving to Pyrmont to pick up focaccia from family-run PiOiK Bakery, to sourcing proteins and butters from Copper Tree and oysters from small independent farms up and down the coast, the team at Busta searches far and wide for the best they can find.
We end our meal on a high with Busta’s signature tiramisu. Its classic combination of soft sponge fingers drenched in coffee and liquor with a cocoa-powdered top of rich mascarpone has been updated with a thin layer of hard chocolate that adds a unique texture usually missing from the dessert.
Busta is open for dinner Tuesday through Sunday, as well as lunch on Saturday. Each Tuesday is BYO; Wednesday is $30 pasta and wine night with a chef-curated pasta and matching glass of wine; and every Saturday and Sunday at 4pm is aperitivo hour.
The restaurant is available for private events with tailored food & wine experiences and also hosts events and wine takeovers, inviting some of their favourite producers to pour their wines and share stories with guests.
BUSTA
10 Pittwater Road, Manly
8966 9917