Bannisters Port Stephens: dine at Rick Stein’s restaurant
The amiable British chef’s celebrity lustre is a drawcard at this mini-resort on the NSW coast.
Lawrence the barman presents my cranberry cinnamon fizz mocktail and all but winks as he whispers, “That looks the part.” Indeed it does. Just like the real thing, with a touch of mixology smoke and magic, and a cherry on top.
I am at Rick Stein’s signature restaurant at Bannisters Port Stephens. Known more colloquially as Rick’s, it’s a satellite operation for Stein, the British seafood chef, restaurateur, author and TV star who has made Padstow, Cornwall, a go-to destination for foodies, so much so it’s become known as Padstein. It’s undeniable that the amiable Stein has a King Neptune touch when it comes to business, and his celebrity lustre is as much a drawcard in this NSW mid-north coast town as at sister property Bannisters Mollymook in the Shoalhaven shire south of Sydney. Both mini-resorts enjoy superlative waterfront locations, while their design template ticks all the blue-and-white Australian seaside boxes, with a northeast drift towards the Hamptons. These properties, too, “look the part”, many rungs above their former incarnations as motels.
On my first morning in Port Stephens, the day-starter chorus outside corner suite 312 is courtesy of a kookaburra welcome committee. Rainbow lorikeets are next to arrive, doing a fly-by in their clownish costumes. Gums and ferns frame wedges of the Karuah River. The handful of star jasmine I surreptitiously liberated from a vine last evening is scenting the soft-carpeted bedroom. It’s a restful and thoughtfully designed space with white timber details and cushions covered in Walter G’s hand-printed linens in muted blues. The suite could do with a decor refresh, but comes with all the necessities, including a neat balcony furnished with stylish cane seating. If that summation sounds a little lukewarm, then let’s get the negatives out of the way. Service lapses bedevil my stay, none of which is handled well. It becomes way too Fawlty Towers but without the laughter soundtrack. In the end, the short sojourn is enjoyable but frustrating, perhaps an example in the COVID-era of properties operating as reduced versions of themselves, forced to adhere to evolving and sometimes inconsistent protocols and beset with difficulties in acquiring, and training, part-time local staff.
But back to dinner at Rick’s, a terrific space of polished floors, high ceilings, clever lighting effects, seating options that include comfy half-moon nooks, and a striking centrepiece bar with an extravagant canopy of plants. It’s all very chic and more urban in feel than the usual resort restaurant. Venue manager Kerr runs a tight ship, as it were, and the menu showcases Stein’s Mediterranean inspirations, with detours via Asia that include Nelson Bay yellowfin tuna starring on a classic Japanese sashimi platter and an Australian variant on Singapore chilli crab. The provenance of local and regional seasonal seafood is clearly heralded and delicious neighbourhood touches include sourdough from Nelson Bay’s Two Bobs Bakery (beautifully charred when served to scoop up garlicky, tomato-rich seafood stew). Trademark favourites include Bannisters fish pie, as served at Mollymook (and probably Padstow). It’s more a gratin dish than a proper pastry pie but arrives pleasingly plump with shellfish and is sufficiently cheesy-creamy to warrant more sourdough dips. Drinks of the parish? The house wine is a Rick Stein semillon riesling by Brokenwood in the nearby Hunter Valley while the gin, with a citrus twist, is East Coast by local distiller Murray’s Brewery, which also supplies the property with craft ales.
Julio’s, a Mexican-inspired cantina prettied-up with strings of festive lights and rows of cactus, has recently opened off the lobby and serves a small lunch or more extensive dinner menu that features the likes of tacos with five styles of filling and sides of cilantro salsa fiery with jalapenos. There’s the distinct feeling a mariachi band could pop up at any minute. There’s casual dining, too, under striped umbrellas on a sweep of cantilevered terrace by the infinity pool, plus an associated restaurant on the bottom level. Its name, Cheeky Dog, attests to a fun open-plan pub vibe with a kitchen that opens from noon to 9pm daily. There’s sport on the big screens, bar bites, good pizzas and burgers and a jolly beer garden that surely must do good trade in Murray’s Whale Ale.
There’s much to like, as well, about the small timber-lined Bannisters Port Stephens Spa where the post-treatment tea is afloat with petals and therapist Maddy administers my first massage in a year and the instant release of stress makes me want to cry. There are tears of joy to be shed, too, at the immense beauty and biodiversity of Port Stephens-Great Lakes Marine Park, a pristine swathe of about 98,000ha that covers offshore and estuarine waters; rivers, creeks and tributaries; Myall and Smiths Lakes; regulated habitat protection and sanctuary zones; and specific “special purpose” areas. It’s all about being beside, in or on the water. My local drives provide sea and bay glimpses and wide-screen views, seemingly endless fish and chip shops and seafood restaurants trumpeting share platters with names of the ilk of The Deadliest Catch. No one seems hurried; strangers smile and say “G’day”.
It’s also pleasant to simply stroll out on the Salamander Bay public jetty just below Bannisters’ hillside elevation on Soldiers Point, named for a 19th-century garrison. The jetty posts have white pointed tops shaped like giant peaks of vanilla ice cream. There are patient fathers and excited youngsters dangling fishing lines, sailboats are scudding past as if jet-propelled in a breeze strong enough to blow off your daggy holiday hat. Seagulls are flying so high they appear as chevron smudges against a cloudless sky. Looking back at the point, the resort sits high and proud amid its groomed surrounds. The first lights of the evening are beckoning. Get a shake on, Lawrence. It’s the mocktail hour.
More to the story
There be dolphins. A veritable chorus line, in fact, leaping as if to the command of a choreographer. The sleek bottle-nosed inhabitants of NSW’s largest marine park know how to put on a show and I have a dress-circle view aboard Imagine, a purpose-built 54ft sailing catamaran that cruises out of D’Albora Marina at Nelson Bay. There are plenty of operators offering cruises to spot the estimated 100-strong bottlenose population of the bay but Imagine Cruises gets a big tick. I book online for a 90-minute cruise and pay $35, which seems a bargain. Knowledgeable and chatty Captain Jason is at the helm and as well as covered seating on the foredeck, there’s the bonus of splashy boom-net and bowsprit positions in which to perch or loll. Conviviality is ensured on a smaller craft; passengers are having a ball, especially when a fur seal is sighted on a rocky outcrop. If no dolphins are spotted, then a free trip at a later date is guaranteed. Children’s rates, from ages two to 16, are available; cruises from November to April inclusive. Eco-tours on smaller sister “power cat” Envision include opportunities to swim and explore ashore. Tip: check a day in advance if your reserved cruise is still scheduled; departures can be cancelled if too few passengers are booked.
In the know
Port Stephens is about 150km north of Sydney, northeast of Newcastle and adjacent to Nelson Bay. Ask the staff at Bannisters Port Stephens for insider information on local attractions, including walking trails and the towering coastal dunes of the Worimi Conservation Lands, where Sand Dune Adventures offers Indigenous-focused quad bike tours. From May to November inclusive, humpbacks can be spotted on whale-watching cruises or from headlands in Tomaree National Park.
Bannisters Port Stephens has 178 guestrooms on four floors, ranging from ground-level options with bush outlooks (several are “dog-friendly”) to luxury suites and a penthouse with private terrace. The coastal escape was converted from a 1960s motel in 2018 so expect external stairs and walkways. Taste of Port Stephens two-night packages Sunday-Thursday inclusive for two persons include continental breakfasts and a two-course seafood dinner; check website for availability, prices and flexible cancellation policies.
Susan Kurosawa was a guest of Bannisters Port Stephens. This story was originally published in January 2021 and has since been updated.
