Depending on who you ask, Justin Hemmes is either the best or worst thing to happen to Narooma. The chief executive of Sydney-based hospitality group Merivale (which also owns Italian-inspired Totti’s, Mr Wong and dozens of other venues) has called the South Coast town a second home for the past seven years, after buying several hectares of residential property in the area. More recently, however, Hemmes has been purchasing old Narooma hotels and motels and opening hatted restaurants.

“More yuppies moving south!” one local exclaimed to us at the Narooma Hotel (a pub with a terrific view out to Wagonga Head, but not yet owned by Hemmes). “He’s done a good job on The Whale, though,” retorted his mate, who quickly went back to watching Keno. We won’t weigh into any of that, but we will say that the food at Lynch’s Hotel (the other Narooma pub, without much of a view) is certainly a lot more delicious since Hemmes picked it up in 2022. Try the local fish pie with fennel and radish salad.

If you’re staying in Narooma, Merimbula is a 90-minute drive away, but the two feel very much like sister towns, linked by world-class oysters and sapphire-blue waters. Merimbula is no slouch in the food and booze space either, with an increasing number of venues offering the opportunity to order a martini and call charcuterie dinner. One or two nights in both Narooma and Merimbula makes for an excellent weekend, with a brief stop in Bermagui for a kardemummabullar (we’ll explain later).

For breakfast

Perched at one end of Merimbula’s boardwalk trail, Sunny’s Kiosk is a welcome reward for weary travellers. Energiser bunnies can hire kayaks or paddleboards from the lakeside cafe. Others simply savour the expansive views, homely furnishings and well-balanced brews from Seven Miles Coffee Roasters. The eclectic menu caters for all tastes (or BMIs), from big old bacon and egg rolls to Japanese pancakes with pork belly. Sunny’s also opens as a wine bar over summer nights, which is a perfect way to watch the sunset over water.

68 Lakewood Drive, Merimbula, sunnyskiosk.com.au

For oysters

Visiting the Sapphire Coast and not eating oysters is like a kid receiving a new toy at Christmas and keeping it in the box. More than a few bivalve fanatics will tell you that Merimbula rock oysters are especially excellent for their bold mineral zing and fruity finish. Among the mangroves at The Oyster Barn, you can experience them practically straight off the lease with prawn rolls and local crayfish to boot. Or if you want to pick up a dozen oysters and take them to the beach with a bottle of BYO Bollinger, that can be facilitated, too.

49 Oyster Track, Millingandi, merimbulagourmetoysters.com.au

For a long lunch

Arriving by seaplane is up there with cruffins and the lambada as things to experience at least once in a lifetime. If you’re going to splash out on the service, you might as well splash out at the Quarterdeck, a former boat shed on Wagonga Inlet where aircraft taxi guests to the back door. Inside is dolled up like a tiki hut, with a thatched grass bar serving slushie-style pina coladas that should come with a spoon. A Mexican-inspired menu suits the festive feel, featuring fish tacos topped with colourful pico de gallo salsa, and fried squash flowers with crumbled queso fresco and pickled onion rings. Ruby-red tuna tostadas topped with spicy salsa matcha are perfect for the setting, and cider-splashed mussels are made for warm afternoons by the open windows. When the view’s this good, who cares if the return flight is delayed?

13 Riverside Drive, Narooma, merivale.com/venues/quarterdeck-narooma

For country comfort

The super-thick vault door to the wine room at Banksia Restaurant is a clue to the building’s origin as a bank, when it stored bundles of cash rather than bottles of cabernet sauvignon. Timber-panelled walls, pressed metal and an open fireplace add to the restaurant’s old-world feel in picturesque Pambula, a 10-minute drive from Merimbula. Hosts Huw and Renee Jones make the most of their intimate space with a generous three-course set menu, and the weekly changing offerings might feature cheesy ox-tail rarebit served with richly flavoured consomme, or creamy buttermilk mash topped with peppered yellowfin tuna and a bold beurre blanc sauce. Branch, a more casual dining room, has just opened at the site, too. Expect an a la carte offering of share plates such as wagyu tri-tip with wasabi, and chorizo-stuffed olives.

22 Quondola Street, Pambula, banksiarestaurant.com.au

For a bells-and-whistles dinner

Among other inalienable truths, such as oysters need chablis, is that cocktails go better with confectionery. At Valentina, an Old Fashioned made with dark rum is served with house-made macadamia praline for a splendid blend of strong and sweet. It’s a delightful opener for a restaurant that nary puts a foot wrong. Full-length windows overlook oyster beds, but it’s what’s inside that counts (another truth). The hand-plastered walls and pastel colours are a fine reason to linger, as is a light and lovely tumble of local squid with peas and crisp shards of chicken skin, and charred octopus with punchy sobrasada oil. Pan-seared blue-eye with onion rings is beautifully balanced, and parmesan-crumbed cauliflower with sage and creamy kale puts pub schnitzels to shame. Tender wagyu rump with bone marrow butter, meanwhile, shows there’s more to the Sapphire Coast than seafood. True that.

2 Market Street, Merimbula, valentinamerimbula.com

For wine

Ryde Pennefather spent time in Sydney and Thirroul before returning to his hometown of Merimbula four years ago. He then helped launch Valentina, before leaving to open natural wine-focused Bar Superette in September. Good Food hasn’t had a chance to visit Bar Superette yet, but it’s very high on the to-do list due to its funk and groove-heavy records and fancy tinned fish, and wines more common to bars in Surry Hills, Fitzroy and the 11th arrondissement. The short menu of more substantial items sounds terrific (hash browns with trout roe; steak frites; witlof salad with duck, peach and gruyere) and wine is also available at retail prices from Superette’s delicatessen and bottle-shop shelves. Grab a lunchtime sandwich to go while you’re shopping.

16-20 Market Street, Merimbula, superettesuperette.com

For bread and pastries

Since 2015, one of the best reasons to stay at a holiday house in Bermagui (besides the easy ocean pool access) has been the opportunity to wake up and stroll down to Honorbread for one of its excellent sourdoughs fresh from the oven. The bakery is still a very fine incentive to set your GPS for the seaside village, but now nearby Narooma has an outpost of Honorbread too. The new shop opened in December, and all the hits are accounted for including black tahini scrolls, pain au chocolat and the kardemummabullar, everyone’s favourite Swedish cardamom bun. Down Merimbula and Pambula way, Wild Rye’s Baking Co is the ticket for house-roasted coffee, assorted sourdoughs and Basque cheesecake, plus a straight-up delicious, no-funny-business steak pie.

8 Bunga Street, Bermagui and shop 2, 114 Wagonga Street, Narooma, honorbread.com

26 Quondola Street, Pambula, wildryes.com.au

For pizza and pasta

Tracking down good pizza in regional NSW is like hunting for sushi in the desert, but it can be found. Case in point is Bar Monti, which opened in late 2022 and rocks a beautifully puffy-crusted margherita, plus a pepperoni pizza and white-sauce porchetta number with braised fennel and red onion. Fussy kids can be well-fed with spaghetti bolognese or mortadella meatballs, while parents have their choice of house-made pastas such as rigatoni with lamb ragu, peas and pecorino, or fettuccine with mushrooms and smoked speck.

Shop 6, 11 Merimbula Drive, Merimbula, barmonti.com

For an old-school burger

Merimbula’s best burgers and craft beer range can be found at Dulcie’s Cottage, an ancient weatherboard refurbished by the same team behind Valentina. Seats can be hard to land at peak times if you don’t have a booking, but choice cocktails and coastal bric-a-brac make Dulice’s an easy place to stand until a table can be pounced upon. Burgers are milk bar style, made with local produce such as Wild Rye’s organic buns and beef from Goodall’s Quality Meats, one block over, and the kitchen is open from noon each day. Families are also made to feel more than welcome, but should note that anyone under 18 years old will need to vacate the cottage before 8pm. Dulcie likes to party.

60 Main Street, Merimbula, dulcies.com.au

For local lobster

Don’t be fooled by Queen Chow’s lazy susans, multicoloured carpet and placemat-size menus. Merivale’s Cantonese restaurant at The Whale Inn is not your standard small-town Chinese. Arrive around sunset at the wood-panelled bar and take in the ocean view with a red jasmine negroni in a well-cushioned cane chair. Also worth savouring are the plump seafood dumplings and kingfish sashimi with tangy orange ponzu and chilli. Special fried rice is the perfect companion to a roast meat platter loaded with char siu, spatchcock and duck, but with the sea so close, it’s hard to go past steamed local lobster in a snappy sauce of white soy, ginger and shallots.

102 Wagonga Street, Narooma, merivale.com/venues/queen-chow-narooma