Ten of the best restaurants worth travelling for in NSW

There are residents of some Sydney suburbs – ahem, Bondi – who famously wouldn’t dream of leaving their own neighbourhood to eat out, let alone drive several hundred kilometres.

However, those people are missing out. Because there isn’t just great food in the larger Sydney area, there’s great food throughout NSW.

Regional towns have undergone something of a gastronomic renaissance recently, with chefs moving closer to the source of their produce, and dedicated diners following.

Every one of these restaurants – and many more – are worth the drive.

Beach Byron Bay, Byron Bay

Beach Byron Bay is a standout. Credit:

The Byron Bay area has no shortage of great places to eat these days – check out Belongil Beach Italian Food, Raes Dining Room, Harvest, No Bones, Light Years and Bar Heather, just to get you started.

The standout in the already standy-outy pack for us, however, is Beach Byron Bay, a gorgeous eatery that is the passion project of co-founders Belinda and Ben Kirkwood, one that’s also co-owned by the Fink Group, the Sydney-based team behind Bennelong, Quay, Firedoor and Otto. The ocean views here are a killer, but the menu of beautifully presented, mod-Oz is the real attraction. See beachbyronbay.com.au

Paste, Mittagong

Paste: think high-end Thai cuisine. Credit:

Bee Satongun is a superstar in her native Thailand, where she’s won a Michelin star at her renowned Bangkok eatery, Paste. Now, the chef has an Australian outpost – owing, no doubt, to her partner and fellow chef Jason Bailey’s roots – in sleepy Mittagong.

Here, Satongun and Bailey are doing refined, high-end Thai cuisine using the finest Australian ingredients, the sort of food you would probably not expect to find in these parts, but that you will be very glad you did. See pasteaustralia.com

Charred Kitchen & Bar, Orange

Charred’s wine list runs to 96 pages.Credit: Destination NSW

Just wait until you sit down at your table at Charred, in Orange, and ask for the wine list. It lands with a thump, all 96 pages of it, an incredible array of drinks put together by sommelier David Collins. Choose anything from local Orange wines at great prices, to back-vintage Burgundy at a considerably higher cost.

The food here is worth a mention too, set menus of wood-fired cuisine that change with the seasons, though are always thoughtful and approachable. See charred.com.au

EXP., Pokolbin

Binnie beef flank, Brussels sprouts, salt bush, onion jus and black garlic.Credit: Wolter Peeters

Hunter Valley dining hasn’t always been great – particularly when you compare NSW’s best-known wine region with, say, the Barossa, or the Yarra Valley, or even Margaret River. Fortunately, however, plenty of great eateries have begun springing up around Pokolbin recently, and one of them is EXP.

EXP. is an unpretentious joint that just gets everything right, where chef and owner Frank Fawkner uses local produce, and the power of fire, to produce a tight tasting menu paired with a good selection of local wine. Perfect date-night fodder. See exprestaurant.com.au

Bistro Livi, Murwillumbah

Bistro Livi would feel right at home in Potts Point or Bondi. Credit: Natalie Grono

There’s not a whole lot in Murwillumbah, in the northern NSW hinterland: a few pubs, a motor inn, a golf club. It’s quiet here, and friendly. Pretty low-key. But then, there’s also Bistro Livi, the high-end eatery that wouldn’t be at all out of place somewhere like Potts Point or Bondi.

This is the work of sisters and co-owners Danni and Nikki Wilson, alums of Melbourne’s Carlton Wine Room and Movida. The influences of those restaurants are easy to see too, in both the continental menu, and the stylish wine list. See bistrolivi.com

Printhie Wines, Orange

Printhie Wines vineyard in Molong, near Orange. Credit:

This is exactly what Orange has been crying out for: a winery with a high-end restaurant on-site, the sort of place where you can really splash out on a beautiful lunch with views of valley and vines. And Printhie delivers on all fronts, with an elegant menu of modern Australian cuisine, served in a thoughtfully designed dining room that enjoys one truly beautiful vista.

There’s a live oyster tank on site too, which means you can pair freshly shucked Merimbula oysters with seriously good Printhie sparkling wine. See printhiewines.com.au

Humbug, Newcastle

Humbug, technically a wine bar, also offers snacks and larger dishes. Credit: Edwina Pickles

Here’s another locale that has seen a rash of great new eateries pop up in recent years. Newcastle is an excellent place to eat out thanks, in no small part, to the likes of Humbug, a wine bar that takes its cuisine just as seriously as anything served in a glass.

The menu keeps things interesting with a good range of snacks, plus inventive pasta dishes, and larger charcoal-grilled meats. The wine list, meanwhile, leans on the lo-fi, experimental side, with well-chosen options from Australia and the world. See humbugnewcastle.com.au

Pipit, Pottsville

The word is out about Pipit’s greatness.

News of Pipit’s greatness has spread far and wide. This Tweed Shire eatery might sit in sleepy Pottsville, just down the road from the Pottsville Tavern, across from the local pizza joint, but the food here is seriously high-end, and easily worth the drive from Sydney (or better yet, from Ballina or the Gold Coast).

Run by Byron Bay local Ben Devlin, who’s done a stint at Noma in Copenhagen among a few other notable locations, Pipit’s menu is focused on all things local and seasonal, with sustainability key. Diners can choose either a full eight-course degustation, or a three-course “short menu” – both are incredibly good. See pipitrestaurant.com

Muse, Pokolbin

It’s food first at Muse.

You could fairly say that Muse was the pioneer of fine-dining in the Hunter Valley, and it’s still the best. Chef-owner Troy Rhoades-Brown is doing some serious cuisine here, for dinner only, in a formal eatery where children are politely discouraged from attending. That may sound a little heavy-handed, but the food delivers on its promise, imaginative dishes that are beautifully presented, and matched with an impressive wine list. For those after something a little more laid back, sister restaurant Muse Kitchen will take care of you. See musedining.com.au

Zin House, Mudgee

Right from the start, Zin House has been about keeping things local. Credit: Destination NSW

Kim Currie is a legend in Mudgee food circles, having established the local farmers market (as well as those in Orange, Bathurst and Cowra), and created the Zin House at Lowe Family Wine Co. For years now, the Zin House team has been doing what everyone else has suddenly decided is cool: growing their own food, keeping things local, keeping things seasonal, keeping things simple. Lunches and dinners at Zin House are supposed to be long, relaxed affairs, with good food, good wine and good company. Sounds just fine to us. See lowefamilywineco.com.au