Slow-cooked lamb with HAUS-made baba ganoush and garden salad. Photo: Lucy Ridge.
Fine dining is no longer restricted to the big city. And the coast is no longer restricted to fish & chips! There’s incredible food to be found all the way up and down the NSW South Coast. Here are just a few of our favourites.
MilkHaus, Woodstock
Housed in a converted dairy shed just outside Milton, MilkHaus brings a produce-driven approach to casual, coastal dining. Its working kitchen garden supplies the cafe, with a bit of extra produce bought locally. The dishes are always inventive, wholesome and absolutely delicious.
Head into Milton proper for a Middle Eastern feast at NOMAH.
Chef Matt Upson from Gwylo was inspired by his extensive travels through Asia. Photo: Tammie Seidel — Take Five Photography.
Gwylo, Mollymook
Owner and chef Matt Upson serves up Asian street food, served share style with a banging list of cocktails and brews. Think local seafood dumplings with red-curry flavours, betel leaf with local smoked mackerel and snake beans, or Gwylo’s take on a Weiss bar: mango, almond shortbread and coconut rice cream.
If you’re looking for a special occasion meal, head down the road to Rick Stein at Bannisters.
Onion rings are an unexpected delight — and popular with regulars — at Merry St. Photo: Lucy Ridge.
Merry St, Kioloa
The married couple behind this local gem dishes up a compact menu full of flavour. The menu changes with the seasons, but the onion rings with jamon and fresh horseradish have been a firm favourite since the venue opened just a year ago.
Neighbouring Merry Beach Milkbar does a cracking morning trade in coffees and milkshakes, with a burger menu as well as fish and chips.
The new menu will use local seafood. Photo: Supplied, Peter Jones-Best.
The River, Moruya
Iconic Moruya restaurant The River was recently sold to a coast kid lured home from the big city by the promise of a slower pace of life, and the chance to raise his kids by the sea. Peter Jones-Best has teamed up with chefs Todd Milne and Anthony O’Shea to realise a Modern Australian menu full of local seafood and an updated drinks list.
For a more casual meal, head down to the Quantum Brewery for a pizza.
The Dairy Shed milk bar has some unique flavours as well as old favourites. Photo: Bodalla Dairy.
Bodalla Dairy, Bodalla
Deep in dairy country, Bodalla Dairy exemplifies what a small, independent operation looks like. Have a stickybeak at the factory operations next door before heading into the Dairy Shed for a creamy milkshake or gorgeous scoop of ice cream. Flavours like coffee and wattleseed, or lemon myrtle, with Bodalla yoghurt and local ironbark honey will cater to mature tastebuds, and kids will love the classics. Take home some saltbush-infused cheddar for a picnic.
Make a dairy-day of it and head south to Tilba Dairy for more cheese-fuelled fun.
Honorbread sourdough is some of the best around. Photo: Honorbread Facebook.
Honorbread, Bermagui
Some of the best bread you’ll ever eat is being baked in Bermagui. You’l discover amazing sourdough, perfect pastries, and a few international bakes like German rye sechskornbrot, and Ka’ak al Qud: a Palestinian ring-shaped bread covered in sesame seeds.
If you’re looking for fish and chips, head to the Bermagui Fisherman’s Wharf and Co-operative for something fresh off the boat.
Sunny’s Kiosk is perched on the edge of Merimbula’s top lake. Photo: Sunny’s/Instagram.
Sunny’s Kiosk, Merimbula
This boatshed-turned-cafe at the top of the lake is the perfect place to sit by the water and enjoy a beautiful meal. The charred zucchini and butter bean salad with flatbread is delightfully wholesome, or indulge in a Nashville chicken burger. Don’t forget to check out the cake cabinet! And yes, you can hire a boat.
During the warmer seasons, head around the lake to The Oyster Barn for seafood platters right on the water.
Can’t beat a classic Margherita pizza! Photo: Bar Monti/Instagram.
Monti Bar and Restaurant, Merimbula
Merimbula has an embarrassment of riches when it comes to dining out, but Bar Monti is a bit of a hidden gem. An alleyway entrance brings you into an Italian restaurant worth writing home about. The house-made pasta will knock your socks off, but the pizza is equally good (so take someone to share with). The wine list is properly impressive, and the desserts are worth saving space for.
Elsewhere in town, visit Umi-ko Izakaya for Japanese snacks and ramen, Dulcie’s Cottage for burgers and cocktails, and Bar Superette for superb food and wine.
Banksia Restaurant — An intimate, welcoming and classy dining room in historic Pambula Village. Photo: Lisa Herbert.
Banksia, Pambula
Housed in the old bank, Banksia serves up European fine dining in an elevated setting. The three-course menu changes weekly, and might feature Eden blue-fin tuna tartare, red-wine-braised beef cheeks, and finish with an apple and hazelnut cake with whisky caramel.
For brunch, look no further than Toast across the road, or enjoy a house-roasted coffee and pastry at Wild Rye Bakery.
Enjoy the wood-fired pizza at newly renovated Hotel Australasia. Photo: Tenele Conway.
Hotel Australasia, Eden
Newly renovated and reopened, the ‘’Grand Old Lady of Eden’’ (aka Hotel Australasia) has been returned to her former glory. The luxury hotel also boasts a beautiful restaurant with wood-fired pizza oven.
For fish and chips, head down to the wharf where The Cove food truck fries up the catch of the day, straight from the boats.
Where else do you like to eat on the South Coast? Let us know in the comments.
