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NSW restaurants where you can dine on native ingredients
Restaurant Kawul *
Where: Pokolbin, Hunter Valley
Influenced by local native produce used by their ancestors, Restaurant Kawul creates dishes that complement the Wonnarua region. With a menu designed to be shared among friends and family, each dish pays homage to both Aboriginal and multicultural Australia. Vegans and kids are well catered for here, with lots of tailored options available.
Must-try menu item: Market fish grilled, served with lemon myrtle, red salt crispy chats and finger lime aioli.
Bangalay Dining
Where: Shoalhaven Heads, South Coast
Inspired by its surrounding bushland, Bangalay Dining’s dishes hero native ingredients. Recognised as a gourmet dining destination, this restaurant serves creative combinations of flavours. Why not stay onsite at one of their luxury villas and enjoy both dinner and breakfast at this award-winning restaurant?
Must-try menu item: Wild Ulladulla kingfish crudo with pickled daikon, mandarin and oyster emulsion.
Pipit
Where: Pottsville, The Tweed
Sit at the counter to see all the action in the kitchen and bar, connect with the chefs directly, and watch your meal come together before your eyes at Pipit. With a menu feature local produce, sustainable seafood, native ingredients and wood-fired cooking, you’ll want to order one of everything.
Must-try menu item: kangaroo with lily pilly and wattle seed.
The Zin House
Where: Eurunderee, Mudgee
Overlooking the organic and biodynamic Lowe Family Wine Co property in Mudgee, The Zin House dishes up long lunches and dinners using produce grown in their extensive kitchen gardens, orchards, and Nathan Lovett’s onsite indigenous food farm. Pair your set course meal with wine or wander through the gardens, resting assured there is no time limit on your table.
Must-try menu item: emu egg wattle seed sponge with Verjuice caramelised apples and macadamia ice-cream and infused with lemon myrtle infused.
Warakirri Dining by Indigiearth *
Where: Mudgee
Celebrate the richness of Aboriginal culture and cuisine during this unforgettable five course degustation. At Warakirri Dining by Indigiearth taste Australian bush foods from fresh seafood and game meats to rainforest fruits. Enjoy captivating storytelling, music and rituals during this four-hour dining experience, while learning about the deep connections between food, land, and spirit.
Must-try menu item: campfire kangaroo, a dish that pays respects to how kangaroo has been cooked on fire for tens of thousands of years.
Firescreek Botanical Winery
Where: Holgate, Central Coast
Practising regenerative organic farming, Firescreek Botanical Winery make award-winning wines from a wide array of botanicals. Flavours change with the season as the 2.5 acre gardens flourish with different fruits. Head to their wine cellar, book a behind-the-scenes tour with the winemaker to sample all the current vintages, or learn about culture and taste bush foods on the Firescreek Aboriginal Storytelling experience.
Must-try menu item: Tasmanian raspberry and crisp apple wine.
EXP Restaurant
Where: Pokolbin, Hunter Valley
Feast on a tasting menu that pairs seasonal ingredients with native Australian flavours at EXP Restaurant. Guests are guided through the experience by chefs, sommelier and waiters in a small dining room that seats only 28. Every detail of this two-hat restaurant is thoughtful from the locally handcrafted furniture to their food waste reduction processes where by-products are repurposed into condiments, sauces, and seasonings.
Must-try menu item: Warrigal greens & native spice curry, feta, chickpea tart, pickled cucamelon and desert lime.
Arrana
Where: Springwood, Blue Mountains
Every one of the dishes in Arrana’s degustation menu features Australian ingredients. Popular dishes include their native thyme brined duck breast, onion jus with peaches cooked three ways. The menu constantly changes at this two-hat restaurant, so returning guests can always enjoy new flavours.
Must-try menu item: rosella granita, lychee foam and davidson plum powder or wattleseed and babka icecream, caramelised popcorn, dark chocolate and red bean ganache with a pedro ximenex jelly.
Spirit Food* at Silos Estate
Where: Berry, Southern Highlands
Indulge in a five course food journey that will tantalise your taste buds with a range of seasonal native ingredients including lilli pilli, davidson plum, and bush tomatoes. Mirritya Mundya’s Spirit Food, hosted regularly at Silos Estate, heros Australian proteins such as emu, kangaroo and local seafood.
Must-try menu item: spanner crab three ways with paperbark.
The Old Salt Bush
Where: Broken Hill
Having travelled the world cooking for royalty, political leaders, and Hollywood’s elite, chef Lee Cecchin returned to her home town of Broken Hill to craft a menu that showcases local produce and the bold flavours of bushfood. The Old Salt Bush’s dishes are designed to be shared, but prepare to negotiate for the last bite of the renowned quandong and apple crumble.
Must-try menu item: saltbush gin-cured salmon.
Restaurant Amara
Where: Bowen Mountain, Blue Mountains
At Restaurant Amara, only the freshest local organic and sustainable produce is sourced from within a one-hour drive radius. Thanks to strong personal relationships with local producers their five and seven-course meals showcase the best of the Hawkesbury region. The flavour of native ingredients is brought out by using charcoal and fire alongside traditional cooking techniques.
Must-try menu item: kingfish with coconut and lime.
Wonnarua Wine Tasting Experience by Tulloch Wines
Where: Pokolbin, Hunter Valley
At Tulloch Wines taste sparkling wines including their prosecco and verscato. Enjoy a shared brunch board featuring bush foods and botanicals. Savour the flavours of smoked salmon with labna and lemon myrtle, hummus with saltbush macadamia nut dukkah, and brie with bush tomato relish.
Must-try menu item: Scone with Kakadu Plum Jam
* These experiences and venues are Aboriginal owned.