13 Excellent Mudgee Restaurants To Try Now

Mudgee over-delivers on everything from fine dining to sophisticated wine bars and cosy cellar doors.

With about 40 cellar doors, a distillery, breweries and countless restaurants and cafes, it’s little wonder that Mudgee has become a household name among Australian foodies. Most restaurants here would be perfectly at home in the fine-dining streets of Sydney or Melbourne, without any pretence. It might be down to a regional focus on local produce, or perhaps innovative chefs perfecting their flavours.

Explore the wining and dining scene with our pick of the best places to dine and wine when visiting Mudgee and its surrounds.

The shortlist

Best For Large Groups: Pipeclay Pumphouse
Best farm-to-table: The Zin House
Best casual eats: Mudgee Brewing Co.

Pipeclay Pumphouse

The rustic Pipeclay Pumphouse  restaurant at Robert Stein Vineyard takes its paddock-to-plate philosophy seriously. Most of the veggies and herbs are grown on site; the cattle, chicken and sheep are farmed here; and they make their own prosciutto and cured meats.

Main meals include the likes of Sweet potato with burrata, orzo, walnut and sage, and apple cider pork shoulder, rosemary. But it would be a mistake not to start with the Panko crumbed haloumi, dressed with honey, lime and pistachio.

While the restaurant is well known for its dinner sittings, you needn’t overlook its impressive six-course degustation long lunch offering. Add matching Robert Stein wines for a truly delicious experience.

Cuisine: Flavours of the Mediterranean and Middle East
Average price: $$$$
Atmosphere: Friendly and elevated
Location: Pipeclay Lane, Budgee Budgee

The Zin House

Serving as the cellar door restaurant at Lowe Wines & Co., The Zin House’s extensive orchard and zinfandel paddock supply most of the restaurant’s organic produce, which is then prepared from scratch using classic techniques. What they don’t grow themselves, they source from local producers to provide a truly local experience.

Long lunch sittings are popular, so be sure to book in advance. The optional wine pairing is highly recommended, featuring a mix of regional and estate-produced wines.

Cuisine: Elevated modern Australia
Average price: $$$$
Atmosphere: Relaxed and open-plan
Location: 327 Tinja Lane, Mudgee

Mudgee Brewing Co.

Food at a brewery can go one of two ways: lacklustre pub grub or upscale regional fare. Thank goodness Mudgee Brewing Co. delivers the latter.

Gary Leonard left the coal mining industry to open Mudgee’s only microbrewery in 2007. The 100-year-old former wool store has served as one of the town’s favourite watering holes ever since, with eight taps pouring the latest onsite craft brews.

Find an extensive food menu featuring beer snacks, pizzas and a variety of mains; confit duck, prawn pasta and mussels will satiate sophisticated appetites, while the fish and chips, schnitzel burgers and wings are for those who don’t mind getting their hands dirty. Live music adds to the ambience and, unlike most breweries, this one goes the extra mile with table service.

Cuisine: Pub grub
Average price: $$
Atmosphere: Casual
Location: 4 Church Street, Mudgee

Roth’s Wine Bar

The oldest wine bar in the country, Roth’s Wine Bar hits all the right notes for an incredible local wine menu, perfect bites to share and local stories full of flavour.

Robert Roth originally opened the space as a general store, serving a sneaky tipple to thirsty farmers on occasion before licensing the premises as a wine bar in 1923. Today, local characters keep their weekly bookings to drink, dine and dance (there is live music on Fridays).

There are now over 100 premium Roth wines on offer, along with an increasing number of local drops. Don’t be shy to order a cocktail or two, either – friendly bar staff will pour them with expertise and local liquor. Aside from wine, cocktails and craft beers, the bar serves a perfect selection of bites, like a wood-fired pizza menu and share plates like lemon pepper squid.

Cuisine: Modern Australian
Average price: $$
Atmosphere: Casual for a night out
Location: 30 Market Street, Mudgee

Jumbucks at the Woolpack Hotel

Not your stock-standard pub grub, the Woolpack Hotel sidesteps expectations with its casual Asian-fusion eatery, Jumbucks . You can get everything here from garlic prawns to san choy bow, gyoza and a range of stir-fries and omelettes. But this is still an Aussie country pub, so be comforted with an additional classics menu that doesn’t leave anyone out.

Cuisine: Chinese-fusion
Average price: $
Atmosphere: Casual
Location: 67 Market St, Mudgee

29 Nine 99

Artist-turned-tea-house-owner, Na Lan, has been steaming handmade dumplings at 29 Nine 99 in a quaint sandstone building in Rylstone since 2008.

Find a spot amid the eclectic artworks and gifts, then settle in for rounds of tea and pillowy-soft dumplings. While Na Lan never trained as a chef, you’d never know it. She says she likes to “spoil her taste buds", which leads to deliciously crafted dim sum. This diminutive restaurant is hugely popular, so book ahead on weekends.

Cuisine: Yum cha
Average price: $
Atmosphere: Eclectic
Location: 28 Louee Street, Rylstone

Smokin Bro & Co

What could go better with craft brews than Texan BBQ? Find Smokin Bro & Co inside Three Tails Brewery, offering slow-cooked BBQ, cooked with fire and smoke.

Tuck into everything from brisket burgers to a kransky taco and opt in for a stack of sides, such as cornbread, sweet potato casserole and bacon mac. The barbecue is stoked from Wednesday to Thursday nights and seasons the Mudgee air with curls of smoke over lunch on Friday and Saturday.

Cuisine: Texan BBQ
Average price: $
Atmosphere: Casual
Location: 13A Lewis Street, Mudgee

The Oriental Hotel

Known colloquially as ‘The Ori’ , one of Mudgee’s classic pubs has enjoyed a glow in the last year or two to include various indoor and outdoor dining options. There’s something for everyone on the menu, from pizzas to Bangladeshi to a more elevated modern Australian section. As for drinks, find ice-cold brews on tap, as well as a dedicated gin bar for tasty cocktails.

Cuisine: Pub grub
Average price: $$
Atmosphere: Warm & welcoming
Location: 6 Lewis St, Mudgee

The Barn at Blue Wren Farm

Taking simple, seasonal ingredients and finessing them to become the best versions of themselves, the fare at the Barn on the idyllic Blue Wren Farm is sustainable, elegant and wholly delicious. Take a seat outdoors and enjoy a procession of plates that pair well with the accompanying wine list.

From prosciutto with persimmon and pickled chilli to larger plates of chargrilled lamb backstrap skewers with lentils and yoghurt and a chicken cotaletta with fried capers, the Italian-leaning menu is long lunch perfection, but you can also dine in the evenings from Thursday to Saturday.

Groups of 10 or more will need to book in for a set menu experience, which is an entirely agreeable way to spend a few hours – just be sure to book a taxi back to your accommodation.

Cuisine: Italian
Average price: $$$
Atmosphere: Relaxed
Location: 433 Ulan Road, Mudgee

Elton’s Bar + Bites

Once the original 1896 Elton’s Pharmacy building, this now modern hangout with a menu that delivers on its namesake – expect to do lots of eating and drinking at Eltons. While the all-day menu features salads, schnitzels and burgers, it’s the breakfast offerings that really shine. Take a seat in the main bar, the open-air courtyard or on the sunny footpath out front.

Cuisine: Modern Australian
Average price: $$
Atmosphere: Casual
Location: 81 Market Street, Mudgee

Isabella’s Trattoria

You’ll know you’ve arrived at Isabella’s Trattoria when you spot the sign that says you have found the “food you’ve been looking for". This place ups the ante when it comes to upscale Italian fare.

Maroon awnings feature a cursive decal out the front, transporting customers to an Italian side street from the get-go. An open-plan kitchen allows customers to see the masters at work, manoeuvring around the kitchen with beautiful European finesse. Match the risotto, garlic prawns and seafood pasta with a drop from the lengthy wine list. For dessert, the tiramisu is the sweet pick-me-up your evening needs.

Cuisine: Traditional Italian
Average price: $$$
Atmosphere: Welcoming
Location: 52 Market St, Mudgee

Warakirri Dining Experience by Indigiearth

Operated by Indigiearth founder Sharon Winsor, a Ngemba Weilwan woman from Western NSW, this intimate dining experience shared by only 30 guests per night unravels native bush tucker and botanicals across five courses.

A deep love and respect for Indigenous food, dovetailing with her culinary mastery, enables Sharon to take diners on an immersive gastronomic journey into ancient skills and flavours. Over four hours, share incredible dishes paired with beverages, while enjoying cultural entertainment such as music and storytelling.

2026 dates will be announced soon.

Cuisine: Australian
Average price: $$$
Atmosphere: Casual
Location: Huntington Estate, 641 Ulan Road, Buckaroo

Paragon Hotel

This 1857 gold rush-era hotel has Aussie pub ambience down to a fine art. The pub’s Bushman eatery isn’t reinventing the wheel, and nor does it have to when classic grub comes this well-finished. Tuck into your usual suspects, should you feel like fish and chips, steak or a chicken schnitty, but there are also nouveau pub classics, such as a warm cauliflower salad, grilled fish tacos and pan-fried salmon. The wine list is curated with local-leaning, as expected.

Cuisine: Pub grub
Average price: $$
Atmosphere: Casual
Location: 38 Perry Street, Mudgee

Between eats, follow our guide for the 21 of the very best things to do in Mudgee.

Aussies might think they know what Port Stephens is all about – but it’s time to take another look.

You might’ve driven through this NSW coast town. Maybe even stopped for fish and chips or a quick dip. But spend a long weekend in the new Port Stephens , and you’ll seriously regret not doing it sooner. We’re talking treks across beaches, reef dives and up-close time with rescued koalas.

All in all? It only takes a day before you see Port Stephens in a whole new light, and not much longer until it’s locked in as your favourite family destination.

1. Stockton Sand Dunes

Port Stephens incredible Stockton Sand Dunes are the largest moving sand mass in the Southern Hemisphere. They shift like an endless magic trick across the Worimi Conservation Lands , a 4200-hectare coastal co-managed by the Traditional Owners.

Tear over them in a 4WD. Rev through valleys soft as melting ice cream on a quad. Carve down 30-metre slopes on a sandboard. However you choose to cross them, you’re guaranteed a seriously wild ride.

Four rugged 4WDs kick up trails of golden dust as they charge across the sweeping desert landscape. — Chase thrills across shifting sands. (Image: Destination NSW)

2. Scale Tomaree Head Summit Walk

A short climb through bushland opens up to the coastal drama of Tomaree Head . Spot Zenith, Wreck and Box Beaches. See the Fingal Island lighthouse and offshore rookeries where Australia’s rarest seabird, the Gould’s petrel, nests.

History buffs can’t miss the WWII gun emplacements. And if you’re hiking between May and November, bring binoculars. Travelling whales might just be breaching below.

Friends enjoying a scenic walk along the Tomaree Head Summit Walk in Tomaree National Park, Port Stephens. — Climb Tomaree Head for jaw-dropping coastal views. (Image: Destination NSW)

3. Watch out for whales

You’ve seen the spouts of migrating humpbacks and southern right whales from shore. Set sail from Nelson Bay to see them up close. Cruise straight into the action, with tail-slaps, barrel rolls and all.

And they’ve got competition from the local show-offs. Port Stephens bottlenose dolphins leap and play. Some tours even spot pudgy fur seals, spending lazy days soaking up the sun on Cabbage Tree Island.

A whale’s tail on the sea’s surface. — Watch for ocean tails. (Image: Destination NSW)

4. Port Stephens Koala Sanctuary

Pop into the Port Stephens Koala Sanctuary to learn about the rescued koalas who climb, nap, snack and heal in this natural patch of bushland. Wander the immersive Sanctuary Story Walk to discover more about their habits, then head to the SKYwalk – a treetop platform constructed for spotting these eucalyptus-loving locals. Peek into the hospital’s viewing window, where sick or injured koalas may be resting in their recovery enclosures.

Not enough time around these adorable marsupials? Stay overnight in silk-lined glamping tents.

Koala sleeping in a tree at Port Stephens Koala Sanctuary, One Mile — See koalas in their natural habitat. (Image: Destination NSW)

5. Diving Port Stephens

Port Stephens has some of NSW’s best dive spots. At Fly Point, float through sponge gardens and coral castles thick with nudibranchs (AKA sea slugs). Halifax Park has blue gropers and crimson-banded wrasse, while Shoal Bay’s seagrass meadows hide pipefish, cuttlefish and octopus.

Accessible only by boat, Broughton Island is home to a vast array of marine (and bird) life. Snorkel with blue devilfish and stingrays at sites like The Looking Glass and North Rock. More experienced divers can head out with one of the many PADI-certified operators.

At nearby Cabbage Tree Island, expect to see shaggy-faced wobbegongs cruising along.

A couple suited up and ready to dive into adventure. — Suit up and dive into Port Stephens’ vibrant marine life. (Image: Destination NSW)

6. Irukandji Shark and Ray Encounters

Not quite ready to dive in? Irukandji Shark and Ray Encounters is the perfect way to spot local marine life without getting too deep. But there’s no obnoxious glass tank tapping here. Instead, this interactive aquarium allows guests to wade into natural-style lagoons that mimic the real thing.

Gently pat Port Jackson and bamboo sharks, hand-feed rays, and feel their sandpapery skin with your fingertips. It is all under expert guidance. If you want to go deeper, pop on a wetsuit and swim alongside tawny nurse sharks, white-tipped reef sharks and zebra sharks in the lagoon.

Family enjoying an animal feeding experience at Irukandji Shark and Ray Encounters, Anna Bay. — Meet the ocean’s friendliest faces at Irukandji. (Image: Destination NSW)

7. Fish the estuaries

Fishing fanatics will fall for Port Stephens hook, line and sinker. Here, one of the largest estuary systems in the whole state sees tidal rivers and mangrove ecosystems. Waterfronts are thick with oysters, and residential fish that might include anything from bream, whiting and flathead, to blue swimmer crabs, kingfish and longtail tuna.

If you prefer to choose your own adventure and fish offshore, you can hire a boat from one of the marinas and set your own course.

three men fishing on a boat in port stephens — Join a tour or chart your own fishing trip. (Image: Destination NSW)

8. Taste new Port Stephens flavours

With plenty of activity to fill your days, refuelling on delectable cuisine becomes equally important. And Port Stephens answers the call.

Pop into Holbert’s Oyster Farm for fresh-farmed Port Stephens rock oysters and Pacific oysters, Australian king and tiger prawns, as well as a variety of tasty sauces to try them with.

Take a group to Atmos for an authentic Greek experience over large shared dishes and Greek-inspired cocktails. Or feast on sea-to-plate, modern Australian dishes at the pet-friendly Restaurant 2317.

A plate of fresh oysters. — Slurp your way through the region’s best oysters. (Image: Destination NSW)

Start planning your Port Stephens getaway at portstephens.org.au .

13 of the best Mudgee restaurants to try now