The Newcastle food scene continues to thrive. If you're looking for the best Newcastle restaurants then save this blog post with some of the most delicious restaurants in Newcastle with options for all budgets and styles. Some restaurants are walking distance from downtown Newcastle while others are located in neighbourhoods of Newcastle. We are also sharing their offerings for Newcastle food month in April 2024. From Plate Dates (a plate of food and a drink for $30) to special dinners there's an event for every budget!
Downtown Newcastle
Blanca
Just a warning Dear Reader: stepping into Blanca, located along the foreshore of the Hunter River is like taking a quick trip to Europe. So much so that you'll look around and wonder how on earth you got to the Greek Islands at the blink of an eye. The setting was inspired by owner Garry Risteski's travels to the Greek Islands, the Turkish Riviera and Sicily from the curved, rendered white walls, archways, a retractable roof and blush pink napkins. Eat indoors or outdoors in this wildly photogenic space.
We try a selection of their mezze and while it is all very tasty the standouts are the grilled squid with fennel, oregano, Sicilian olives, cannellini beans, squid ink aioli and the three cheese & silverbeet Burek pie with chives and spiced brown butter, a dish from Garry's Macedonian background. The Baked Saganaki Cheese with spicy harissa, oregano, chilli, Malfroy’s honey is also a must order, the dish coming out sizzling hot.
Wash these down with their signature cocktail, the Limone & Cucumber Spritz with Limoncello, Prosecco and hard lemonade. My personal favourite (and yes I am biased towards pink but its the taste that ultimately matters) is the Nene’s Delight made with Vanilla Vodka, Créme de Cacao and rose syrup.
Newcastle Food Month Event: Mezze, Vino & Bar Any mezze plate of choice with a tap beer or bartender’s selection of wine for $30. Vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free and non-alc options are available.
Thermidor
A short 2 minute walk away from Blanca along the Hunter River is restaurant Thermidor. Chef Josh Gregory worked at Muse kitchen in Lorn but to him "It was always about coming home for us". He and his wife Jess who works front of house wanted to create a place where they cherry picked their favourite parts of fine dining like high quality produce but also combined it with a neighbourhood restaurant with a focus on fire cookery. His aim is to create food with minimal intervention to let the produce shine. "I don’t want to eat the science experiment anymore," he says.
Start your meal with fresh Stella Maris oysters from Lemon Tree Passage with a superb white pepper, pink finger lime mignonette. This is made with eschallot with brine and oyster juice. I dare you to stop at one. Kilpatricks are also available but for me, nothing beats the mignonette oysters.
Then segue onto entrees like crispy prawn toast points or the mortadella, fried mozzarella and peach hot sauce, an exercise in textures. Dn't forget to order the dream trio of puffy, blistered wood fired bread with taramasalata and bottarga butter. If seafood isn't your thing, the agrodolce lamb ribs have been cooked until lusciously tender for 16 hours and crisped up on the grill.
And if you feel like celebrating or pushing out the proverbial fishing boat, go for the grilled lobster Thermidor with Nelson Bay lobster. The lobsters arrive live at night and are cooked the next day served with spaghetti amatriciana. The luxurious classic is what the restaurant is named after and there is no better place to eat this than by the water here.
Newcastle Food Month Event: A Tour of the Mediterranean Through Food – Thermidor 4-course lunch, designed to be shared. Matching wine pairings $195 per person.
Arno Deli
Arno Deli is located in downtown Newcastle and is the deli everyone wished they had near them. Part the red chain curtains and enter a treasure trove of goodies with pastas, pastries, cheeses, salumi and a selection of conservas or tinned items. The coffee is also excellent so sit back with a cannoli and a coffee or if you're looking for something more substantial explore the panini menu. Or simply buy things to take home with you to make your own Gildas or cheese and charcuterie board.
With the panini choose hot or cold fillings. If you're after the best seller go for the Porchetta with slices of house made porchetta, Provolone cheese, mustard, mayo and guindillas. Spicy lovers have it all covered with the #16 with a double shot of chilli in the Nduja and hot sopressa as well as peppery rocket. If you're looking for the chef's favourite go for the Mortadella with mortadella, pistachio crema, stracciatella and pistachios.
And if you ask Will his favourite he will say the #2 with Calabrian chilli, "It’s our version of porchetta which I include salsiccia mince when I roll up the pork belly with fennel pollen, rosemary, black pepper and chilli. We serve it with baby cos leaves, aioli, grilled eggplant and Alto Robust extra virgin olive oil from Crookwell, NSW."
Newcastle Food Month Events: Italian Cheese & Wine Masterclass – Arno Deli 6 Italian cheeses paired with 6 Italian wines for $140 a person. Or Panino & Vino, a panini of your choice and a glass of Italian wine for $30.
Humbug
Stefanie Wells and Michael Portley are the couple that started Humbug, one of the most popular restaurants in downtown Newcastle. Michael takes care of the food creating a menu that he describes as "free flowing and borderless" with a modern take on pasta while Stef takes care of the wine list focusing on small producers around the world.
The restaurant is busy - booking is definitely recommended. Start the meal with their light and spongey sourdough focaccia topped with a lick of honey and a smattering of sesame seeds and cultured butter. Then it is time for small snacks - the Ortiz anchovy, parmesan custard and Danish pastry is satisfyingly crunchy. Everyone's favourite snack is the school prawn fritti ssamjang, a delightful mouth awakening number with crunchy school prawns on crisp lettuce cup or ssamjang. It's devastatingly good.
Their menu is influenced by John Wu, their Korean sous chef and the main dishes are served with banchan. The smokey Redgate duck is twice cooked and succulent and full of flavour. Their plate of banchan has perilla leaf rolls, heirloom tomatoes with a sesame dressing and marinated garlic stems. Pastas are creative - think corn, miso and lime with elbow macaroni giving Mexican elotes vibes.
Newcastle Food Month Event: Chardy Party 2024 – HUMBUG Chardy-inspired snacks and wine.
Nagisa & Ape
Nagisa is an institution in Newcastle having served Japanese cuisine for the past 20 years since 2004. Two years ago in 2022 they opened up Âpé (pronounced Ar-pay) Yakitori Bar that focuses on cooking over coals and cocktail bar snacks. Their head chef is Chilean Nico Pedemonte who combined Japanese and South American flavours aka Nikkei cuisine. Take a seat in their dining room where an ingenius solution for soundproofing is given by the mushroom walls. A little further back is the ageing fridge with beef, whole kingfish and salmon.
The teriyaki salmon is a a sashimi grade salmon that is pan-seared with a house teriyaki glaze and paired with a Japanese pickle salad. You can see the lusciousness of the salmon that is cooked perfectly.
One of the most popular food month features is the Plate Date where for $30 you get a plate of food and a drink or glass of wine. At Nagisa the dish is a beetroot cured aged kingfish wrapped in nori seaweed sheets in a wasabi foam with mint and leek oil. This is a standouot dish, not just pretty but deliciously fresh and great for a light meal.
At Âpé the plate date dish is wagyu wrapped prawn sushi Binnie Beef Marble score point 7 striploin sushi roll with prawns, avocado, house tare, smoked teriyaki aioli and fresh wasabi that is rich and a bit luxe served with a glass of 2022 First Creek Limited Release Rose.
Newcastle Food Month Event: Beetroot Cured Hiramasa Kingfish (Nagisa) with a glass of First Creek Vermentino for $30, Binnie Beef Wagyu Roll (Âpé Yakitori Bar) and a glass of 2022 First Creek Limited Release Rose for $30.
Lucky Hotel
The Lucky Hotel was the Bank of Australia in a previous life. Post renovation and there's very little trace of its beginnings with an airy, light filled courtyard in place of the horse stables and 30 rooms of some simple but nice accommodation upstairs.
For Newcastle Food Month they're doing a sharing plate with Olives, Herb Guacamole, corn tortilla chips, mushroom arancini, fried chicken tenders and fried squid. The boneless fried chicken and squid are tender and tasty and it's a great deal as this plate is normally $40 (however a little birdy told me that their fried chicken with crème fraîche and Avruga caviar is the pick of the entrée menu). Being a pub, there are pub classics like tacos, fish and chips, steaks and pasta. My favourite dish is the sirloin steak that is perfectly cooked with a delicious char to it.
Newcastle Food Month Events: Plate Date For Mates platter above for $30. Good Tukka – The Lucky Hotel 4-course culinary experience and a glass of wine on arrival $95 per person.
Customs House
If you're looking to sit back and relax by the water with a glass of wine or beer in hand, head to Customs House. The 1877 heritage building is a popular place for events and weddings. On weekends the front terrace area with the raised terrace and beer garden below is a busy spot as it looks out onto the Newcastle Harbour foreshore. This building has served as home to numerous government offices from 1877 to 1989. It also survived a fire and the 1989 Newcastle earthquake and in 1995 it was renovated and transformed into what stands today.
For Newcastle food month they're holding a Rosé All Day garden party with 5 Hunter Valley Rosés paired with 5 bites of tapas style food. The garlic and chorizo prawns are the pick of the plate that we tried.
Newcastle Food Month Events: Rosé Wine Garden – Customs House Hotel 5 wines paired with a Mediterranean-style tapas menu $110 per person. PAIRED – Jimmy Joans Comes to Town – Customs House Hotel Four-course menu with matched Hunter Valley and International wines. $185 per person.
Newcastle Neighbourhoods
Vecina
Whenever I go to Newcastle at least one person asks me if I have been to Flotilla. The sad answer is no but not for lack of trying but if you've missed out on a booking to the 34 seat restaurant then I've got some good news for you: Bar Vecina, Flotilla's baby sister right next door. Or neighbour as the name Vecina suggests (it's Spanish for neighbour).
This wine bar has a comprehensive wine list with 400 wines and the creative cocktail list changes regularly and is worth multiple revisits. I start with a Tulum made with Tequila Reposado, chartreuse, honey, jalapeno and coriander, appealingly sweet, spicy and layered.
Snacks wise, you cannot go wrong with anything on the smart bar menu by chef Jake Deluca but I'd gently but firmly push you towards the Gilda and the Tempura Zucchini flowers with a generous shaving of parmesan and a drizzle of honey. You can thank me later ;)
The menu is full of great drinking snacks and also has a range of freshly shaved charcuterie and cheese. The chicken liver parfait comes three to a serve in a crisp cigar shell with madeira jelly dabs on top while the marinated mussels escabeche come skewered with pickled carrot discs on top. If you are after something a bit more substantial, the beef tartare with gnocco fritto is delightful with a disc of egg jam on top and a bowl of freshly fried gnocco fritto shaped like tiny, crunchy, paper thin ravioli. Don't forget dessert too with a Negroni dessert on the menu with Campari granita, blood orange sorbet and candied orange marmalade that is refreshing and perfect to end a hot summer night off with.
Newcastle Food Month Events: Sunday Session #1: Sweetwater Estate and Hungerford Hill – Vecina a selection of their best wines perfectly paired with delicious snacks $95 per person or Sunday Session #2: Vinden and Sabi Wabi – Vecina a selection of their best wines perfectly paired with delicious snacks $95 per person.
Alfie's Italian
"I've always wanted something small and neighbourhood focused," says Ronnie Stricke, one of the 5 owners at Alfie's Italian in New Lambton. Located in a former fruit shop right next to the local post office, they serve up Italian antipasti and pastas with modern Australian style. While the name Alfie's Italian has Italian in the title, it skips effortlessly across continents.
Entrees include a ring of moreish whipped cod roe with sweet onions, chicken liver parfait with foie gras shaved on top. Prosciutto de Parma comes out shaved thinly in handkerchief sized pieces, artfully draped. Blistered black grapes are paired with buffalo bocconcini and rosemary. It the weather is warm and you're looking for something fresh go for the yellowfin tuna crostini.
One piece of advice: tie everything together with their blistered pizza bread whether it's the regular or garlic and chilli oil version (I'd suggest getting one pizza bread per person and I'm not even kidding). It's perfect match are the Ortiz anchovies, house made cultured butter and blistered tiny half tomatoes ($24) or the burrata with fennel and agridolce.
All pastas are made in house and range from a vegetarian Gemelli with caramelised local zucchini, basil to a richer Mafaldini with rich spring lamb ragu, snow peas and cavolo nero. But my favourite is the spaghetti with scallops, prosciutto XO, makrut lime leaves and pangrattato.
Newcastle Food Month Event: Ravella X Alfie's Perfect Match 2024 Six-course shared Italian feast by Alfie’s Head Chef, Rafael Tonon $150 per person.
Harrison's
Harrison's on Tudor Street opened up 2 years ago during the COVID lockdown with the strict square metre rule. Back then the restaurant's footprint was half of what it currently is and they could serve just 10 people each night. Since then they have survived and thrived. With oatmeal linen napkins and tablecloths, retro plates and a neighbourhood restaurant vibe, the dining room was designed by couple Tony Harrison and Melisah May as an extension of their own dining room.
We try a range of dishes of snappy snacks. The manchego and short rib croquettes are suitably rich and perfect for a chilly night while the skewered lollipops of pork belly scratchings with a generous amount of seasoning are delightfully good. Paella fans will fall for the paella arancini, all sunny golden hued inside with the flavour of saffron. A substantial grazer is the scoop of chicken liver pate with pickles, thin leaves of jamon and toast. The cuttlefish and chorizo over charcoal is also very good.
And the only thing likely to steal the attention away from the food are the walls with gorgeous food related paintings by Melisah - all are available to purchase.
Newcastle Food Month Event: The Flavours of the Basque Region – Harrison’s Food and Wine $75 per person, wine matching extra.
Elementa
Elementa restaurant is almost hidden away and you would never really stumble upon it unless you knew it was there or were walking along Throsby Creek in Maryville. But you'd be missing out on some good created by their young female chef Jess Brooks.
Take the red lentil and carrot dahl dip. An unassuming dip that you may not even notice but also so incredibly moreish. Swipe some of that soft, charred bread through the dip picking up a crispy chickpea and some scarlet toasted chilli oil along the way and taste the silky, curried dip. Although I've eaten an ungodly amount of food (#noregrets) I think I polish off almost all of this dip. And no they won't part with the recipe - I asked.
Also worth a try are the fried artichoke hearts with a French onion dip, chunky with chopped onion. They'll fall apart on the way to your mouth they're that delicate. The kangaroo tartare in cups of baby gem lettuce is served with dollops of parmesan and anchovy dressing with crispy potato straws.
Newcastle Food Month Event: Indulge in the Ultimate Sunday Long Lunch Experience – Elementa 5-course set menu share style $175 per person.
So tell me Dear Reader, have you visited Newcastle recently? Have you been to any of these restaurants? And do you attend food festivals?
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