Where to Eat in Port Macquarie
Oysters from the Hastings River, seafood over the water, and where to eat on a two-night stop
Port Macquarie eats from its river. The Hastings is a working oyster river, and a seafood restaurant has stood out over the water since 1972. On a two-night stop, eat in the town centre on foot, keep one night for a special dinner near Town Beach, and give a lunch to the river. West of town, the Hastings Valley adds a winery and a strawberry farm fifteen minutes away.
Areas, places and prices reviewed 25 September 2026.
First, how Port Macquarie eats
The river comes first. The Hastings meets the sea beside the town, and its estuary is farmed for Sydney rock oysters; one of its growers is the fifth generation of his family to farm them. In March 2021 a once-in-a-century flood swept away thousands of baskets and stopped the harvest for eight months, but the oysters recovered once clear water returned, and they are on the town’s menus again.
The fish came to the town through a fishermen’s co-operative for decades, but the co-op closed in 2016, and there is no longer a single place to buy the catch at the water. Independent seafood shops sell it now, and the restaurants on the river cook it. Inland, the Hastings Valley grows grapes and fruit: the Cassegrain family planted their first vineyard in 1981, and a farm at Blackmans Point has grown tomatoes and strawberries under cover since 2001.
Port Macquarie is on Birpai Country. We looked for a Birpai-led food experience that visitors can book, such as a bush-food tour or tasting, and did not find one we could confirm, so we point you to none. If you find one, ask locally whether it is Birpai-run, and go.
We have visited Port Macquarie over many years and walked its coast in February 2026, but we cannot remember where we ate lunch, so we name nowhere from our own table. This page is researched, and it describes food through its ingredients and sources rather than tastes we cannot vouch for.
Before you order oysters on the river, look at the water under the restaurant. This is the river they are grown in. In 2021 the floodwater ran brown down this estuary for weeks, and it took five weeks of clear water for the oysters to come back. Notice the colour of the river today. Then eat the oysters knowing how much of their taste depends on it.
What to eat in Port Macquarie
The Hastings River is a working oyster river, farmed by growers including one who is the fifth generation of his family to grow them. Order them natural, and ask where they were grown.
The town’s fishermen’s co-op closed in 2016, and the catch is now sold by independent seafood shops. Eat it over the water on Hastings River Drive, or as takeaway on the Town Green.
The Cassegrain family settled on the Hastings River in 1952 and founded their winery west of the town in 1985. It is fifteen minutes by car, with a cellar door open every day.
At Blackmans Point, fifteen minutes out, Ricardoes has grown tomatoes and strawberries under cover since 2001. You can pick your own, even in the rain, and eat at the farm café.
Two nights leave room for one good dinner. The Stunned Mullet, near Town Beach, has held a chef’s hat since 2013. Book ahead: it opens five nights a week.
Local farmers bring seasonal fruit and vegetables to the Real Food Markets in the Port Central forecourt on Tuesdays, with honey, preserves and sourdough beside them.
Where to eat: the most useful areas
| Area | Best for | Best time | Main catch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Town centre & Town Beach | Both evenings on foot, and the special dinner | Dinner, Tuesday to Saturday for the best of it | The top table must be booked ahead |
| Westport & the river | Seafood over the water | A long lunch | A drive or a long walk from the centre |
The town centre sits on the river at its mouth, with the Town Green on the water and Town Beach just round the corner. Westport and the river run west from there along Hastings River Drive. We found no restaurant at Flynns or Lighthouse Beach that passes our five-year test, so we do not profile them.
Each area below names only places that have traded under the same name, or in the same hands, for five years or more, with someone other than the owner saying so. Newer places may be excellent; we simply cannot vouch for their staying power yet.
Town centre & Town Beach — both evenings on foot
$110 set dinner at the topThis is where you will be staying, and where most of the town’s restaurants, cafés and pubs are: along Clarence Street and the Town Green by the river, and up the hill to Town Beach. Both evenings of a two-night stop can be eaten here on foot, and the waterfront on the Town Green is the place for a drink as the light goes. The pub on the corner of the Town Green stands on a site that has held a hotel since about 1840, when it served the oyster farmers, fishermen and timber-getters; the first building burned down in 1886. We could not date its present business, so we do not name it. At the Town Beach end is a restaurant that has held a chef’s hat since 2013, the one to book for a special night.
Eat here for: Dinner on foot, a drink by the river on the Town Green, one special night.
Westport & the river — seafood over the water
$47–59 (mains)West of the centre, Hastings River Drive follows the river out past the marina, and the restaurants here sit on the water rather than behind it. This is the place for a long seafood lunch looking over the river the oysters are grown in. It is about seven minutes from the town centre by car; on foot, the riverside path from the centre goes as far as Westport Park, and the rest is along the main road.
Eat here for: A long lunch of oysters and fish, looking over the river.
How much does it cost to eat in Port Macquarie?
| Meal or occasion | Typical spend | What that buys |
|---|---|---|
| An oyster at a waterfront restaurant | $5.50 each | Natural or with mignonette, four at least |
| A restaurant main at dinner | $47–59 | One main course by the river, no drinks |
| A set-price dinner | $110 | Several courses at a hatted restaurant |
| A seafood platter for two | $220 | Shared: $110 each |
Australian dollars, read on 25 September 2026 from what two Port Macquarie restaurants publish on their own websites: the river restaurant’s menu dated September 2026, and the town restaurant’s set price. Both are at the upper end of eating out here. We could not find published prices for fish and chips, a coffee, a café breakfast or a pub meal, so the cheaper end of the ladder is missing. Treat the figures as a guide, not a survey, and check the foot of any menu for a weekend or public-holiday surcharge.
Markets and takeaway
The Real Food Markets are held on Tuesdays in the forecourt of the Port Central shopping centre on Horton Street, in the town centre, with seasonal fruit and vegetables from local farmers alongside honey, preserves and sourdough. The council’s listing gives the hours as 11am to 4pm, but it ran only to March 2026, and a local guide gives different hours, so check before you plan a Tuesday around it.
If you are staying in an apartment, as we suggest in our guide to where to stay in Port Macquarie, the kitchen is worth using. Buy oysters and fish from one of the town’s independent seafood shops and cook at home on the second night. We name none of the shops, because none showed the independent evidence of age we ask for; ask your host which one locals use.
For the rest, eat outside. Takeaway from the town centre carried to the Town Green, or down to Town Beach, is how many people eat here on a warm evening.
Further afield: the Hastings Valley
Cassegrain is fifteen minutes west of the town centre, about thirteen kilometres out along Hastings River Drive and Fernbank Creek Road. The family settled on the Hastings River in 1952, planted their first vineyard in 1981 and founded the winery in 1985. The cellar door is open every day from 10am to 5pm. Its restaurant, taste@cassegrain, opened only in 2024, so it has not yet passed our five-year test: we name the winery, not the restaurant, which opens Wednesday to Sunday from 10am to 4pm.
Ricardoes Tomatoes & Strawberries is at 221 Blackmans Point Road, also about fifteen minutes from the centre. It has grown tomatoes and strawberries in covered hydroponic greenhouses since 2001, and it is open every day: the farm from 7am to 5pm, the café from 9am to 3pm. You can pick your own, and weekday farm tours start at 11am. The Port Macquarie News reported in August 2026 that the farm is for sale, so check that it is still open before you drive out.
South West Rocks is where to eat on the second day. Our guide to Port Macquarie spends it on the beaches about an hour north, inland through Kempsey and back out to the coast, and South West Rocks, with beaches of every kind and the ruined Trial Bay Gaol above its bay, is the natural stop for lunch. It is busy in the school holidays, so eat early or take a picnic.
Building food into one day
This day works best from Wednesday to Saturday, when the valley restaurant and The Stunned Mullet are both open. It needs a car for the middle of the day. It fits the first of your two days, the town day on our Sydney to Brisbane road trip, and leaves the second for the beaches to the north.
Morning — the Coastal Walk, and breakfast in town
Start with the walk from the river mouth over the headlands, as our guide to Port Macquarie suggests, and come back to breakfast in the town centre or on the Town Green.
Late morning — the Hastings Valley
Drive fifteen minutes west to Cassegrain for a tasting at the cellar door, open every day from 10am. On Wednesday to Sunday its restaurant is open until 4pm.
Lunch — the farm, or the river
Go on to Ricardoes at Blackmans Point to pick strawberries and eat at the farm café, which serves hot food until 2pm. Or head back along the river for a long seafood lunch at Whalebone Wharf.
Afternoon — a swim at Town Beach
Back in town, swim at Town Beach, which the council patrols every day of the year.
Evening — dinner on foot
Walk to dinner in the town centre, or, from Tuesday to Saturday and booked well ahead, to the set-price dinner at The Stunned Mullet near Town Beach.
Practical advice for eating in Port Macquarie
Book the special dinner
The Stunned Mullet takes bookings online only, up to four months ahead, and opens from Tuesday to Saturday. If a set-price dinner is part of your plan, book it when you book your bed.
Eat early, and check hours
The Stunned Mullet’s kitchen closes in the evening at half past eight, and the farm café stops serving hot food at 2pm. Whalebone Wharf does not publish its hours. Outside the summer holidays, plan an early dinner.
Book in the holidays and at the Ironman
Most of Port Macquarie can be eaten without booking. In the summer school holidays, at Easter, and around the Ironman triathlon, usually held in early May, the town fills, and it is worth booking dinner before you arrive.
Drinking and driving
The river, the valley and the town are a drive apart. New South Wales sets a blood-alcohol limit of 0.05 for fully licensed drivers and zero for learners and provisional drivers. At the cellar door, the driver tastes least; in the evening, eat where you can walk.
Seafood and dietary needs
Raw oysters are not for everyone: the NSW Food Authority advises pregnant women not to eat raw seafood, including oysters. If an allergy is serious, say so when you order and ask how the dish is cooked.
A final word on eating in Port Macquarie
Port Macquarie’s food comes out of its river. On a two-night stop, eat in the town centre on foot, give one night to a special dinner near Town Beach, booked well ahead, and one lunch to oysters over the water. With the car and a free morning, drive fifteen minutes west to the Hastings Valley for the winery and the strawberry farm.
Andrew + Margaret
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- Where to stay in Port Macquarie Decide
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