10 Fantastic Restaurants in the Hunter Valley for Foodies

Wine tasting works up an appetite and we've got the 411 on the Hunter Valley's best restaurants. From meals that look like works of art to rustic hearty breakfasts, the Hunter Valley dining scene is impressive. There are foodie gems dotted throughout the Hunter Valley wine country designed to delight every palate. These Hunter Valley restaurants have taken regional fare up a notch - EXP Restaurant, Margan, Yellow Billy, Circa 1876, The Cottage Scone, Kawal, Fawks Food Kitchen & Dining, Two Fat Blokes Gourmet Kitchen, eRemo Restaurant and of course, Muse. Your Hunter Valley dinner plans are sorted!

Whether you're looking for a Hunter Valley restaurant for a show-stopping gourmet experience, or you're looking for a quick and tasty bite, read on for our top 10 restaurants in the Hunter Valley.

If you're looking for the ultimate must-visit Hunter Valley restaurant... this is it. EXP Restaurant has been included in the delicious magazine’s Top 100 Restaurants for 2017, 2018 and 2019, and for good reason, the food is as photogenic as it is tasty.

The dining room is intimate with hand crafted local furniture. Guests can sit along the bar and peer directly into the kitchen while interacting with Chef Frank Fawkner and his team.

The menu changes frequently as Fawkner’s focus is on seasonal dishes but expect a bit of Australiana on your plate such as barbequed kangaroo, wattleseed crème brûlèe, lime and lemon myrtle granita and native pepperberry. If you're celebrating or looking for a special night - this is the spot for your Hunter Valley dinner.

If you're looking for another show stopping experience, it starts at dawn.

Greet the day with a Hunter Valley hot air balloon flight over the picturesque regions of Pokolbin, Lovedale, Rothbury, or Broke. The views will set the scene for the gourmet day ahead of you and make you feel a million miles away from your normal routine. After the flight, enjoy a delicious champagne breakfast at Peterson's House.

Margan Restaurant has an ‘estate grown, estate made’ ethos so the menus are based around what can be harvested from the one-acre kitchen garden and orchard, olive trees, free-range chickens, honey and estate-raised lambs.

What they do not grow or produce on the estate is sourced from the local area including Wagyu beef, pigs from Krinklewood biodynamic farm, mushrooms, olive oil and farm gate produce from Broke. Whatever is on your plate, you can rest assured it’s organic, as local as local can be, garden-fresh, and of course - delicious! It is a must visit Hunter Valley restaurant.

Focusing on the art of cooking over fire, Yellow Billy’s drawcard is a custom-made fire pit which is used daily to cook proteins and vegetables. Yellow Billy is a very welcome arrival to the Hunter Valley dining scene.

According to local legend, Yellow Billy was a local bushranger who raided and plundered around the Broke and Pokolbin region during the 1860s. He was also a forager who lived off the land and the custom-made fire pit was designed in his honour.

Specially designed for group dining, the flexible sharing menu is the perfect Hunter Valley dining experience for larger groups.

Feeling inspired to cook up a storm yourself?

Take part in a lunch or dinner experience at the Hunter Valley Cooking School at Hunter Valley Resort. 

All dishes are cooked from scratch using local organic produce and then sit down to enjoy your hard work as a part of a three-course meal with an additional course of Binnorie Cheese from the local cheese factory.

Located in a historical cottage close to The Convent Hunter Valley hotel, Circa 1876 is the ideal place in the Hunter Valley for a special night out. Dine under the whimsical luxury of classical chandeliers while enjoying gourmet cuisine with your special someone.

Circa 1876 quite literally brings the ‘farm to fork’ ethos to life as guests overlook the organic kitchen garden that their food came from just beyond their plate. 

Built-in the 1860’s, this quaint cottage nestled in the main street of Scone has been a private hospital, a guest house and the home of the Pastoral Lands Board. When it was converted into The Cottage Scone restaurant so much of the original charm and homey atmosphere was retained. It's a great spot for a filling and fancy Hunter Valley dinner experience.

The restaurant’s signature is the grass-fed beef that is hung in a purpose-built, humidity-controlled dry-aging room. Bring plenty of friends to help you graze on the house-made charcuterie including country-style venison and pistachio terrine served with beetroot relish and organic chicken liver parfait.

Located on the verandah at Calais Estate, the focus at Kawul is local, native and organic produce used by our First Nations people.

The use of native bush spices and organic local produce on the menu helps connect diners back to the land. Expect to find unusual items on your plate such as pepper berry hummus, saltbush spring roll, good old Aussie damper or wattle seed with the shepherd’s pie. Tuck in at this unique Hunter Valley restaurant & cafe!

Just because you've had an epic brekky or lunch don't think for a second that you are done for the day! Not with all the epic food on offer in the Hunter Valley dining scene. Book yourself onto this Twilight Wine, Beer & Fork Tour and let the foodie experiences roll!

The tour begins with a visit to two cellar doors where you will sample some of the region’s best wines before stopping at a local brewhouse for a third tasting tour. Now, it's time for the fork - end the day a feast at a local favourite restaurant.

The best time to visit the Fawk Foods Kitchen & Bakery is for breakfast, but lucky for you it's all day breakfast!

You can sample barbecue-glazed thick-cut Branxton belly bacon and free-range eggs or satisfy your sweet tooth with a sourdough crumpet served with spiced apples, toasted milk crumb and vanilla cream. It's all good here! And don't forget to grab a sweet treat from the counter for 'ron.

After breakfast, why not take a small-group winery tour?

You'll visit a range of Hunter Valley wineries where you'll enjoy a tasting at some of the best hand-selected boutique cellar doors in the Hunter Valley. For the foodies out there, your trip also includes a visit to an artisan cheese and handmade chocolate outlet as well as a delicious lunch at a local cafe. It's a great day with out with friends!

The Two Fat Blokes have lived in the Hunter Valley for a combined 40 years spending most of their working lives in the wine hospitality/tourism industry. They know every secret, every producer and they know wine!

The Two Fat Blokes Gourmet Kitchen brings a little slice of Provence to Pokolbin. The European-style menu offers up the likes of chorizo and garlic prawn skewers, truffle mushroom risotto and beer marinated Porterhouse steak.

You can also take part in a cheese and wine matching class or browse through a deli stocked full of authentic small goods sourced from artisan producers to take home a taste of Hunter Valley.

Located in the Spicers Guesthouse, éRemo Restaurant offers contemporary Italian cuisine with a fun twist in the heart of Hunter Valley. It is a firm favourite on the list of Hunter Valley's best restaurants.

You can enjoy the full experience with the Avido menu, which means “greedy” in Italian, with a chef's selection of dishes to be shared. Think wild weed spaghetti with Fraser Island spanner crab and lemon and Merrifield suckling pork. Drool.

For your aperitivo, instead of a cocktail at the bar, why not book a premium wine tasting experience at the nearby Brokenwood Wines to whet the appetite? This five-star winery is home to the award-winning Graveyard Vineyard Shiraz and the popular Cricket Pitch Range.

We finish our list with a showpiece of the Hunter Valley, Muse Restaurant, located within the grounds of Hunter Valley winery Hungerford Hill. This two-hatted restaurant is perfect for a special night out to sample French technique combined with local ingredients.

The seasonal menus are served in a four-course format where you will find delightful surprises such as Paroo kangaroo, wood-fired Murray cod, and nitro frozen banana. It's decadent and award-winning with a culinary approach like no other.

If all the decisions about where to eat, what to book and how to get there is feeling a bit much, don't worry - we have something for you! Book a Food & Wine Lovers Experience in the Hunter Valley and you'll be well looked after basically the moment you wake.

The day starts with pancakes and sparkling wine so you know it is going to be good. Following on from your decadent sparkling breakfast, you will make your way around the boutique wineries with commentary from an expert guide and tastings to tickle your fancy. A hearty lunch made from local produce is your next stop (accompanied by more wine, of course!) before your day winds down on a high note with even more wine tastings.

If you love to eat and drink but don’t love the responsibility of picking where you do it, let someone else do the heavy lifting for you. On this tour, all you need to worry about is lifting your fork and your wine glass.

With all the incredible Hunter Valley restaurants on offer, there is no risk of going hungry! Enjoy every moment of your foodie escape in this delicious produce-filled pocket of NSW.