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Eating, drinking and nightlife
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As you'd expect in a resort of this size, there are plenty of places to
eat
, particularly fast-food outlets: not surprisingly, seafood and fish predominate and the local oysters really must be tried.
Macquarie Seafoods
, centrally located on the corner of Clarence and Short streets, is the best place for takeaway fish and chips. You can also buy fresh fish and seafood from the
Fishermen's Co-op
at the end of Clarence Street in the town wharf area and cook it yourself.
Scampi's
, at the Marina on Park Street, just west of the town centre (BYO; nightly dinner plus lunch in summer; tel 02/6583 7200), is one of the most enjoyable of several seafood restaurants, while
Coolenberg
(tel 02/6584 3770), at the corner of Lake Road and Hill Street, is an award-winning modern Australian establishment in a historic building just out of town.
Toro's Mexican Cantina
at 22 Murray St (tel 02/6583 4340) has build-your-own burritos and tacos in the evenings, while
Spicy Kruthai
on the corner of Clarence and Hay streets (tel 02/6583 9043) has reasonably priced Thai seafood and stir-fries. On the waterfront at 74 Clarence St,
Crays Seafood Restaurant
is a pricey establishment with decent lunchtime deals, while the
Macquarie Hotel
has a reasonably priced bistro. The Port Central Shopping Centre, behind the tourist information office on Clarence Street, has a good-value food court on the second floor; choices include fresh, healthy fare from the
Pure and Natural Food Co
, and excellent coffee and cakes at
The Coffee Club
- both open daily. The
Cosmopolitan Caffe
, on the corner of Clarence and Short streets, is a sidewalk cafAŠ with an extensive list of flavoured coffees plus lunchtime nachos and sandwiches, while nearby
Cafe 66
at 66 Clarence St (tel 02/6583 7885) has pasta and
focaccia
at lunchtime and a patio popular with evening diners.
The space-age RSL Club at 1 Bay St (tel 02/6825 2300) has a cocktail bar, an auditorium and live music at the weekends, when it's open for 24-hour drinking (and, regrettably, for its pokies). More central and tackier (but good-naturedly so) is Finnians Irish Tavern at 97 Gordon St; they also have live music at the weekend, and serve decent grub. Opposite the tourist information office, on the corner of Clarence and Horton streets, is a good drinking spot with a riverfront location and lots of different bars; bands play here Wednesday and Saturday. The attached nightclub has varied entertainment from Wednesday to Sunday night. Other nightclubs are TC's , on William Street, popular with the 18-25 set; and Down Under , on Short Street next to Coles supermarket, a tiny underground place for the over-thirties.
There are also a few
wineries
in the area: Cassegrain Winery, on the Hastings River on Fernbank Creek Road off the Pacific Highway south of town (daily 9am-5pm; tel 02/6583 7777), has a particularly pleasant restaurant on a verandah overlooking the vineyards. Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
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Australia,
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