Best Restaurants in the Hunter Valley

Located in the heart of the Hunter Valley Wine Country, Bimbadgen is a striking winery and vineyard encompassing an expansive cellar door, award-winning Esca Bimbadgen Restaurant, Tuscan style courtyard serving woodfired pizza, outdoor amphitheatre, modern tasting rooms, and accommodation - all in the one stunning location. Esca's Modern Australian cuisine, fresh, local and home grown produce and spectacular views make for a truly memorable dining experience.

Located in the picturesque village of Broke in the Hunter Valley, around 15 minutes drive west of Pokolbin and 2 hours drive north from Sydney. With an amazing team at Margan who strive for excellence, the restaurant is best known for providing a unique food and wine experience in the peaceful rural setting of Broke in the Hunter Valley. Set against the backdrop of vineyards and the Brokenback Range, this restaurant is perfect for a degustation al fresco lunch and an ideal venue for weddings and private functions.

Situated within a family owned and operated vineyard, RidgeView Restaurant in Pokolbin in the Hunter Valley, uses the best in fresh local produce for the Mediterranean inspired menu which is expertly paired with their award winning wines. With al fresco dining overlooking the picturesque vineyards, RidgeView is the perfect setting for a relaxing dining experience. RidgeView can also cater for small or large functions, with seating available for up to 100 and an expansive lawn area that is perfect for cocktail style dining and lawn games.

Harvest Restaurant: Breakfast Friday-Sunday 8.30am-10.30am, lunch Thursday-Sunday 12pm-3pm and dinner Thursday-Sunday  5pm-7.30pm. Snacks available all day in the cellar door.

Cellar door 10am-5pm Thursday-Monday

Set among the vines at family-run Keith Tulloch Winery, Muse Kitchen offers contemporary European-inspired dishes served in elegant surrounds. Views of the nearby mountain ranges are the perfect complement to the almost all-white, provincial-inspired interior. Owners Troy and Megan Rhoades-Brown also run Muse at Hungerford Hill. Seating up to 70, the restaurant is also available for private dinner functions by request.

Lunch Wed-Sun 12pm-5pm and dinner Sat 6pm-10.30pm

Cellar door daily 10am-5pm

Looking for experience, experimentation and expression in a restaurant? EXP offers all three and more. The eatery offers a reasonably priced gourmet dining experience that's very Hunter Valley; fresh, aesthetically pleasing and incredible quality. Diners choose between a five or eight-course tasting menu that can be matched with wine. The open kitchen allows you to watch the chefs at work on the artful and inventive dishes presented on handmade ceramic crockery.

Circa 1876 is an iconic Hunter Valley restaurant with a focus on fine food and a paddock to plate ethos. Located near boutique hotel, Peppers Convent, the restaurant is set at the end of an aisle of trees, a cottage built in 1876 forming its entrance. Circa has a delicate Modern Australian menu and a serious organic kitchen garden that supplies it. The restaurant also offers the Circa 187 Bar, which has a list of over 300 wines.

Tuscany Wine Estate is like a one-stop-shop for your wining, dining and sleeping needs in the Hunter Valley. Guests staying in the property's four star rooms and those just visiting for the day can indulge in wine tasting at Arrowfield Cellar Door, have a drink and some down-to-earth tapas at Brokenback Bar or opt for something a little more refined at the fine dining establishment, The Mill Restaurant.

Photography: Courtesy of The Mill at Tuscany Wine Estate Resort

Located in the Hunter Valley.

A romantic spot for gourmet travellers, Restaurant Botanica is set within the Spicers Vineyard Estate in Pokolbin wine country. The stunning dining room looks out across the vineyard to the Brokenback Mountain Range and the menu offers Modern Australian dishes inspired by the kitchen garden. If you think you'll be too content too leave, choose a dine and stay package that includes overnight accommodation in a luxurious spa suite with views over the vines.