The Good Food guide to eating and drinking in Wollongong and Thirroul

Gee whiz, you can eat and drink well in Thirroul these days. We can barely keep up with all the pizzerias, bars and restaurants opening in the laid-back coastal town, a 20-minute drive north of Wollongong.

Meanwhile, the ’Gong itself is no slouch in the food and booze department either, claiming two restaurants with hats in The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2024 (hello, Babyface and Santino), not to mention plenty of choice options for coffee or a cocktail.

Here’s all the intel you need for a delicious weekend on the coal coast.

For a big night out

You’d be forgiven for passing by the entrance to Restaurant Santino, almost hidden at the back of a quiet pedestrian thoroughfare. But step inside and the place is pumping. Waiters move seamlessly through the soft-lit dining room, delivering cheerful banter and carrying beautiful plates of modern Italian cuisine. Whether it’s a romantic date or family celebration, your go-to dish is the Black Angus bistecca, a gloriously thick steak with tender (but never floppy) pink flesh and a flawless crust sharpened by salsa verde. Other highlights include scallop crudo on a bed of creamy tomato-based salmorejo, and delicately scorched octopus with melting ribbons of lardo and hazelnut crumbs.

Shop 2, 17 Globe Lane, Wollongong, restaurantsantino.com.au

For seasonal snacks and share plates

Owner and chef Andrew Burns pumps out seasonally driven share plates at Babyface Kitchen, his bustling Wollongong restaurant where friendly staff pour bottles of minimal intervention wines and greenery injects life into the fitout. Babyface’s tasting menu is the best option if you want to make a day of it, but there’s also a lot to like about the happy hour specials and snacks such as wagyu skewers with oyster cream and pickled green tomatoes.

In November, Wollongong also welcomed Roy’s Restobar, a smart little hangout for wine bar standards (it features tartare, crudo, parfait and stracciatella with charred plum dressing) and grilled market fish. Roy’s good-looking drinks list has our attention, too.

• Babyface Kitchen, shop 1, 179 Keira Street, Wollongong, babyfacekitchen.com.au
• Roy’s Restobar, shop 4, 166 Keira Street, Wollongong, roysrestobar.com.au

For a pub lunch

We’re also going to include Port Kembla in the mix here, given it’s only 10 minutes from Wollongong, and exciting things are energising the old industrial town. PK’s handsomely furnished Iron Yampi isn’t technically a pub, but the order-at-the-bar menu features all your counter-meal hits including schnitzel, steak, and salt and pepper squid. Meanwhile, market fish comes with garlicky skordalia and toasted pine nuts, and pork and fennel sausages lounge on a mountain of colcannon smothered in caramelised onion.

Mount Kembla Village Hotel also provides a fine pub lunch, has a cracking beer garden and mountain views to boot.

• Iron Yampi, shop 18, 96-106 Wentworth Street, Port Kembla, theironyampi.com
• Mount Kembla Village Hotel, 274 Cordeaux Road, Mount Kembla, mkvh.com.au

For bread and pastries

The charming Millers’ Local Bakehouse can attract long lines when it opens on Friday and Saturday mornings at outposts in Bulli, Wollongong and Austinmer, but the sticky date and cinnamon buns justify the queue. Fluffy, warm and just sweet enough, they’re slathered with cream cheese frosting and dripping with sticky, house-made butterscotch sauce. The menu rotates weekly at all locations, and recent highlights have included lemon meringue pies, and peach and almond tarts. Grab a few napkins and head down to the beach for the ultimate brekkie with a view.

• Various locations, millerslocalbakehouse.com

For cocktails

It should also be noted that the Iron Yampi’s cocktails are straight-up terrific (hand-cut ice, how good!) and the team can make most classics on request. For further booze-forward adventures, the Yampi team operates Howlin’ Wolf whisky den in Wollongong too, while Franks Wild Years in Thirroul is a record store that does disarmingly decent martinis. (We also dig Franks for its 1960s lounge vibes, live music, cold beer and considerable offering of Captain Beefheart vinyl.)

Not too far around the corner, Boveda opened in April and should be on the to-do list if you’re jonesing for margaritas and tacos. It’s a bright and lively spot, with DJs every Friday and Saturday, bottomless brunches, tostadas and larger share plates. Try the Amigo Citrico house cocktail starring tequila, yuzu and bitters.

• Howlin’ Wolf, shop 103, 53-61 Crown Street, Wollongong, howlinwolfbar.com.au
• Franks Wild Years, shop 3, 2 Raymond Road, Thirroul, frankswildyears.com
• Boveda, 258 Lawrence Hargrave Drive, Thirroul, boveda.com.au

For fish and chips

Praise be. For the past two decades, we’ve been asking for a NSW takeaway store that fries in beef-fat like fish and chip shops used to (and still do in northern England). Rosie’s Proper Fish & Chips has answered the call, opening amid much local support (and massive queues) earlier this month in Coledale, a five-minute drive north of Thirroul.

Why the excitement? Because beef-dripping chips pulse with far more flavour than any potato fried in vegetable oil. Rosie’s also champions domestic catch such as gurnard and snapper, and bulks up the menu with prawn rolls, crushed peas and salads.

• 757 Lawrence Hargrave Drive, Coledale, rosiesfishandchips.com.au

For pizza and pasta

You can get a heck of a carbohydrate fix in the Illawarra. Ciro’s is the newest pizza slinger on Thirroul’s main block, having upgraded from market stalls to a small but handsome permanent site in 2023. Its puffy-crusted pizzas have the right amount of char, and standout topping options include mortadella, gorgonzola cream and green olives, and a pepperoni number with basil oil.

Nearby, Franco Pizza Bar is heavy with party vibes and a rip-roaring wine list (Jean Foillard beaujolais and a ham and pineapple, why not?), while Kneading Ruby wood-fires the best margherita in Wollongong.

Neighbourhood trattoria Ain’t Nonna’s is your go-to for house-made pasta – rigatoni alla vodka, say, or spaghetti with shellfish in vermouth and butter – plus top-shelf cured meats.

Also keep an eye out for Calzone Zone’s cheesy flavour-forward pies popping up at The Servo, a fun-time performance space in Port Kembla with rotating food trucks.

• Ciro’s, 1 Raymond Road, Thirroul, cirospizzathirroul.com
• Franco Pizza Bar, shop 1, 382-384 Lawrence Hargrave Drive, Thirroul, francopizza.com.au
• Kneading Rugby, 5 Crown Lane, Wollongong, kneadingruby.com.au
• Ain’t Nonna’s, 83-85 Market Street, Wollongong, aintnonnas.com.au
• The Servo, 6-8 Wentworth Street, Port Kembla, servoportkembla.com

For coffee

Holidaymakers in Thirroul should make tracks to Black Market Coffee for their morning espresso, plus croissants, breakfast bowls and sausage rolls.

Seven Miles Coffee Roasters (formerly known as Delano) is our pick for a long black in Wollongong, or for a cold-drip brew with more substantial food, Lee & Me has your number. Expect bagels, house-made waffles and a chipotle beef birria toastie served with quality banter in a heritage terrace.

• Black Market Coffee, 368-370 Lawrence Hargrave Drive, Thirroul, blackmarketcoffee.com.au
• Seven Miles Coffee Roasters, 85 Montague Street, North Wollongong, sevenmiles.com.au
• Lee & Me, 87 Crown Street, Wollongong, leeandme.com.au

For wine

Fans of field blends and chilled reds made with minimal intervention should seek out Dirty Wine Shop in the main hub of Wollongong. It’s a relaxed retail spot for natural wine, mainly, but anyone keen for a more immediate glass can always pull up a stool at the tasting counter. Buzzy Night Parrot Wine Bar is a couple of blocks over and offers more organic stuff by the glass, plus a beaut selection of classic Australian drops from producers such as Tyrrell’s, Mount Mary and Penfolds. Night Parrot spruiks a modern Asian menu too, so if you’ve ever wanted to pair vintage Grange with bao buns, this is the place.

• Dirty Wine Shop, shop 5, 131 Keira Street, Wollongong, instagram.com/dirty__wine
• Night Parrot Wine Bar, 69 Crown Street, Wollongong, nightparrotbar.com

For holiday house supplies

Weekends away mean snacks and wine, and Yakka Records & Bottle-O in Port Kembla can supply a fair whack of both. With signage that looks transposed from a 1970s tackle shop, one-third of Yakka is dedicated to vinyl from independent artists, while another wall is stocked with easy-drinking natural wine and a fridge-load of Aussie beer. A strong shelf-stable deli selection will please anyone fond of olives, tinned fish and those addictive cheese-flavoured Brets chips from France. (Millers’ Local Bakehouse pops up here with bread and pastries every Friday morning, too.)

For a more extensive range of cheese and smallgoods, Wollongong Nut & Deli is your friend.

• Yakka Records & Bottle-O, 125-127 Wentworth Street Port Kembla, yakkahouse.com.au
• Wollongong Nut & Deli, 102 Kembla Street, Wollongong, nutanddeli.com