Gunyah Restaurant at Paperbark Camp, The

9 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  10      Service  9      Value  8     

We were guests at Paperbark Camp and dined on our first evening. It's set amongst the canopy of the lovely surrounding bush and is a world apart from any fine dining experience in Sydney (or any other city I imagine).

The meals were all delicious, above all the lamb (mains) and chocolate mousse. The cheeseboard also stood out and was accompanied perfectly with a port. The service was wonderful, the staff were friendly and attentive.

But above all, the atmosphere is perfect, and a visit to jervis bay would be entirely lacking without a meal at the Gunyah.

Jan 31, 2012 

9.5 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  9      Service  10      Value  9     

We spent 4 days at the resort and had Breakfast and dinner every day at the restaurant. With every dishes I was amazed, surprised and delighted. Everyone of them comes with a fine presentation and exquisite taste. Services was brilliant. We will definitely return. The owner and the staff made our stay upmost pleasant. Thank you.

Jan 13, 2012 

6.5 Recommended

Food  6      Ambience  6      Service  8      Value  6     

Dined at the Gunyah recently. Enjoyable experience, front of house staff were super friendly.

Wine list is very reasonably priced and easy to get your hands on a nice bottle to enjoy whilst surrounded by nature, best enjoyed when you're staying at the camp as your digs are only a short stumble away.

The food showed a valiant effort from all involved in the kitchen, the conception of the dishes did leave us a little confused at times.

The menu is heavily influenced by French bistro classics, confit, parfaits, slow braised meats etc. The kind of food that when you eat should feel like you're getting a big hug from your grandma. I felt some of the contemporary twists on these dishes detracted from their enjoyment on this occasion, think more of a quick hug from an estranged aunt than a beloved grandparent.

I was left questioning the relevance of the 'puffed rice' on my dish, in my opinion toasted one degree to close to Noir had resulted in bitter taste and confusion to what it was trying to achieve on the plate. Braised lamb was super, gutsy flavoured braising liquor on the plate also, I felt the dish was let down by the modest amount of (exceptionally good) mash to accompany the meat, a more generous of portion of starch would have ramped up the insulin production within the diner and given a far greater sensation of satisfaction.

Overall a good value dinner and an enjoyable experience, thanks to all the staff at the Gunyah.

Nov 06, 2011 

6.5 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  6      Service  6      Value  7     

We ate here as visitors whilst staying on the south coast, figuring that the restaurant of a $400-500 a night resort would have to be pretty special. We had a slightly odd experience that left us thinking that if we had been paying guests we would have been underwhelmed.

We ate here on a cold rainy evening, which I'm sure had an effect on our experience. We drove in on the potholed dark entrance road, and had to park some ditance from the restaurant in a huge mud puddle, and walk through the mud and rain to the restaurant. There were no signs, hardly any lighting, and no path other than the mud road. We found it strange.

I thought the ambience of the room was also disappointing, other than the nice area immediately around the fire. The rest of the room felt a bit like the dining hall of a nice caravan park, with cheap metal/cane chairs, quite bare and cold. The only toilets were outside, at least giving a glimpse of the verandahs that are presumably lovely in good warm weather.

The service was quite friendly, particularly from our waitress, but it was a bit amateurish. We ended up geting knives and forks set on the wrong sides.

The food improved as the meal went on. The fresh bread rolls to start were served stone cold, and the kangaroo entree lacked in any flavour or seasoning other than the slightly ripe tasting kangaroo loin. Some bits were ok, others tasted a little too gamey, we didn't really enjoy it.

The mains however were good, we had the duck maryland and the mulloway,and both enjoyed them. The duck had a lovely barley base with ham hock, it was a perfect dish for the cold wet night. The fish was light and fresh flavoured.

For dessert we shared the ice coffee mousse and really enjoyed it, it was the best dish of the night.

I found the wine menu very limited, and without any real top level options which I found strange given their clientele. It was however very reasonably priced. We tried the chardonnay and cab sav from orange by the glass, the cab sav in particular was quite good.

All up we ended up enjoying the meal, but there were a number of aspects that detracted from the experience. I think as long as you're not expecting it to be a 5-star fine dining experience, it's quite good food. Perhaps a better place for summer dining.

Oct 04, 2011 

7 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  7      Service  6      Value  7     

The Paperbark Camp is an experience by itself. The Gunyah restaurant is located within the Paperbark Camp premises and has a lot to offer. During the winter months, the ambience isn`t great but I'm presuming in Summer, it would be spectacular.

The food is very tasty. It's pricy but my wife and I thought it was worth it. Yes, the menu is limited but the flavours, presentation etc makes up for it.
Service is a bit slow. On the weekends it does get a bit busy and the service needs to improve. From a value perspective I would give it a 7/10.

May 15, 2011 

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  9      Service  8      Value  8     

We own and operate By the Beach B&B at Jervis Bay and like to experience the local restaurants first hand and make honest recommendations to our guests. We thought Gunyah was excellent and thoroughly enjoyed our meal, wine and venue.

Feb 16, 2011 

7.8 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  9      Service  8      Value  7     

Hmmm ... we have eaten here 4 or 5 times over the past three years. In general, the food has been subtle, imaginative and beautifully presented. However, when we ate their last week we noted a marked decline in standard. The menu was little changed but the quality of the dishes was not in the same league as this time last year. The Heirloom salad was crudely put together with whole almonds (some of which were burnt), and under-ripe tomatoes.

The mains were overly flavoured and the side of broccoli was over-cooked. Having said this, my wife and I agree that the chocolate mousse (with Vanilla bean ice-cream) was first-rate. The venue itself, on stilts in the middle of a wood, remains magnificent. A nice night out, but disappointed by the efforts of the kitchen.

Jan 14, 2011 

5.5 Average

Food  6      Ambience  5      Service  6      Value  5     

A group of us who have holiday homes around Jervis Bay/St Georges Basin have been meeting in January for the past four years to enjoy a dinner at The Gunyah. Sadly the dinner on last Friday night will be our last. The wine list was very limited and unimaginative with our first choice of wine and red both being not available. We found this particularly frustrating and disappointing as The Gunyah once allowed BYO wine.

Ok to change a BYO policy, but not Ok to offer the punters a small and ordinary selection, made even more limited by the most attractive/popular being out of stock. Food was just Ok but nothing spectacular and nowhere near as exciting, adventurous or innovative as it has been in the past. Somehow the room has lost its ambience and sense of uniqueness and this was not helped by the half dozen children running and screaming in the dining room well past 8.30 pm.

One of our party did not receive his main with the rest of us and watched us consuming ours for 20 minutes while he waited for his to arrive. In the meantime, he ordered an extra bread roll so that he could at the very least enjoy the very expensive red wine with the rest of us.

To cap off a very ordinary and expensive evening he was charged $1 for the extra bread roll with nothing deducted for his main considering that he had to wait for it and then eat it on his own! This sentiment was expressed to the waiter who said he had nothing to do with the bill, that this was outside his control.

The bill came to $701 and we were tempted to only pay $700! We will now be looking for another location for our annual South Coast get together.

Jan 10, 2011 

9.8 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  10      Service  10      Value  9     

Wonderful food, my main and dessert was amazing! My entree (a terrine) was a little bit too gamey for me. With the view over the wonderful bushland and the restaurant itself decorated very modern Australia, I couldn't recommend this restaurant enough!

Aug 06, 2010 

7.8 Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  6      Service  9      Value  7     

My partner and I ventured down the South Coast and stayed at Woolamia, just out of Huskisson, for two nights. We had intended to dine one night at The Gunyah Restaurant at Paperbark Camp and the second night at Seagrass Brasserie but the food and service was so good at The Gunyah that we decided to dine there twice, leaving Seagrass to another occasion which, for me, occurred sooner than I had expected.

The chef at The Gunyah, John Evans, comes from the award winning Three Weeds in Rozelle and he is obviously thriving in his sea change. Many of the ingredients in the menu come from named sources, including Jervis Bay kingfish, Greenwell Point oysters, Southern Highlands duck, Small Cow Farm cheeses and Eden smoked trout.

The standout dish for me was the roast fillet of kingfish, one of the tastiest, juiciest pieces of fish I have ever eaten. My partner was so taken with the pink roasted, pepper berry spiced kangaroo that she had it both nights. In the desserts, the most memorable and delicious was the chocolate and espresso marquis which just melted in our mouths with unctuous chocolate and coffee flavours.

The extensive wine list alerted me to the fact that the South Coast wine region had grown considerably since I last noticed it. On the first night we played safe with an excellent Coolangatta Estate Semillon but on the second night we were more adventurous and were rewarded in choosing a Kladis Estate unwooded Chardonnay. The list also included quite a few wines from the Southern Highlands and the Canberra region.

The wait staff, even the most junior, were knowledgeable of the menu and the wine list, efficient, friendly, and willing to spend the time in discussion. John Evans’ personal attention to detail and quality makes The Gunyah an exceptional dining experience. Entrees were around $22, mains $33 and desserts $15. Wines were at reasonable restaurant prices. Both nights were memorable dining experiences.

Jun 11, 2010