There's no shortage of remarkable local produce in Eurobodalla and the Sapphire Coast, from Tathra's highly acclaimed oysters to ice-cream made with native Australian ingredients at Bodalla's micro dairy. Get to know this wild stretch of NSW's coast through its markets, waterside restaurants and boutique producers.

Meet the producers

The small-batch milk at Bodalla Dairy is hand-bottled at low temperatures to keep the beneficial bacteria active. This old-fashioned “living milk” reflects the grassy pastures where the farm's small herd is kept – the famous dairy town of Bodalla. The family-run company also produces cheese and ice-cream, often with a native twist. Stop by the refurbished Dairy Shed to try a scoop of the Kakadu plum and rum ice-cream, or partake in the daily cheese tasting and try varieties infused with smoked gum leaf, Tasmanian pepperberry and other local ingredients.  

Just a 10-minute drive from Bega is North of Eden. When they say they make craft gin, they really mean it. Everything at this Stony Creek distillery, is made by hand – even Jill, the Portuguese copper still, is manually operated and heated with a live fire, and all the ingredients infused in the gin are either grown onsite or foraged. Join an afternoon of alchemy at North of Eden's Gin School, a three-hour workshop where you can distill your own gin recipe, plus taste the range. If you're craving a cold one, Longstocking Brewery in Pambula serves a diverse, rotating list of beers – look for the specials board for the freshest pours. Order a woodfired pizza or a plate of oysters to share, then sit back and watch local musicians fill the room with soft melodies (on Fridays and Sundays). 

Oysters 

Discover some of Australia's best oysters in Tathra, a close-knit town with wide, clear beaches and the oldest deep-water timber wharf on the Australian east coast. With more than 180 awards (including the Royal Agricultural Society of NSW's highest accolade, the inaugural President's Medal), you know you are in for a treat at Tathra Oysters. These molluscs are grown in the pristine waters of Nelson Lake in the Mimosa Rocks National Park, and you can sample them at their store in town. Further south in Pambula, join a tour with Captain Sponge's Magical Oyster Tours to cruise picturesque Pambula Lake aboard an oversized oyster punt, sampling oysters fresh from the water while receiving a crash course in oyster husbandry. If you stop by Merimbula, head to the Oyster Barn for a plate of oysters looking over the bay they were grown in.  

Dining with water views

Keep it casual by grabbing takeaway fish and chips from Beach Break and claiming a spot at nearby Tathra Beach to savour this seaside staple with ocean views. Or step it up at Il Passaggio restaurant, which sits on Fisherman's Wharf in Bermagui. Its modern Italian menu puts local produce front and centre, whether it's the Araluen peaches with the vanilla panna cotta, crumbed local flathead or regionally grown zucchinis in the risotto. The iconic Quarterdeck restaurant offers a tiki-style experience, with fruity daiquiris and fresh oysters served by the water in Narooma. Just across the headland, boutique hotel The Whale Inn and its Cantonese restaurant Queen Chow offer dim sum platters and rock lobster with XO sauce, plus refreshing cocktails with a view at Ocean Lounge next door. In Merimbula, eat at the uber cool Dulcie's Cottage, serving burgers and oysters in a 1920s cottage with an eclectic fit-out, or its big sister venue, Valentina, which is all sunlight-soaked timber floors, whipped cod roe and pet nat and floor-to-ceiling windows looking out over Merimbula Lake.  

Produce markets

Fragrant heads of garlic just picked from the earth, bread that smells like the morning's bake, lamb shanks from farms up the road and fruit from the trees of nearby orchards. If you needed any more proof of how embedded farming culture is on the Sapphire Coast, check out the quality and sheer number of produce markets. Bega Produce Market, a weekly market on Fridays, sells only produce from small producers within a 250km radius. On Thursdays, the Bermagui Growers and Makers Market shows off the area's produce, often alongside freshly baked pies, local spirits, pantry goods and flowers. On top of the two big weekly markets there are monthly or season-based markets all over the coast, all of them full of locals. Check out the market schedules here.  

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