7 New Reasons to Visit the Central Coast

Looking for somewhere to go this Easter long weekend? Here are 7 new reasons to visit this beautiful part of NSW! Find out where you can do a unique foraging cocktail experience, eat a Tomahawk steak at a bargain price, eat with a stunning water view, try new Italian inspired food and a brand new wine bar or just enjoy a meal at a pub!

1 - Iron Bark At Archies, Gosford

The new $375M Archibald dining precinct is located at the ground level of the Voco Gosford hotel and opened in December 2025. The restaurant Iron Bark is known for their steaks particularly dry-aged Wagyu and Angus steaks. And this is where you want to go to have the best value Tomahawk steak I've ever seen at a restaurant at $98 a pop (usually $150-$300!). Not only that, but it's a MBS4+ grass fed steak that has been aged for 21 days. Tip: tomahawk steaks needs to be pre-ordered at least 1 day ahead.

Ironbark is a busy spot with families and groups. There's a room dedicated to kids where parents can see them but they're not running around the restaurant. Ordering is done at the counter and the menu is split into two, with classic pub favourites like schnitzel, burgers, and buffalo wings as well as lighter fare like oysters, crudo and salads.

We start with the charred bone marrow with a squid ink crumb and pickled onion with watercress salad. The two enormous bone marrow halves are paired with two inch-thick slices of sourdough. Grab a spoon and add some of the delicious bone marrow, pickled onion and watercress on top of the thick bread.

The yellowfin tuna is a diced raw yellowfin tuna, raw, with mango, avocado and aioli on a crispy baguette on the side. It's an unusual treatment of yellowfin tuna but the crispy baguette is actually delicious with the aioli on top and provides a crunchy element.

And if you love steak, make sure to pre-order the tomahawk steak. This 1.5 kg, 21-day dry-aged grass-fed MBS4+ score comes with the bone but sliced up. We try it with the three sauces: red wine jus, green peppercorn and mushroom sauce. This is a perfectly cooked tomahawk done on the charcoal grill, enjoyed best with just salt and pepper although the sauces are also very good (the mushroom sauce is a favourite). I particularly enjoy gnawing on the bone with all of that delicious charred meat.

Ironbark has a deal where you can get three sides for $30. We choose the fries with thyme and cherry vinegar salt and ketchup, as well as the mac and cheese with smoked speck and a three cheese sauce. Our favourites are the corn ribs with jalapeno and lime mayonnaise, manchego and pickled onion.

2 - Firescreek Winery, Holgate

The garden at Firescreek Winery has an enchanted air about it. And that is where we are having our Foraging & Mixology workshop with owner Nadia O'Connell. Her botanical winery is home to a stunning array of edible flowers from lemon aspen, cherry guavas, salvia, elderflower, elderberry, comfrey and rose geranium. We follow Nadia and gather colourful flowers in our baskets and take these to the rotunda next to the pond stitched together by lily pads.

This Foraging & Mixology workshop is often booked by groups of girls on weekends away but men seem to enjoy this just as much. Mr NQN has a great time and also wanders the garden looking at the metal archway laden down with plump green kiwifruit. This plant is entirely pollinated by native bees.

Nadia brings out 4 Firescreek wines made with passion fruit, pineapple, raspberry and lemon & elderflower along with apricot, apple and mixed fruit juices. The idea is to make mimosas and spritz layered cocktails. She shows us how to affix the flowers to the edges of the antique glasses and then how to pour the drinks so that they get a beautiful layered effect. We try 3 mini cocktails per person.

This experience is an incredibly reasonable $49 per person and goes for 1.5 hours. There are a range of other experiences as well as a chocolate and wine pairing for $29 per person which we've previously tried. This winery is also dog friendly.

3 - Amarilla, Terrigal

Amarilla is a Spanish restaurant with an incredible waterfront view overlooking Terrigal Haven. The food is inspired by the Iberian Peninsula spanning from Spain, Portugal to Basque Country and Catalonia. Watch from the dining room to see if you can spot one of the grey nurse sharks that frequent the cove.

Start with the cocas or the Spanish pizza bread of which here are three varieties. We choose the Catalan with grated tomato, fresh cured cheese and oregano with some Cantabrian anchovies to season on top.

The kingfish crudo is perfect for a hot day. It is served with ajo blanco (cold almond sauce), jalapeno and tomatillo puree. We add a little salt and it sings with flavour.

The tapas that they are known for is the viera or two scallops on the shell with a cauliflower puree and pancetta oil grilled until blistered. I can see why it's so popular as the flavours go together so perfectly and we end up drizzling the cocas bread with the pancetta oil.

We really enjoy the duck and mushroom empanadas, little snacky morsels of pastry that are filled with duck and mushroom and then deep fried with a beetroot relish on the side.

The Mariscos ala Plancha is a must order if you love seafood. It's a grilled seafood tapas plate that can be shared between two or one hungry person and features four types of seafood. There is tender squid with fried chickpeas and parsley, Mooloolaba prawns topped with sauce Gribiche and crispy potato shreds, panfried scallops with olives, broad beans and walnuts on a cauliflower purée and a panfried mahi mahi fillet from Coffs Harbour with a hummus and capsicum salsa. Everything is perfectly cooked so that it is tender, full of flavour and distinct from one another.

The patatas bravas consists of crispy baby potato halves with stripes of a tomato and buttermilk sauces on top. It's a generous serving of potatoes and great for sharing as a side. The tangy, creamy sauces give the potatoes a moreishness.

Save room for dessert here as there are some great souding desserts that make it hard to choose. Our lovely waitress recommends the creamy and smooth Basque cheesecake with an oven roasted peach on the side.

I have eyes for the dulce de leche sundae with two, long crispy churros that we dip into the sundae. The churros are crisp and crunchy and I could have had a half dozen of these.

Tip: the outdoor section is also dog friendly.

4 - Tutti, Ettalong

The town of Ettalong is laid back with a cute street name protocol named after fish like Bream and Schnapper Roads. Tutti is the newest Italian restaurant on the Central Coast by local couple Hayley Hardcastle and Cameron Cansdell. Located at the Galleria at Ettalong beach it fits right into the centre's Italian theme with a fresh, Italian menu. The restaurant's entrance is located on Ocean View Road and the couple still have Chilli's Deli inside.

Tutti's is a more upper-market offering with the Italian influences that the couple are known for. Guests also come to Ettalong via the ferry from Palm Beach for lunch or dinner.

We start with a Sicilian daiquiri for Mr NQN and a sgroppino for me for this warm sunny Sunday afternoon while the sun shines and the smell of the water is in the air. Both cocktails are en pointe and delicious.

Whatever you do you have to make sure to get the chapa bread from Argentina. It's like a crispy crumpet with a turmeric and olive oil butter and fresh herbs. Make sure that you get at least two pieces per person, because one piece simply is not enough.

The potato crochette is actually made using choux pastry so that they melt in the mouth. They are filled with a Sardinian pecorino cream and pecorino shaved on top and are hot balls of deliciousness.

The Wagyu beef spiedini skewer is cooked over the coals and served with a cucumber and chilli salsa with a lovely sweet touch at the end. Grab a shiso leaf and wrap it around it and pull out the skewer.

For this warm afternoon we opt for the John Dory tartare topped with tiny baby zucchini, thinly sliced with mint, native finger lime pearls and toasted almonds. It's goes well with the chapa bread and figs.

We are in peak fig season and that means we luscious figs cooked over the coals with wild rocket, jersey mozzarella torn in half, pine nuts and vincotto dressing that Mr NQN wolfs down appreciatively.

The quail is cooked hunter-style with a rich tomato sauce made with taggiasche olives, sage, garlic, and tomato spiked with rosemary. Each piece of quail is cut separately so you can nibble on each piece on the bone and the dish is finished with lovely big glossy caper leaves.

And if you want something classic, go for the spaghetti carbonara made with a proper egg yolk sauce and guanciale. It is satisfyingly rich and cheesy in every bite.

Tip: Tutti's has a $20 Thursday pasta nights and offers BYO on Fridays at lunch. There is also a small outdoor dog friendly section.

5 - Woodport Hotel, Erina

The Woodport Hotel in Erina has undergone a 10-month $10M transformation and reopened in February 2026. It now comprises three levels, including indoor and outdoor space overlooking Erina Creek. The food menu is expansive with pizzas and steaks as well as modern Australian pub items like salt and pepper squid and hamburgers.

We start with the tuna tostadas with flying fish roe on crispy purple corn tortillas with jalapeno and an avocado coleslaw. These are crunchy and fresh - you do have to eat these quickly before the tortillas go soft.

We both savour the lamb skewer that comes with pomegranate, hummus, fresh mint, coriander and onion. The lamb is tender and the pita wrap is also fresh and soft. Make sure to get some extra hummus, onion and herbs into each bite. It's also a very sizable entree and you could easily just have that for dinner.

If you're in the mood for pasta, the linguine with garlic prawns is their best seller and has been on the menu for the entire time over the last seven years. It is described as prawns linguine fra diavola but fra diavola is a spicy tomato sauce, which this is not. Having said that, the prawns are really well cooked and succulent and it is a generous portion with a bit of spice and a bit of crunch from the pangrattato.

It's not often that I opt for a burger over a pasta but the Nashville Fried Chicken Burger is excellent. It has a crunchy golden deep fried chicken fillet that is paired with a generous amount of bacon, lettuce, cheese, pickles, chilli mayo and a delicious pineapple and habanero salsa that really ties it all together. The fries come out piping hot, well seasoned and moreish. No notes!

The Coconut and Pineapple Panna Cotta is a summer dessert. The panna cotta itself isn't overly sweetened and is topped with fresh pineapple and saffron and fennel seeds. On the side is the delicious mango swirl ice cream and it sits on a bed of coconut macaron crumble.

While the torta caprese is a rich chocolate cake topped with berries and a scoop of vanilla ice cream to the side. It's moist, flourless and fudgy.

6 - Que Sera, Terrigal

Sera Kerr has worked across many venues in Sydney including the Bridge Room and Wood Cut. She and her family moved to Avoca three years ago looking for a space and biding her time until the perfect space became available where Yellowtail used to sit in the centre of Terrigal. Sera wanted to create a place in her favourite style of eating.

Start with slices of miche spread with French Le Conquerant salted butter and pair it with the Jamon Iberico, as well as a tin of Ortiz Cantabrian Anchovies and watch the world go by.

Then go in for the snacks where you'll be rewarded with tasty bites like the crispy potato cubes with chives, salmon roe and creme fraiche. Each bite is all about textures.

The bacala croquette is a must order with the espelette pepper mayonnaise. It is crunchy on the outside but soft on the inside.

Another snack must-order is the brioche that is lightly toasted and topped with chicken liver parfait, onion jam and sliced cornichons on top.

The albacore crudo with nashi pear, yuzu sesame seeds with dashi served at the table is all about clean flavours with a lovely warm finish from the togarashi chilli powder right at the end.

Another must-order on the menu is the wagyu beef skewer. Wagyu beef can be quite rich but this has been well trimmed and it is so perfectly balanced with the lemon and crispy saltbush. It is also given a sweet touch as it is finished with Tasmanian barrel-aged maple syrup. In fact you may want one of these per person it's that good.

If you're looking for a light main, the snapper is it. The fillet is crispy skinned and well seasoned and served a top of Romesco Verde (green capsicum and almond sauce) as well as roasted cauliflower blossoms. It's a beautiful well executed treatment for snapper.

Finish your meal off with a perfectly round orb of raspberry sorbet with lightly poached seasonal stone fruit and coulis and a sprinkling of pistachios.

Tip: Que Sera have a generous 7 course $70 grazing menu on Sundays and you can also bring your own wine. There are also dog friendly tables outside.

7 - Where we stayed: Voco Gosford

The Voco Gosford is the newest hotel on the Central Coast. It opened in December 2025 and is the first major hotel development in the Central Coast for 15 years.

Voco is part of the IHG group and is conveniently located between Polytec Stadium and downtown Gosford and the train station. With 28 floors this building is one of the tallest buildings in Gosford's silhouette. Floors 5-11 are dedicated to the 130 hotel rooms while the rest of the floors house 232 apartments.

The hotel has three levels of room: premium, standard and suite. We're staying suite 910, one of the best rooms in the hotel. The suite is very spacious and the suite sizes range from 49–66 m2. The king bed is wonderfully comfortable giving us a very restful sleep on nice, smooth sheets. I did bring my own pillows as they do tend to be quite high here and all are the same profile.

Everything is thoughtfully designed in the room from the labelled switches ensuring that you don't waste time trying to figure out what switch does what, to plenty of charge ports and power points right next to the bed. There's also an enormous television facing the bed and a comfortable day bed to relax in. The colour palette is all about soft pastels with soft curves. Tea and a coffee machine are housed in a cabinet that looks like a coffee cart and there's also refillable water stations located near the elevators of every floor (BYO water bottle).

We also love the wrap around balcony and our room is located right by the vegetable garden beds.

The bathroom is spacious with a standalone bathtub and a single sink with deluxe amenities by from Apotheke Brooklyn NY. Next to the bath is a large shower with two heads. Plenty of towels and a soft and comfortable robe are provided. There's also ample space for luggage and a wardrobe to unpack in.

Wifi is fast and free and there's also a tea and a coffee machine but no mini bar. Self parking is $35 per day. The hotel has a pool on the 5th floor and a spa is set to open in late 2026.

One thing to note is that the images of the pool on travel websites are a bit different as they were generated before the pool was open. The pool also does not have a swim up bar attached to it.

While staying at the Voco Gosford, make sure to head up to the 28th floor to their rooftop bar Astra. This is Gosford's only rooftop bar and as such, it is a major drawcard at the hotel. The view of Brisbane Waters below is stunning and on a clear day you can see Lion Island nearby and Palm Beach in the distance. It is a popular spot and often booked up so book ahead or do as we did and pop in around 4-5pm for a quick drink. Follow this with dinner at Ironbark (see above!).

Breakfast is at Saltfire restaurant on the fifth floor alongside the pool and gym and has a range of hot food items from scrambled eggs to bacon and sausages and mushrooms. Omelettes and poached eggs are ordered separately and the first hot drink is complimentary.

I toast a slice of sourdough and add a generous amount of mashed avocado from the large bowl as well as smoked salmon cake and capers and sliced onion from the chef. Et voila, a DIY avocado toast with as much smashed avocado as I want!

We also have a hash brown and a ham pastry, as well as a ham, cheese and chilli egg white omelette. Mr NQN feasts happily on a fruit plate and we are reluctant to leave after this wonderful weekend.

So tell me Dear Reader, have you been to any of these places? Which type of experience excites you more: casual pub meals, fine dining meal or snacky wine bars?

NQN and Mr NQN were guests of Central Coast Tourism but all opinions remain her own.