Newcastle, NSW Australia Food Month Highlights

During the month of April, head to Newcastle for a tasty weekend away. Newcastle Food Month is an annual event held in April every year. This is just a taste of what is on offer during the popular month long food and wine festival from amazing value Plate Dates to pop ups at Beach Clubs, Garden Parties and an event combining cars, wine and food!

1. Plate Date at Jana, QT Newcastle

One of my favourite events during Newcastle Food Month is the Plate Date. This is a $30 deal with a plate of food plus a glass of wine at a range of restaurants, bars, pubs and bakeries (for a preview of more plate dates see here).

Jana is the signature restaurant at QT Newcastle which is where we stayed for our weekend in Newcastle (review to come very soon!) and their plate date is a lasagne filled with divine slowbraised oxtail paired with a glass of Hungerford Hill Pinot Noir or Dalwood Chardonnay. This is not the lasagne you make at home and is perfect for a chilly Autumn night.

Price: $30. This dish was created for Newcastle Food Month and is available for Lunch & Dinner Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday & Saturday during the month of April.

2. Plate Date at Scotties

The first time I heard about Scotties, I was told that people never know when it's going to be open. Legend has that if the surf is good, the staff head towards the beach. This seafood restaurant and natural wine bar does more than just fish and chips and calamari, there are also at crudos, salads and oysters.

Their plate date is a lobster club sandwich with tender pieces of lobster, crispy hash brown, sambal, pickled red onion, crunchy lettuce, American cheese and lashings of sauce on a triple decker club sandwich with potato chips underneath paired with a glass of Smallfry Tangerine Dream wine. It's one of my favourite plate dates and is well worth trying to seek out if they're open.

A little tip: while you're there also try the prawn pancake which is like a cross between a roti and a prawn toast and the beetroot scallop is take on a potato scallop except using a slice of beetroot instead!

Price: $30. Available for Lunch & Dinner Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday & Sunday. Also available on the regular menu outside of Newcastle Food Month.

3. Sukimama x First Creek Sunday Beach Club

One of the most popular events during summer is when the beloved Sukimama pops up at Mereweather Surf club. During Newcastle Food Month she is appearing there every Sunday with a different wine varietal from First Creek Wines. These events are incredibly popular and sell out very quickly (I think we managed to snag the last two tickets).

Entry tickets are $30 and include one glass of First Creek wine (today it's a Chardonnay plus a $15 credit towards the food). The menu features a range of her most popular dishes from the prawn toast to the Korean fried chicken mandu dumplings, filled baos and a hotteok pancake filled with walnuts and sugar for dessert.

The weather has turned out beautifully and we're sitting on the balcony watching one of the last warm Sundays before winter sets in for good.

The prawn toast is crisp and served in little dainty cubes that you dip into the tangy sweet and sour sauce while the Korean fried chicken is saucy with fresh shreds of daikon pickle on top to help balance the richness of the chicken.

But my new favourite here is the barbecue Wagyu bulgogi bao with an incredibly generous amount of thinly sliced beef as well as salad - although I've eaten so much already I devour the whole thing.

And even though I was just intending to try a little bite of the Hotteok Korean pancake, it's so good that we end up polishing it off entirely. The prized bites are where the gooey walnut and sugar filling turn into a caramel in the thick and chewy pancake.

Price: $30 entry (includes 1 glass of wine and $15 food credit). Sunday 5 April – Rosé Beach Bar, Sunday 12 April – Chardy Party, Sunday 19 April – Semsational Sunday and Sunday 26 April – Pinot Party.

4. BMW Progressive Wine 'Lunch'

The BMW Progressive Wine 'Lunch' is the first time they've combined food, wine and cars at Newcastle Food Month. Held at Newcastle BMW they combine 6 courses of food by EXP. Restaurant, one of the Hunter Valley's best restaurants with 6 wines from First Creek Wines and 6 BMW cars.

The 6 courses are roving canapés with items like a Sydney rock oyster with lemon myrtle Yarra Valley caviar and crème fraîche paired with First Creek single vineyard semillon 2024 or the sashimi cobia with avocado and finger lime in a crisp pie tee shell (pie tee is a Peranakan appetiser) or a smoked cobia pate on sourdough focaccia cubes. Guests are invited to get in the cars and explore their features.

Some of these courses feature two types of canapes and there is enough for guests to have a second or even third bite. Every bite is divine from the duck tsukune meatball with shaved egg yolk and the Paroo kangaroo striploin with Davidson Plum puree and macadamia smoked over rosemary.

We finish off with a Mini Maxibon ice cream sandwich with a miso caramel koji ice cream with puffed buckwheat paired with the Mini Countryman car.

There are six First Creek wines being poured; ours favourite are the First Creek single vineyard Wells Hill Chardonnay 2024 that won a gold New South Wales wine award and the First Creek classic Hunter Valley Rosé 2025.

Price: $75 per person. April 12, 2026.

Autumnal Garden Party at Customs House

Customs House and Tinta in Belmont have partnered up for an Autumnal Garden Party in partnership with Usher Tinkler Wines, Tanqueray Gin & Red Funnel.

The idea behind the Garden Party is that you have cocktails or wine available and food comes around in platters. The Port Stephens oysters are fantastic but unfortunately the sashimi had run out by the time we arrived at 1pm.

A chef from Tinta in Belmont is busy making two large pans of paella but you have to get in quick to get a serve of these - unfortunately they ran out while we were in line. There are also arancini balls and tarts available on platters going around.