THE OYSTER FARMERS DAUGHTER — Restaurant in North Narooma

Match 2023: Driving through Narooma has quickly become synonymous with a visit to The Oyster Farmers Daughter. Set on the banks of the aquamarine Wagonga Inlet, this outdoor, shipping container bar is the perfect place to partake in the bounty of the local waters with libation to ease its passage. Pickled ginger and Japanese seaweed salad top Dad’s oysters ($23/6) which are (of course) a must-eat as you sit outside his oyster shed. Despite the casual, cobbled together look of the repurposed and recycled materials and furniture items, booking ahead here is well-advised.

The other menu stars are big creamy king prawns grilled and served on tostadas with guacamole ($32/4) or on crisp Asian ‘slaw ($29) the addition of garlic and chill butter. A basket of shoestring fries ($10) accompanied with lemon and aioli fill out any corners. The emphasis on local produce sees us knocking back Broulee Brewhouse Pale Ales ($10/each) that are light quaffers with grassy, hoppy and citrus notes. From a short cocktail list enjoy a chilli margarita ($26) and a coconut margarita ($26) with the spicy version drinking slightly better. While the dishes and drinks are pricy, the pleasure of eating and drinking on the water in such a beautiful setting is hard to put a price on.

March 2022: This is one venue where the name tells you just about everything you need to know. The Oyster Farmers Daughter is a permanent food truck and cocktail bar set right on the bank of the beautiful Wagonga River. As the name suggests, this female-run venture capitalises the bounty of her father’s oyster lease—B.J. & H.D. Coxon, purveyors of fine Wagonga river oysters.

With an outdoor stage and a ramshackle series of shaded cabanas with hessian bag cushions, beanbags, assorted outdoor furniture and a quirky bar table facing the water, this is the closest you’ll get to a Pasifikan island bar until international flights open back up later in the year. We pulled up for an hour of cocktails, bivalves and low key live music. Made on North of Eden gin, the blood orange and grape gin fizz ($18) is the perfect nectar for this relaxed setting.

Coxon oysters come by the dozen or half dozen with no savings for ordering more, so you might as well mix and match with a few of your favourite toppings. Peated whisky oysters ($15/half) need no explanation, but the match isn’t really going to please anyone other than a whisky-drinker. Locally grown finger lime ($15/half) were more my speed, the pale pink beads of sharp citrus enhancing the clean-tasting, lightly creamy oyster underneath. The Asian ‘slaw made on both sweet Chinese cabbage and red cabbage was the highlight of the Australian tiger prawns ($26), lightly treated with garlic and chilli butter before being grilled. Really though, oysters are where it’s at here, and the journey from harvest to plate rarely gets...

It was the school holidays and we had gathered with three of the most closest family friends and their families, totally to 14 people. We had driven 4 hours to Narooma and wanted to enjoy the beautiful scenery and found what we thought was a fantastic restaurant by the creek. We physically met the female receptionists at 12pm and there were no available tables, despite there being many visibly empty tables. She told us that we could return back at 3pm and she “GUARANTEED” us a table upon our arrival, if not earlier.

So we left and went on our day. Oh did I mention it was the last day we were staying at Narooma too! We had specifically set this as our last experience of Narooma!

So 3 hours later?? We all returned and guess what?? The same receptionist told us that there were no available seats!

That meant, we had spent three hours, feeling promised and then suddenly told to leave empty handed!! We tried to work something out but the receptionist and another man told us that there was nothing they could do!

Not even takeaway, which we asked politely! We were told they didn’t do takeaway with no clear answer, even though we knew they were bold face lying!! In the bar, which was also the kitchen, we heard one of the cooks shout “TAKEAWAY” and a single woman collecting her order. The owner still ignored this fact and told us to leave.

So we decided not to argue with a wall and cry over spilt milk to left, hungry.

What more? The day we were ordering was Labour Day (A public holiday). Meaning that all the restaurants were closed in close proximity, so nothing else to eat.

That meant we were leaving Narooma, back on the way home; disappointed, betrayed and hungry.

It was quite a shame and we felt “scammed”. Thanks for ruining our Narooma and holiday...

Booked here (based on google reviews) for my bday lunch as I was planning to stay in Narooma for the weekend and also love seafood. I was actually disappointed:

Sitting low tables were not appropriate for dining / not comfortable to eat at all. Ordered half a dozen of killpatrick Oysters - actually nothing great and they tasted like they had cheap bbq sauce in it & we were charged more than half of the price of a dozen ones (my bad for not asking for the price upfront as it was not in the menu, menu had 46 Aud for a dozen only) Food had to be ordered at the counter, self serve cutlery etc… all in paper baskets, no actual plates or cutlery - not sure if this was due to covid but it made the experience like a takeaway rushed food. Ordered fresh prawns with separate asian salad, prawns were cold and honestly they seem to be great big fresh prawns but they lacked care in cooking, anyone can get prawns, boil them and cool them down in ice to serve - again nothing great, just like a bucket of prawns from a local pub. Other order were grilled prawns with salad… I got max 4 prawns in total not any great size but cooked well / tasty and tons of asian salad - not really worth it the price for how much we got. Cold pressed fruit juice / watermelon - literally bottled juice for 9 Aud. This place represents very good produce but no actual skill in preparation.

I specifically like to go to places that are not fancy at all and I really believe they could do better with food, service and to justify the high prices, as the location...