The Gunyah Restaurant at Paperbark Camp — Restaurant in Woollamia

Hidden away at the end of a quiet dirt track just outside Nowra, Paperbark Camp feels like a secret waiting to be discovered. The elevated treetop setting is tranquil and secluded. Arrive a little early and you can enjoy a glass of local Shoalhaven wine by the fire pit outdoors or relax by the cozy indoor fireplace, which immediately sets the tone for the evening — warm, welcoming, and unhurried.

The staff deserve a huge shout out, in particular Susie and Violet, who looked after us with warmth, humour, and genuine care. Their attentiveness elevated the whole experience and made the night feel like dining in a good friend’s home.

The restaurant has recently moved to a set menu format. While some might miss the choice of à la carte, I found it refreshing to be guided through a menu that encouraged me to try dishes I might not normally order.

Here’s how the Winter menu unfolded:

Flatbread, Zatar Spice

A perfect way to start: warm, soft bread carrying the bold, earthy kick of za’atar. Simple, rustic, and exactly what you want in that first bite. The optional sourdough was also outstanding — crusty, hearty, and served with rich butter.

Mussels, Green Mango, Cucumber

A bright, surprising dish where briny mussels were lifted by the sharp tang of green mango and the cooling freshness of cucumber. A clever balance of ocean and orchard.

Pork Rillettes, Black Barley, Radicchio

Described by our server as a deconstructed dumpling, an apt description of this deeply savoury pork, paired with the smoky chew of black barley and the slight bitterness of radicchio. Rich and hearty, yet with enough balance to keep it light.

Charcoal Chicken, Roast Alliums, Koji (with rice, sambal, daikon)

I’ll admit, chicken often feels like the mundane choice on a menu — but not here. Smoky from the charcoal, deeply flavoured with koji and sweet roasted alliums, it was exceptional. The accompaniments of rice, sambal, and daikon added both comfort and a little spark.

Blackberry, Grapes, Umeshu, Granita

A refreshing close to the meal. The sweet and tart notes of blackberry and grape combined beautifully with the plum wine’s depth, all sharpened by icy granita. It felt an odd choice for a winter menu but still very enjoyable.

Paperbark Camp is a restaurant that surprises you from start to finish. From its peaceful bushland location to the warmth of its service, it feels special without ever being pretentious. The set menu approach works beautifully here, and the kitchen clearly takes pride in showcasing fresh, seasonal ingredients in thoughtful ways.

If you’re anywhere near the Shoalhaven, make the short detour down that dirt track. What you’ll find at the end is one of the most memorable dining experiences...

We had really high hopes and were excited to visit the restaurant, having driven quite far to try this spot. We arrived ~45 minutes ahead of our reservation, hoping we could get our seat early to get drinks before the dinner service. We asked the waitress if we could please get seated inside earlier as there were a lot of mosquitors and we didn't want to be outside when it was getting dark. She acknowledged our request but said that it wasn't possible to seat us inside and she would keep an eye out at a later time if we could be seated. We waited outside for almost 50 minutes in the dark, getting continuously bitten by mosquitoes. My partner asked again if we could sit indoors due to the mosquito situation and we were told there is no waiting room inside.

Once we finally got our seat, we realised there were so many empty tables and a full seating lounge indoors where we could have waited and had our drinks. I'm not sure why the waitress lied and was adamant on making us wait outdoors? We even asked another waitress and were told that "maybe there was a reason why we couldn't come inside" which is honestly a total lie as there were others waiting and drinking inside. I just don't understand why force someone to wait outside and get eaten alive by mosquitoes? If youre charging premium prices with the promise of premium quality food and service at least do the bare minimum courtesy of seating your guests in a comfortable and safe environment? The service was so inadequate and quite frankly rude and idk why we got such treatment.

The food was definitely not at all what we were expecting, it was bland and honestly lacked any unique qualities that we were expecting. We booked this for the experience vs food and were extremely disappointed on all fronts, particularly on the poor service.

Definitely don't recommend this to anyone unless you're staying at the camp. Not worth venturing on a...

When we arrived we soon realised that we had to park 100 metres away from entrance, lucky it wasn't raining as we had to walk 100 metres along a pitch dark dirt road using our mobile phone torch so we didn't snap an ankle, but it was cold, we walked in to a warm and inviting restaurant, we ordered a drink straight away and we were asked immediately if we were ready to order, we replied politely " we will just have a pre dinner drink first and then order" we were then asked another 3 times within 15 minutes if we were ready to order, each time our glasses were not empty and we replied just enjoying a pre dinner drink, then a woman came over and introduced herself as Nadine, she told us because we had the late booking (7.30pm) we had to order in the next 5 minutes, so we promptly ordered our meals feeling rushed on what was supposed to be a relaxing evening after a hard week's work, we could see kitchen staff glaring at us as they had obviously sent Nadine over to hurry us up, mind you we'd only been there 20 minutes and no confirmation indicated the lack of parking or rush if booking at 7.30pm, although the food was nice I had a small portion of polenta for entree, a half inch thick piece of cauliflower for main and a small portion of pepper icecream for desert, it was the "special" for the evening, the price was $90 ph ( over priced ), on a good note the wine was great, staff did not ask about our experience when we paid which I thought was sensible for them, when we paid we paid with cash and were told there was no change to ad to the list of disappointments, we won't be recommending...