12 restaurants with a view in the Blue Mountains

Across 11,400 square kilometres of World Heritage-listed nature, the Blue Mountains offers staggering sandstone cliffs, rainforest-clad valleys cooled by waterfalls, and dramatic gorges with Aboriginal art dating back tens of thousands of years. And for all the major escarpments, lookouts or clifftops, a restaurant or bar is nearby to deliver scene-stealing views regardless of whether you’re in search of a degustation, a burger or a just a cuppa.

Echoes Boutique Hotel and Restaurant, Katoomba

Best for sky-high high tea: Hydro Majestic Hotel, Medlow Bath

The village of Medlow Bath has been attracting the who’s who for more than a century, with sybarites and socialites alike checking into the Hydro Majestic Hotel from the moment it opened in 1904. Following a six-year top-to-tail makeover, the grand dame of the Blue Mountains reopened with several new venues: The Boilerhouse and Wintergarden are highlights, both offering the kind of views you’d expect from the final lookout of an epic bushwalk. Wintergarden celebrates the glamour of the hotel’s heyday with its daily high tea, which sees tiered platters of goodies, including the requisite finger sandwiches and scones as well as petite pastries delivered next to your choice of tea. While Boilerhouse provides a casual experience for a family or crew of pals to share a pizza and a Bilpin cider. 

High Tea at The Hydro Majestic Hotel - Medlow Bath - Blue Mountains

Best for clifftop fine dining: Echoes Restaurant & Bar, Katoomba

With its clifftop perch at Echo Point, Echoes Boutique Hotel & Restaurant offers one of the most spellbinding settings in Katoomba. Book a seat on the patio, which extends out to the very edge of the clifftop (on a clear day, you can see all the way to Mittagong in the Southern Highlands, more than 80km away) and start the meal with a wine grown just beyond the valley in view. Then settle in for a luxurious take on modern Australian cuisine, mixing premium ingredients with the cuisine-blending diversity of flavours and ingredients Australia is known for.

Echoes Boutique Hotel and Restaurant, Katoomba

Best for bountiful gardens: Everglades Historic House & Gardens

Leura’s Everglades Historic House and Gardens isn’t just known for its inter-war period gardens and the cool-climate displays of azaleas, rhododendrons and camellias; the Art Deco residence also hosts a picturesque Devonshire tea. Sit within the heritage ground’s gardens with a coffee, tea or even a local cider, and a traditional course of scones while you take in Jamison Valley scenery. As the tearoom is volunteer run, let them know if you’re travelling in a big group to ensure there is tea and scone availability for every member of your crew. 

Everglades Historic House and Gardens, Leura

Best for a taste of history: Darleys, Katoomba

Set inside the original Lilianfels house, built in the late 1880s, Darleys does old fashioned fine dining – thick tablecloths, plush chairs, embossed crockery and twinkling chandeliers give a sense of genteel luxury. The huge windows, which wrap around the southeast side of the restaurant look out on to Lilianfels’s historic English garden and the rugged escarpment of the Jamison Valley. The three-course modern Australian menu has a focus on local produce, with many ingredients sourced from within 100 miles of the restaurant.

Lilianfels Resort & Spa, Katoomba

Best for sunset cocktails: Elysian Restaurant, Katoomba

Forget the rowdy cocktail experiences of the big city, Elysian makes its trade on comfort, cosiness and classic hospitality. That’s not to say it’s out of date: the menus are creative, fun and bring in flavours from a diverse range of cuisines. Find a seat upstairs by the window so you can dig into taco-shaped roti parcels topped with spiced lamb and try a cocktail with a playful name and recipe while admiring the sunset as it hits the sandstone cliffs and forested valleys of a UNESCO World Heritage recognised wilderness. 

Elysian Restaurant, Katoomba - Credit: MTN Wave Media

Best for wine tasting with a view: Dryridge Estate, Megalong Valley

While Echoes and Elysian give you views from the top, Dryridge Estate in Megalong Valley delivers one of the best views from the bottom. The historic winery (the first to grow commercial grapes in the area) sits in a valley surrounded by the iconic amber cliffs of the area. Wine tastings are on from Friday to Sunday with guests snacking on cheese boards or a full ploughman’s plate with cured meats, pickles, olives and local bread. Before planning a visit, know this isn’t the average vineyard visit (where you try glass on glass over a bar listening to a speech on each) – this one is all casual, country charm, sun on your back, dogs roaming the farm and a drop-in-when-you-like policy. 

Dryridge Estate, Blue Mountains - Credit: Dryridge Estate

Best for tasting the land: Restaurant Amara, Bowen Mountain

On the edge of a quiet road is one of the Blue Mountains best retreats, Spicers Sangoma, and inside, a restaurant that feels like an oasis at the edge of a rugged wilderness. That’s Restaurant Amara, an acclaimed fine diner that mixes modern with traditional. The tradition is in the kitchen, where all food is sourced from the region and techniques are based around the simplicity and flavour of charcoal and open-flame cooking. The modern element is your experience, where you’ll meet a sleek dining room befitting the natural beauty surrounding it, beautifully composed vegetable-forward dishes and a service experience that matches the standard of the fare they serve. 

Restaurant Amara, Bowen Mountain - Credit: Spicers Retreats

The best for mountain gazing from below: Megalong Valley Tearooms and Megalong Restaurant, Megalong Valley

With Ruined Castle to the south, the Three Sisters to the east and Mount Piddington to the north, Megalong Valley’s Lot 101 feels right in the middle the Blue Mountain’s most iconic sights. The sustainable farm and its enviable views can be experienced from three sites, Werriberri Cottages, the farm-to-table Megalong Restaurant and the quaint Megalong Valley Tearooms. At the restaurant, take in the views alongside a set menu (with matching wines if you please) focused on the farm’s organic produce, or at the Tearooms, relax with a simple pot pie, scone or apple pie on a bench next to a sheep paddock. 

Megalong Restaurant, Megalong Valley - Credit: Megalong Restaurant

The best for pub vibes with ridiculous views: The Lookout, Echo Point

Get to The Lookout in the afternoon and nab a seat outside; order yourself a schnitty, a burger or a plate of fish and chips; and drift into the postcard views. Watch the sunset paint the sky flamingo pink then settle in for trivia (every Wednesday) or a live band (weekends) alongside a local beer or a NSW wine (the drinks menu is almost all Australian-made). If you’ve hit the Three Sisters early in the day, check out the Milkbar menu instead for a caffeine hit served next to waffles, wraps and toasties.

The Lookout, Katoomba

A secret view the locals know: Leura Gourmet, Leura

From the front, with its giant bold Cafe & Deli signage and windows piled high with pantry goods and fresh produce, you’d never expect Leura Gourmet to host such a vast view. The dining room at the back, which can be quite busy on weekends, is lucky to have a floor-to-ceiling glass wall, meaning you and your companions can have a cuppa and a pastry while you look over the leafy Leura back streets. On your way out, check the deli section, they’ve got a good range of dry goods that traverses many cuisines and cooking styles.

Leura Gourmet, Leura

The best for cafe dining among the tree canopy: Conservation Hut, Wentworth Falls

In the 1960s, the Conservation Hut opened as a station in Wentworth Falls to refuel and rest for hikers and as a meeting point for the Blue Mountains Conservation Society. The society is a little too big for the hut now but it’s still one of the best and most scenic rest stops a hiker can find. But rather than a hiker’s BYO trail mix, pick from a modern cafe menu that includes brekky burritos, chilli scrambles, schnitzels and pork belly bao buns. All of it served alongside one of the area’s best views of Mount Solitary and the Jamison Valley. 

Conservation Hut, Wentworth Falls - Credit: Conservation Hut

The best for an eccentric evening in front of a live band: Avalon Restaurant and Cocktail Bar, Katoomba

Set in an old theatre in Katoomba, Avalon is a local destination for those seeking a simple drink, a hearty meal or a night of stories and entertainment. The main dining room, in the dress circle of the old theatre, demands you arrive early, as the views, over the Katoomba village and onto the iconic cliff faces, only last as long as the day’s sun. Once night falls, check out the gin parlour downstairs for a flight of local gin and look at the schedule of events to see if there are any shows coming up – maybe you can relive the magic of the old Savoy Theatre, first established in the 1930s, with a comedy act or a local band.

Avalon Restaurant, Katoomba - Credit: Silversalt Photography