Over the last decade or so Australians have rediscovered real food; tasty nourishing and healthy. It’s a passion, people living on the land share. Growers enjoy nothing more than seeing customers getting excited about the foods they take such pride in growing and harvesting.


Seafoods abound on the Coast , and many compete to earn the title of having the best fish, oysters and prawns.

If you’re an oyster person (and thank god not everyone is) you know (shh!) that you can’t beat the Sydney Rock Oysters from the Clyde River for flavour and texture, plain, or with a drop of lemon. Ah!


Try the Oyster Shed on Wray St, the Ralston family has had oyster leases on the Clyde for generations. The oysters are grown and harvested from their own leases and sold through the Oyster Shed, (the last remaining shed on the river) on the northern side of the Clyde. There’s no excuse for not giving your taste buds a treat, they’re open every day.

Before driving back to Canberra from Braidwood drop into the Braidwood Butcher (remember the days when you talked to the butcher about the day’s best cuts? Here you still can, if you want to). If your sceptical about our advertising, stop a local and ask them for their frank opinion. Better still try Mick the butcher's own smallgoods or pop up to the local cattle sales (first Friday of the month) at the saleyards and check out the quality for yourself.



Many a gourmet claims to be able to judge a place by the quality of it’s coffee and it’s bread. When it comes to bread, try Dojo Bread in Braidwood and be the judge for yourself. Great bread is a hard thing to describe. Here are some adjectives we think apply - araomatic, baby warm, yeasty and wholesome. Mathew makes great crusty white loaves and his fruit loaf is a must.

Now, if you’re driving down to Araluen between mid November and January to enjoy this truly rustic valley, don’t forget to pop into the packing shed of Harrison & Sons Orchard for your peaches and nectarines, they are to die for. The added bonus is that they are usually so reasonably priced you’ll find yourself lifting a case into the boot of your car. They always make a great gift for Gran and Pa if you can’t eat them all yourself or don’t want to make your own jams or preserves.

Speaking of jams and preserves, on your drive back to Braidwood take a 5 minute detour to The Old Cheese Factory at Reidsdale. You’ll find local jams, chutneys, sauces and handmade cakes to eat on the spot with a coffee or tea. The factory gets a high indulgence rating from us.

The Watkins-Sully family are an enterprising bunch. The Old Cheese Factory is also a well equipped rural enterprise centre, championing locally made and grown produce so local growers, cooks and artisans can value add to their product.

Their facilities include a fully equipped commercial kitchen, a teaching or conference room, a fruit pressing area (Gary’s apple cider is delicious), and a graphics art studio to help you with labelling and marketing. They’ll even sell your product for you in their little shop.

The Watkins-Sully family are food.

 
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