With longer days and warmer waters, a range of species come into their seasonal peak over the next few months. Here are some of our favourites.

Dusky Flathead

Like all flathead, duskies are a great, versatile fish. The flesh has a slight sweetness and is low in oiliness, with the medium textured flesh flaking away easily. You can do just about anything with a dusky flathead – steam, poach, panfry, bake … One of our favourites for warmer months is barbecuing a whole dusky. Keep it simple with some butter, garlic and lemon in the cavity, and wrap it in foil to prevent it drying out. It’s great fish for kids too, with relatively few bones that are easily removed.

Silver Trevally

Silver trevally is coming into its peak over the next month or so. It’s another versatile fish, with few bones that are easily removed. It has a true, mildly fishy flavour and is slightly oily with fine flakes. Despite its oiliness it can dry out when cooking, so wrapping it is a good idea. It’s also a great fish to marinate. We like to make a simple marinade from olive oil, lemon juice, garlic and some fresh herbs, marinade for 15 minutes and panfry. It’s also great raw, marinated in some soy and ginger.

Spanner Crab

Spanner crabs are hitting their peak right now. They have beautiful soft and moist flesh with a distinctive sweetness. They’re a tough customer with a thick upper shell but the flesh is worth it! It’s delicate and delicious in a salad, pasta or risotto. Or simply arm yourself with a seafood fork, a good mayonnaise and appreciate this crab’s luxurious flavour.

Whiting

We’re getting some great sand and trumpeter whiting in at the moment. Both lovely, smaller estuarine fish that are hugely versatile. They have a delicate sweet flavour, moist flesh and small bones that are easily removed. The skin is edible so they’re a great fish to cook whole. Gently barbecue some whole whiting until just cooked and serve with lemon, capers and garlic butter for an easy but impressive spring-time meal.

Redfish

Another fantastic fish to grab while at its peak, Redfish has a lovely delicate flavour and nice big, robust flakes. This makes it ideal for soups and fishcakes, but it’s also a great fish cooked in the pan, oven or on the barbie. It’s fabulous with Thai flavours and we love to add it to a tom yum soup, or a laksa for something heartier, where it gives a pleasant bouncy fish texture.

Game Fish

It’s time for the big guys, Mahi Mahi and Opah, both stunning line-caught game fish who like warmer waters. It’s always exciting to get these big fish in as they look fantastic. They can be a bit daunting for your average punter though, so rest assured these are both great all-rounders when it comes to eating. Opah (also called Moonfish) is a versatile, meaty fish that can be treated similarly to tuna, including preparing it as sashimi. Ask in-store for some more ideas because the various cuts from this fish can cover it all. Mahi Mahi is also a good firm fish that makes for fantastic steaks, soups and curries. It has flavoursome flesh and responds to gentle cooking – don’t overdo it! Mahi Mahi means strong in Hawaiian, but overcook it and it’ll mean chewy. Treat it kindly and it’s delicious!

Winter is a great season for seafood and fish. Here are some of our current favourites. Come and grab some from the market or ask us to cook them up as takeaway!

King Fish

We’ve had some absolutely cracking, locally caught kingfish in lately. This is one of the most versatile and delicious fish the ocean has to offer. It can be cooked whole or as fillets, steaks or cutlets. It can be baked, grilled, barbecued, deep fried and it’s from flesh also means it’s great added to curries, pasta sauces or stirfries. It’s also one of the best fishes to consume raw, making it perfect for sashimi, ceviches, crudos, and carpaccios. We also love that it’s a low waste fish. Its frame and head are perfect for homemade fish stock. Forget about salmon or Barra and go for true local class. In store now.

John Dory

Dories are plentiful in winter. These deep sea beauties typically spend the warmer months at depths of one kilometre but move to shallower waters in winter and fatten up. John Dory is one of the most versatile fish species, with a mild sweet flavour, moist flesh with with fine flakes and not too many bones. Wrap fillets in foil or banana leaves and grill or barbecue to appreciate the delicate flavours. Dory is also fantastic steamed whole, poached, baked or panfried. It’s delicious with the simple fresh flavours of citrus, herbs and a little butter.

Mussels

Mussels are a winter comfort dish worldwide and we love a serve of Moules Frites – mussels in a pot of broth served with hot chips. It’s a French classic and simple to make. Cook the mussels in your choice of broth, some white wine, garlic and herbs for around 5 minutes, until the mussels are all open. Serve immediately with golden, crunchy chips on the side.

Sardines

We’re big fans of the humble sardine. These fast growing, fully sustainable little dynamos are one of the richest sources of omega-3 oils available. Add high levels of calcium, iron, zinc, vitamin D, potassium and niacin and they’re practically a multivitamin pill! Readily available year round, they’re a consistently affordable fish that should be on everyone’s shopping list. Particularly in winter when we all need an extra shot of vitamins. Keep it simple when it comes to sardines. Dust fillets lightly with flour and fry a hot, lightly oiled pan. For the ultimate winter comfort food, serve the fillets on freshly toasted sourdough with a drizzle of olive oil and lemon juice. Sensational!

It took around 12 months to research and commission this traditionally made fish trap from Arnhem Land, the wonderful centrepiece of our new restaurant. At four metres long the trap hangs from our lofty ceiling, creating an evocative link to the endless view of water, mangroves and sealife that surrounds you.

The trap was created by Bonny Burarn.garra and Freda Wayartja Ali of the renowned Maningrida Arts & Culture community in northern Arnhem Land. It is a fantastic example of the traditional Burarra fibre weaving that has become highly sought after for exhibition.

The Burarra people have a complex knowledge of ecology and a spiritual relationship with their coastal land. They aim to preserve this knowledge for future generations and also want to share it with others. While these traps are no longer used by the Burarra the skills are still passed on.

Traps like ours were used for thousands of years in rivers, creeks and estuaries when fish were on the move. In the early wet season they swim upstream for breeding in creeks and billabongs, then downstream to spend the dry season in larger rivers. The traps would be set to face the oncoming fish, with woven fencing either side. Within the mouth of the trap is a woven funnel that guides the fish in and prevents their escape. The clever design ensures that only adult fish are caught as smaller fish can escape through the weaving or even through the funnel. The fish that are caught can survive in the trap for up to two months. Once the trap is removed, the end is untied to remove the fish. This sustainable design means the trap can be used again and again.

Commissioning this work is our tribute to one of the oldest and most sustainable fishing methods in the world, and to our commitment to sustainably-sourced seafood.

We’re very excited to announce that we now have electronic gift cards available for purchase! Our eGift Cards are perfect for stress-free giving.

It’s simply a matter of purchasing your eGift Card via our website and entering the recipient’s email address, name and a greeting. It will be sent instantly. No dodgy wrapping paper necessary!

eGift Cards are available in amounts of $300, $250, $200, $150, $100 and $50 and can be used on fresh seafood from the market or dining in the market restaurant. You can even spend your gifted dollars on our delicious takeaway.

We might be bias but it’s hard to imagine that anyone would be less than thrilled to receive a WWFW eGift Card.

Follow the link to start gifting sustainable seafood.

We might be bias but it’s hard to imagine that anyone would be less than thrilled to receive a WWFW eGift Card.

Our new menu has started at WWFW which always provides a great opportunity to share some of our favourite sustainable seafood with you.

As the weather warms there’s nothing nicer than whiling away some weekend hours with fresh shellfish and a great bottle of wine. While oysters, mussels and scallops might take the lion’s share of attention, the daintier shells of cockles, clams and pipis shouldn’t be overlooked.

Our sustainably certified pipis from renowned Goolwa Pipi Co are hand harvested from some of the cleanest waters in the world off South Australia’s Coorong National Park. When their their smooth, watercolour-toned shells pop open they reveal delicate, plump meat with the sweet, briny flavours of the sea.

Our favourite way to serve them is simply pan-fried with XO sauce – a spicy and luxuriously aromatic sauce that originated in Hong Kong. It’s the perfect accompaniment to the sweet flesh of the pipis and is delicious mopped up with crusty bread.

Try a dry rosé with your pipis such as the beautifully perfumed Provençal Chateau Riotor or The Wine Farm’s sophisticated, acidic rosé. Both are available by the glass or bottle.

And if you’re a fan of natural oysters, why not try clams? We source fresh Diamond Shell surf clams from the pristine coastal waters of New Zealand, harvested sustainably by the Piper family of Cloudy Bay Clams.

Diamond Shells are characterised by their sweet, fresh ‘sea spray’ aroma and clean ‘wild ocean’ flavour. They’re delicious raw or cooked. With such excellent quality produce we like to keep it simple and serve our Cloudy Bay clams natural. The flavour is delicate, perhaps a tad fresher and brinier than oysters, and altogether just as delicious.

Just like oysters, natural clams are perfectly accompanied by champagne – you could spoil yourself with a bottle of Gosset Blanc de Blanc or Pol Roger. But it’s hard to pass on the opportunity to honour Cloudy Bay’s terroir with a good Sauvignon Blanc such as Marlborough’s Tappo, available by the glass or bottle.

Both pipis and clams feature on our current menu. Keep your eyes open for our new Summer Wine List. Coming soon! And don’t forget that we are now open for dinner on Fridays and Saturdays!

Our market restaurant is closed until further notice, in adherence to the current government guidelines. We are now delivering a limited restaurant menu to addresses within a 10 minute drive.

Visiting Woy Woy for lunch or dinner at the Wharf? We’ve rounded up some of the latest and greatest places to hit on the Central Coast while you’re here. From natural wine and custom tattoos, to handmade pasta, tarot cards and the best fishing on the central – enjoy.

Tropicana Pizza Pizza

Are we biased? Maybe. These guys have a marinara pizza named after us – The Fisherman’s Wharf – which comes stacked with our tuna, salmon, squid, calamari, prawns and scallops. Owners Cate Stewart and Tim Stockton are old friends of ours (they got married at the Wharf!), and their restaurant has that real retro, Tiki-esque feel that was popular in the ’80s and ’90s, but the pizza is actually good. The roasted fennel with spicy salami is a standout, and The Calabrese, which teams mushroom, bocconcini and fresh basil with olives and pepperoni (surely both count as part of your five-a-day?).

Tropicana Pizza Pizza, 3/35-39 Blackwall Rd, Woy Woy, NSW, (02) 4327 7567, @tropicanapizzapizza

The Lucky Bee at Frankie’s Rooftop, The Bayview Hotel

Anyone who says Woy Woy isn’t hip hasn’t been to Frankie’s Rooftop at The Bayview Hotel. And it’s only going to get better now that Lucky Bee, late of New York, is set to take over. Lucky Bee’s focus is on fiery south-east Asian street food. The chef, Matty Bennett, cooked at Longrain in Sydney for a few years and knows how to work spice, citrus and sugar to positively dizzying effect. Along with the usual Woy Woy suspects like cold beer, sunny cocktails and views over Brisbane Water – Lucky Bee is expected to serve food until midnight (winning!) and offer a boozy brunch on weekends. See you there for a Scorpion Bowl in the sun.

Frankie’s Rooftop Bar at The Bayview Hotel, 2 The Boulevarde, Woy Woy, NSW, (02) 4341 2088, bayviewwoywoy.com.au

Young Barons Pasta Bar

This is a good date place: the food is great, the service is slick, and it’s intimate with only 30 or so seats. Plus can you really go wrong with housemate pasta and gelato? Chef Dannielle Mills makes the pasta fresh each day with beautiful, high-quality ingredients, sourced locally. The tagliatelle with hearty slow-cooked pork neck is ideal winter eating, or cross your fingers for spaghetti with the simple likes of black mussels, tomato, garlic and crunchy pangrattato. The natural-leaning wine list is fantastic, too, with a good selection of Australian wine and spirits. Or for the non-drinkers, there’s always Black Radish Kombucha, made nearby in Berkeley Vale.

Young Barons Pasta Bar, 73 Blackwall Rd, Woy Woy, NSW, (02) 4344 3735, youngbarons.com

The Electric Texta Tattoo Studio

When in Woy Woy, hey? The artwork coming out of this studio is exceptional and equally as good, if not better, than the studios you’d find in the big smoke. They’re well known for retro-style rockabilly tats like palm trees and Hawaiian girls in hula skirts, and people travel from the city to get them. We’d be tempted to go all-out Tiki and team a new tattoo with cocktails at Tropicana Pizza Pizza after.

The Electric Texta Tattoo Studio, 8 Blackwall Rd, Woy Woy, NSW, (02) 4342 8558, theelectrictexta.com.au

Gnostic Corner

This uber friendly place, just diagonally across from us, has been in Woy Woy for more than 20 years. It has that quirky, old-school hippie charm that you wouldn’t find in the city. Nine smaller businesses, grouped together in their own little block, each specialise in something different. It’s pure Central Coast. From crystals, fair-trade clothing and incense, to tarot cards, yoga classes, coffee and delicious cake at Gnostic Mana. You can’t visit Woy Woy without exploring this pocket.

Gnostic Corner, The Boulevard and Chambers Place, Woy Woy, NSW, (02) 4342 4466, gnosticcorner.com.au

3Kingz Barber Shop

This place has a total cult following. People train up from Sydney for their haircuts, which they call fadez. Owned by barber Kruz Corbett, it’s got plenty of character (and refreshments, to boot). They get lots of famous NRL players and rappers coming in for cuts, and are never not blasting ’90s R&B loud and proud. The motto is, “We sell confidence via haircuts.” Enough said.

3 Kingz Barber Shop, 36 Railway St, Woy Woy, NSW,  0421 426 399, @3KingzBarbershop

Cook & Co Eatery

Up there with the best, and best-value, breakfasts in Woy Woy. We love this place for the relaxed vibe, sunny service and fantastic coffee. The owners have a fine dining Turkish restaurant in Ettalong called Safran, and while Cook & Co is far more casual, it’s just as well run and beautifully designed. Plus the mushroom toastie is a knockout.

Cook & Co Eatery, Shop 10, Peninsula Plaza, 48 Blackwall Rd, Woy Woy, NSW, (02) 4344 6679, cookandcoeatery.com.au

Hitting the beach

On days off, we love to visit the Ocean Beach, at the northern end of Umina, and Umina Beach, on the southern end. Both aren’t as rough as Avoca, say, and are patrolled most weekends (so it’s a great place to take the kids for easy and accessible swimming). Pack a picnic, too, and you can sit and enjoy wonderful views out towards Lion Island, Pittwater and through the heads of Broken Bay.

Umina Beach, the southern coastline of the Central Coast, on the Peninsula, uminaslsc.org.au

Our favourite fishing spots

You don’t need to go further than the Brisbane Water for great fishing, right by our wharf. Some would think we’re crazy recommending people to fish right next to our restaurant, but honest to goodness, that’s the spot. There’s happy flathead, bream, whiting and blackfish in Woy Woy – which is why it’s been a really popular fishing destination for more than 100 years. Grab some takeaway fish and chips from us and a six-pack of beer, then make a day of it. Just mind our daily pelican feed at 3pm.

We’ve been long committed to offering a range of seafood options that have been sourced sustainably with minimal impact on the environment. This means seafood caught at a reasonable level, with minimal by-catch, and in a way that doesn’t damage the oceans (we’re really not into dredging, for example.)

We want to make sure the entire ocean’s most tasty species will be available for future generations to enjoy, so to ensure you’re not buying seafood that harms the environment, it’s important to know what to order!

When you’re next scanning a seafood menu, or taking a stroll through our on-site fish market, consider these guys below. Each of them is sustainable, harmless to the environment and downright tasty.

Leather Jacket

This is a delicious saltwater fish with a light, sweet, moist flesh that doesn’t get the recognition it should! Stocks in Australia are healthy and are available all year round. They have somewhat of a thick skin, but this peels away easily once the head is removed. Wrap it in foil with sliced leeks, lemon, herbs and garlic and away you go. Its ability to hold its shape when diced means it’s great in curries and stir-fries, too.

Sea Mullet

Mullets have short lives and grow super quickly, so they’re a great sustainable fish that is easily replenished. It has quite an oily flesh with a distinct flavour and is ideal for pan-frying; their skin crisps up in hot butter or oil like nothing else! Or, try it on the barbecue, with a beer in the other hand.

Blue Mackerel

Most people are pretty well aware of the delicious Spanish mackerel, which is out-of-this-world when smoked. The blue mackerel offers similar great eating, with soft blue, oily flesh that is fantastic pickled, cured or smoked. It’s had a bit of a rebrand lately, ditching its name from slimy mackerel to blue – which we have to say is a great decision, though we’ll eat it no matter what it’s called.

Ocean Squid

Squid, along with cuttlefish and calamari are found in waters all over the world and are a great choice both for their environmental impact (minimal), and value for money. Slices of squid benefit from a quick run on a hot grill, or low and slow braising Spanish style. There’s always the frying option too, with a bunch of salt and lemon.

Sea Urchin

The bright orange roe of the sea urchin is an incredible product, and a delicacy in many parts of the world, especially Japan, where it’s referred to as uni. One bite fills your mouth with the flavour of the sea. Spiky urchins are collected by hand from where they cling to rocks, so there’s no bi-catch involved, which is fantastic on an environmental scale. To eat it, toss it through pasta with herbs, garlic and prawns, on top of steamed rice, or get right down to it and try it straight up with just a squeeze of lemon.

What: Also called Deep Sea Bream. Saltwater fish, caught off the coast and on reefs. Light fleshed with a strong sea flavour. Serves 1-2 people.

How: Fillet and remove skin and bones. Pan fry in seasoned flour, serve with a light salad.

What: Saltwater fish, caught off rocks and on reefs. Light fleshed with a sweet flavour. Can serve 2-6 people.

How: Best barbecued or as sashimi with a seaweed salad.

What: Saltwater fish, caught in most waterways and off the coast. Light fleshed  with a sweet flavour. Serves 1-2 people.

How: Best pan fried in seasoned flour (always cook in flour as flesh is very delicate) and served with a light salad.

What: Saltwater fish, caught in most waterways and off the coast. Light flesh with a sweet flavour. Serves 1-2 people.

How: Remove head, spike and skin (peels off easily once head is removed). Bake in aluminium foil with leek, lemon and garlic. Serve with roast vegetables.

What: Saltwater fish caught in most waterways and off the coast. Light fleshed
with a very sweet flavour. Serves 1-2 people.

How: Best pan fried in seasoned flour and served with roast vegies, a light salad and a beer. A true Central Coast classic.

What: Small to medium sized school prawns caught in Tuggerah Lakes and Hawkesbury River mouth. They have a delicate sweet flesh.

How: Try marinating in hot Szechuan spices and flour and pan frying until pink. Serve with lemon and a cold beer.

What: Also known as Mulloway. Saltwater fish caught off rocks and off the coast. Light fleshed with a mild, sweet flavour. Serves 2-4 people.

How: Delicious barbecued on a hotplate or baked whole. Fillets are perfect pan fried or baked. The firm flakes also makes it ideal for fish stews and soups.

What: Saltwater fish, caught in most waterways and off the coast. Light fleshed with a strong flavour. Serves 1-2 people.

How: Best stuffed and baked whole, or pan fried as fillets.

What: Saltwater fish caught off rocks and on reefs. Light fleshed with a very sweet flavour. Serves 1-4 people.

How: Smaller fish are best stuffed and roasted whole. For larger fish, fillet but leave the skin on, and barbecue on a hot plate, skin side down.

Ingredients

4 large mullet fillets.

SALAD
225g frozen (or fresh) broad beans.
120g frozen peas.
250g punnet cherry tomatoes, halved.
1 cup watercress sprigs.
125ml extra virgin olive oil.
60ml or white wine vinegar.