Heading douth and wanna know the most delicious places to chow down? We’ve got all the bangers. From budget to boujee, here are the best places to eat in Margs, Yallingup, Busso and beyond.
Best burgers: Burger Bones, Busselton
A hard-fought win amongst some stiff competition, but Busselton’s unassuming Burger Bones scores the Deep Dive best burger award thanks to its glorious simplicity. Picture grass-fed chuck beef patties, free from fillers and bursting with lean, meaty flavour, teamed with classic filling combos and lightly toasted buns with the perfect soft/chew ratio. There’s no burger gymnastics here, just fresh, quality ingredients topped with a generous slurping of dill pickles, mustard mayo, Swiss cheese or house-made sauerkraut. Add some tater tots on the side, old-school diner vibes and yummy vegan options, and you’ve got yourself a winner.
Burger Bones
Find it: 55 Queen St, Busselton WA 6280
Best winery/restaurant with views: Wise Winery, Dunsborough
Wine + food + billion-dollar ocean views? Yes please. Wise perches high above Meelup and offers sweeping views of endless vines and exquisite turquoise waters. It’s a stunning place to kick back for an arvo, with a leafy deck and lush manicured gardens that land in the perfect sweet spot between fine-dining and laidback charm. The food is a rollcall of local produce done right (think freshly shucked oysters, woodfired seafood, and butter-soft slow-cooked meats) while the elegant coastal drops need little introduction (the Verdelho and Cab Sav here are simply legendary).
Wise Winery
Find it: Lot 80, Eagle Bay Rd, Dunsborough
Best restaurant and winery combo: Cullens Wine and Glenarty Road (tie)
It’s impossible to choose between these two for this gong, so Cullen Wines and Glenarty Road will have to settle for a blue ribbon snipped in half. Both share a farm-to-table ethos, evident in each nutrient-dense and flavour-exploding bite, as well as a raft of world-class wines and a lion-sized heart.
Cullens, which was founded by wine pioneers John and Diana Cullen, is fine-dining at its fanciest; a sublime, ever changing four-course menu stars organic bounty from the biodynamic gardens. You’ll chow down in a granite and timber architectural marvel, overlooking an picture-perfect garden that makes you feel like you’re dining in a painting.
Meanwhile, a little further down south at Glenarty Road, it’s all a little more rustic. The lovechild of Sasha and Ben McDonald, Glenarty Road also leads with a reverence to nature and the seasons, featuring veggies and herbs from a regenerative garden pulled straight from the ground and into your belly. Sheep and pigs are raised with loving intention, used “top to tail” and cooked with woodfire. All fermenting, pickling and preserving is done from scratch. Like Cullen, the menu is directed by the seasons, infinitely changing and always gob-smackingly magnificent. Glenarty Road, however, is more simple, uncomplicated fare, served up in an adoringly humble farmhouse.
Try both and thank us later.
Cullen Wines
Find it: 4323 Caves Rd, Wilyabrup
Glenarty Road
Find it: 70 Glenarty Rd, Karridale
Best sweet treat: Yallingup Gugelhumpf, Yallingup
So tempted to gatekeep these beauties, but that’s not our jam here at Deep Dive. This authentic German bakery with serious charm (you can’t miss the pastel candy stripes) is the only place in the state turning out these rich, fluffy and entirely unforgettable crown-shaped beauties. You’ll need to get in early, because they sell out in record time (believe us, you’ll understand why once you’ve devoured one). But if you miss out on a Humpf, it’s not all bad news – everything, and we mean EVERYTHING, here is to-die-for. Take your pick from bread-and-butter pudding with black cherries, seasonal plum cake, sharp lemon tart, or a sandwich stacked on yummy woodfired bread. Rustic, real and ridiculously good.
Yallingup Gugelhumpf
Find it: 18 Yallingup Beach Rd, Yallingup
Best new restaurant: Ooze & Tang, Abbey
This new kid on the block is a French knockout, slotting nicely into the gaping hole left by Busselton’s Alberta’s. With fresh wildflowers stuffed into vintage vases, crocheted doilies, thick velvet drapes and flickering tea lights, Ooze & Tang brings pure Chateau vibes to the sleepy pocket of Abbey. The dinner menu means serious business – it’s seasonal and ever-changing, but we’re talking porchetta, pork jowls, pickled sardines and roast cabbage seeped in burnt apple miso – and the cocktail list is an absolute cracker. Don’t miss this one.
Ooze & Tang
Find it: Shop 1/20 Monaghans Way Abbey
Best brewery meal: Wildhop Brewing Co, Yallingup
Wild Hop truly nails the brief when it comes to bold brewing, woodfired excellence and bushland chill. With a sweeping grassy knoll overlooking the water and a deck (and playground!) shaded by towering gumtrees, this family-friendly spot serves up small-batch beers with big personality. And don’t get us started on the food, which is fire-powered, hearty and built to share. The mouthwatering wood-roasted chicken and loaded brisket rolls are absolute perfection, and team perfectly with a cold brew on a summer’s day.
Wildhop Brewing Company
Find it: 1301 Wildwood Rd, Yallingup
*We pay where we eat/stay and only recommend the special places. Deep Dive WA is put together with love and lived experience, to help you explore the beautiful state of WA and the world outside of it. If you found this article useful, consider buying us a coffee to help us survive!
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