Freshwater Grill - Kempsey

A few colleagues here for dinner based on previous good experiences - and it just gets better. Large staff, beers and meals were great. A great combination.

I travel a lot for work and eat in many different restaurants. This was the best meal I had for a long time 10 out of 10.

Awesome location with. Water views. Very clean modern environment. Friendly and professional staff and as for the food.... absolutely fantastic. The steak was cooked as I wanted. The oyster entree was excellent. A little pricey to eat there more then once a week but worth...it.

I have been to the Kempsey Macleay RSL Restaurant many, many times as I used to be a local. This is my first time in about 4 years as I now live in Queensland, and the first time under the new name of Freshwater Grill....Went on a Saturday for lunch with my parents, who are still locals and were reticent to go to the RSL because “they’d never had a decent meal there”, and my 21 year old “vegan curious” daughter, along with my partner, who like me loves to go out for a nice meal and has zero bias. We started with a nice Furphy’s on tap from the main bar, which I have to say was half the price of the same beers we’d had just the weekend before up in Queensland, which was a pleasant surprise!! Then we went up to the restaurant and had many choices of great tables with fantastic views of the Macleay River. My parents were going to choose their meals off the board but I convinced them to pick from the menu, especially as they were concerned that the “food here isn’t very good”. My summation was, don’t go for the special, get something full price from the menu and it’s likely to be a better meal...that’s my experience, usually. So we all chose from the menu, received the members discount as my parents are members, didn’t have to wait too long for our meals, although my Dad complained lol, and we were all VERY happy with what was presented to us!! All the meals were HUGE!! Very good value for money! And all the meals were presented beautifully. I chose the rib eye, which was the most expensive meal at the table, probably the smallest too, but boy was it a beautiful cut of meat, and it had been cooked to perfection. It came with king prawns, which were also done to perfection. It was a **** delicious meal. Amongst the others was a full rack of ribs...HUGE, and came with a side of slaw and way too many sweet potato chips. A New York Strip topped with bernaise was accompanied with golden syrup sweet potatoes and red cabbage. Local beer (Bucket Beer) battered barramundi and chips. And a pumpkin and pistachio lasagne. I had a try of them all, coz you know, reviews lol, and personally I was not a fan of the fish or the lasagne. I thought the fish was a bit bland and oily, and I found the lasagne to be too stodgy. The New York strip was delish but over cooked for me (it was ordered medium) and the veges were absolutely delicious!! The ribs were fall off the bone, and the sauce was sticky and really tasty. All in all I really and thoroughly enjoyed my meal, the ambience was nice even though it’s the RSL, the staff were really lovely and friendly, I’d have to say, without a doubt, this was the first time I really, really enjoyed my meal at the Kempsey Macleay RSL restaurant and give a high five and a **** well done to the staff, and especially the chef at the Freshwater Grill. It was amazing and I highly recommend!! Well done Kempsey!!

Wonderful views of Macleay River and pleasant atmosphere. Staff and chefs are so friendly. Excellent Food and Daily Specials are good value.