How good is a road trip?  And how good is a road trip where you get to scoff prawns fresh off the trawler just a few hours before you arrived.  Sweet!


Fresh prawns in the shell - not sure about the alfalfa, but the rest of lunch was fantastic


Twenty minutes or so north of Grafton, and less than 30 seconds off the Pacific Highway - the Brushgrove Hotel is definitely worth a brief detour from a boring drive along the highway.

I've made the pilgrimage to visit the family on the north coast of New South Wales for the Christmas and New Year break.
I'm taking every opportunity to get right into the food on offer, and the pub at Brushgrove is a ripper.

Brushgrove is a sleepy village at the southern end of Woodford Island in the Clarence River.  [MAP]
The island holds the dual honours of being the largest inland island in the southern hemisphere, and the largest inland island in the world with it's own mountain range.
I'm not sure what either of those titles really mean, or how they are relevant to this story, but one thing is for sure - the prawns at the Brushy Pub are amazing.

The Brushgrove Hotel is perfectly situated to catch a cool breeze on a Summer afternoon, and the back lawn overlooks a boat ramp and private pontoon in the shadow of the bridge.
Sitting with my Dad in the shade, it took a couple of icy cold schooners just to get through the mountain of prawns.

Prawn shell aftermath - a valiant effort

Fresh off the fishing boats that work the Clarence, the prawns are amazing.
Served simply with a salad and a few crunchy potato chips, the prawns were the perfect lunch today sitting in the cool breeze by the river.

Dad got stuck into the Barramundi special, a perfectly cooked fillet with a delicious mango sauce while I took ages to peel and scoff my almost 20 fresh prawns.   

Barramundi with mango sauce - very tasty and a great summer lunch

The bar isn't anything special to look at, but the beers at the Brushy are cold and the wine list is decent. 
The staff are friendly and ready for a chat if you are, and there are plenty of places to throw a fishing line into the river while you hold on to your beer glass.

This pub, just very slightly off the beaten track of the highway, is so much better for lunch than any roadhouse or fast-food-mega-service centre.

GETTING THERE - Travelling north from Grafton along the Pacific Highway, wander through the 50km per hour zone at Ulmarra, and look out for the Cowper and Brushgrove exit, about four or five minutes out of Ulmarra.