Best Seafood Dinner in Kalbarri

If you ask a Kalbarri local where they go for a proper seafood dinner, most will say the same thing: Upstairs Restaurant.

Tucked above Porter Street with a balcony overlooking the Murchison River, Upstairs has quietly earned its reputation as Kalbarri’s best dining experience — not through flashy marketing, but through consistently brilliant food and the kind of genuine hospitality that only a family-run restaurant delivers. Owners Honor and Wayne grew up in the Kalbarri and Horrocks area, with fishing and farming in their blood. That background shows on every plate.

What to Order

My personal recommendation — and the dish I find myself ordering again and again — is the prawn linguine. It’s the kind of meal that reminds you why you came to a seafood town in the first place: plump, fresh prawns, perfectly cooked pasta, and a sauce that doesn’t try to do too much. Clean, confident, delicious.

Other standouts that regulars rave about:

• Grilled snapper — fresh, local, and cooked exactly right. My wife Linley’s go-to every single visit.
• Seafood laksa — rich and aromatic, not something you’d expect in a small coastal town, but Upstairs pulls it off beautifully.
• Crispy pork belly — for those at the table who want something off the ocean. Yes, someone always does.
• Abrolhos Island octopus — when it’s on the menu, order it. The Abrolhos Islands produce some of the finest seafood in Australia, and this dish does it justice.

Save room for the Death by Chocolate dessert. You won’t regret it.

The Setting

There’s a reason people book the balcony table weeks in advance. As the sun drops over the Murchison River, the sky turns shades of orange and pink that you simply don’t see in the city. Dining here at sunset isn’t just a meal — it’s one of those Kalbarri moments you’ll talk about long after you’ve driven home.

The atmosphere is smart casual — relaxed enough that you can come straight from the national park, but special enough that it feels like a proper night out.

Practical Info

Also Worth Knowing About

Finlay’s Kalbarri

For a more relaxed, open-air seafood experience, Finlay’s is a local favourite with a completely different vibe — think bush pub meets coastal brewery. The seafood linguine and fish tacos are excellent, they brew their own beer on-site, and Sunday afternoons with live music in the garden are hard to beat. Great for families, groups, and anyone who wants a long, lazy seafood lunch.

The Jetty Seafood Shack

For something casual and unpretentious, the Jetty Seafood Shack is worth a visit. Fresh, simple, and right by the water — sometimes that’s exactly what a seafood town calls for. They also stock a fresh and frozen seafood counter if you’re self-catering — Kalbarri fish, octopus, lobster, Shark Bay whiting, and tiger prawns among the regular options.

A Note on Kalbarri’s Seafood

What makes dining in Kalbarri special isn’t just the restaurants — it’s what’s in the water around us. Local Western Australian waters produce outstanding pink snapper, prawns, blue swimmer crabs, and rock lobster when in season. Shark Bay prawns, just north of here, are considered among the best in the world. When a Kalbarri restaurant says “fresh local seafood,” they mean it in a way that most coastal towns simply can’t match.

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The Bottom Line

If you’re visiting Kalbarri and you only splurge on one dinner, make it Upstairs Restaurant. Order the prawn linguine, get a table on the balcony, and watch the sun go down over the Murchison River.

After 30 years of living here, it’s still one of my favourite nights out in town.

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Frequently Asked Questions