Gumleaf Terrace — Best Restaurant with a Casino Hall
Gumleaf Terrace Rooms sits two streets back from the Macleay River, its dining room built around the timber trade that once ran through this part of the Mid North Coast, and its card room kept to four tables at the rear of the building. Euchre, crib, bridge and canasta are dealt most nights, called by a single house dealer, with a Friday table of friendly poker that takes no buy-in. Chips at the tables carry no cash value and settle nothing beyond the hand; nothing here is played online, and every player is 18 or over. A table for dinner is booked apart from a seat at the cards, and the two are never confused at the door.
Two Bookings, Never Confused
One rule has stood at Gumleaf Terrace Rooms since the card tables went in: dinner and cards are booked as two different things, and the front desk will always ask which one a caller means.
The building started as the town’s felt-hat works, its long room built for benches rather than tables, the high windows angled to throw light across the felting floor rather than a dining room.
When the works closed, the room stood empty through the years before Gumleaf Terrace Rooms took it over, keeping the high windows and adding a kitchen at the river-facing end.
Four card tables now sit where the benches once stood, and the dining room fills the space nearer the street, the two kept apart by a short corridor and separate bookings.
A Kitchen Facing the River
The dining room at Gumleaf Terrace Rooms faces the Macleay, its tables set well before the card room opens for the evening, and its kitchen runs to its own timetable entirely.
The board draws on the Mid North Coast — dairy country upriver, and a fishing fleet not far from the river mouth supplying the kitchen through the week.
Dinner is booked as its own evening, though a table can be held on through to cards afterward if it’s asked for when the booking is made.
Macleay River Fish Pie
A short-crust pie of local river fish, finished with a squeeze of lemon.
Dairy Country Pumpkin Soup
Made from pumpkin grown upriver, served with crusty bread.
Anzac Biscuits
Baked in-house, served warm with the tea or coffee that closes the meal.
Reach Gumleaf Terrace Rooms in Kempsey
47 Smith Street, Kempsey NSW 2440
+61 2 6562 3094 · table@gumleafterrace.com
Thursday through Monday, from six in the evening until one in the morning.
Casino Hall: Four Tables Where the Benches Stood
The old felting floor now holds four card tables, spaced along the same line the benches once ran, under windows still set at their original angle.
Euchre and crib fill the earlier tables; bridge runs later for those who stay on, and canasta most Sundays. Friday brings a friendly poker table with no buy-in at all.
No machine of any kind sits in this room. Chips are handed out for points only, nothing is wagered, nothing is paid out in cash, and nothing about the evening runs online — it happens here, in person, at this address.
Four Tables
Set along the line of the old felting benches, under the same high windows.
Four Games
Euchre, crib, bridge and canasta rotate through the week, with Friday poker for friends.
Nothing Online
No machines, no wagering, no cash prizes — chips keep score and nothing more.
Questions Guests Ask Most
- What time does the card room open?
- The dining room opens from 6 pm; the card tables generally fill from around 7.30, once the earliest dinner bookings are seated.
- Who deals the cards each night?
- A single house dealer runs all four tables most evenings, moving between them, and teaches the rules to anyone new to a game.
- Is it a quiet room or a lively one?
- Closer to quiet — Gumleaf Terrace Rooms keeps conversation at table-height, without music competing for attention over the cards.
- Does the kitchen stay open as late as the cards?
- No, the kitchen closes earlier in the evening; the card tables run on for some hours after the last plates are cleared.
- Is the house open every night of the week?
- Thursday through Monday, with Tuesday and Wednesday kept for cleaning the felt and resetting the dining room.
- How late does a card night usually run?
- Most tables close by 1 am, though a quiet Sunday bridge table sometimes finishes earlier.
The Short Version
Dinner and cards are booked separately at Gumleaf Terrace Rooms, and mentioning both at once when calling saves a second phone call back from the front desk.
Every player at a card table is asked for proof of age at the door, without exception, before a single hand is dealt to anyone at all.
Chips handed out at the tables carry no value beyond the game itself, are never exchanged for cash, and nothing played here is ever taken online.
The house dealer’s word on any disputed hand is treated as final by everyone at the table, and disputes of that kind happen only rarely in practice.
A Look Around Gumleaf Terrace Rooms
How the Room Changes With the Seasons
| Season | At the Tables | In the Kitchen |
|---|---|---|
| Summer | Windows open, tables run later into the night | Lighter dishes, river fish to the fore |
| Autumn | Bridge nights pick up as the days shorten | Pumpkin soup returns to the board |
| Winter | Busiest season at the tables, all four games running | Slow-roasted mains and puddings |
| Spring | Sunday canasta starts up again after winter’s break | Fresh produce from the dairy country upriver |
A Telegram From the Old Hat Works
WORKS CLOSED FRIDAY LAST BATCH OF FELT BLOCKED AND SENT STOP BENCHES CLEARED ROOM STANDING EMPTY FROM MONDAY STOP NEW TENANT FOUND CARDS AND DINNER TO FOLLOW STOP KEEP THE OLD SIGN IT STAYS ABOVE THE DOOR STOP
Before this room held card tables it held felting benches, and a telegram from those days still hangs framed by the door, sent the week the works finally closed for good.
Reserve a Seat at the Tables
A phone call ahead of an evening secures a seat at the tables or a place in the dining room — the two are booked apart, so say which one is wanted when calling.
Reserve Now