cairns restaurant guide info

• cairns city restaurant guide
• palm cove restaurant guide
• port douglas & mossman
• kuranda restaurant guide
• atherton tableland restaurant guide
• daintree restaurant guide
• cape york restaurant guide
• cooktown restaurant guide
• mission beach restaurant guide
• cairns restaurant guide directory

The city of Cairns and the surrounding region is renowned for its quality cuisine with influences from around the world guaranteeing visitors and locals alike are never short for excellent dining choices.

cairns city restaurant guide

The city of Cairns has a number of excellent restaurants covering cuisines as diverse as indigenous Australian, Japanese, French, Indian and Mexican all in the city centre.

Along the Esplanade, beginning at the corner of Shields St, is a gourmet diner’s paradise. There are a number of great seafood and modern Australian cuisine restaurants including Mangosteen’s and Kanji’s at the beginning of the strip. Next up is an excellent pub, Rattle ‘n’ Hum with a wood-fired pizza oven followed by a number of quick and cheap eateries with a nice sit down pizzeria on the corner of the Esplanade and Aplin St.

Across Aplin St is a very popular Italian restaurant, Villa Romana, and two great seafood eateries. Above Villa Romana is Casa De Mez, a combination of bar, club and restaurant specialising in Latin food, music and dancing.

Back on Shields St is the second major dining precinct in Cairns city with a number of restaurants running from Perotta’s at the Gallery on the corner of Shields and Abbott streets at Cairns Regional Gallery, passing Buckin’ Mex Mexican Restaurant and Sushi Train just off the mall on Lake St and then taking off from the Grafton St intersection.

The strip between Grafton and Sheridan streets on Shields St features a number of popular restaurants including Red Ochre’s modern Australian cuisine, Verdi’s Italian restaurant and some great Indian and other Asian cuisines.

A recent addition to dining in Cairns is the development of Pier Shopping’s waterfront dining strip on Pierpoint Rd, next to the Reef Fleet Terminal.

Starting with the Shangri-la hotel at the Marina’s Tides Bar & BLT there is a series of excellent eateries offering fine-dining at Mature Yogo, serving a degustation menu; excellent steaks at the Water Bar & Grill; top seafood at Nothing But the Fish; Italian at Donnini’s and quality brasserie cuisine at The Pier Bar & Grill.

Dotted throughout the city are some other excellent eating choices. On the intersection of Spence and Grafton streets are Yama Japanese Restaurant which offers some of the best sushi and sashimi in the city; diagonally opposite is Café China’s main restaurant offering a noodle bar and quality Cantonese dishes, with top dim sum also available.

The quality hotels in the city also offer a wide variety of dining options. The Reef Hotel Casino’s Tamarind is fusion Asian; the Cairns International’s Kingsfords offers Australian cuisine fused with Asian and Mediterranean flavours, Hilton Cairns’ Mondo Café & Bar is popular for its waterfront spot and quality casual international seafood cuisine.

palm cove restaurant guide

North of Cairns city the prestige holiday destination of Palm Cove is renowned for its quality dining options, particularly the restaurant at Sea Temple resort, Temple of Tastes, which features contemporary Australian cuisine flavoured with tastes of the Pacific and South East Asian region.

At the south end of Williams Esplanade is the great Italian restaurant Vivo Bar & Grill which has won a number of Catering awards.

Further along the strip are a great group of restaurants sitting under the umbrella of Peppers Beach Club & Spa including Nu Nu, a modern Asian‑inspired Australian restaurant and Choc Dee, quality Thai cuisine in the lobby of the resort.

Also not to be missed is the venerable Sebel Reef House, regarded as one of the region’s best restaurants for many years.

For diners after a more casual meal, Palm Cove offers some great outdoor café and grill dining at Tamara’s at the Beach, Neptune’s on the Cove and super café grub is offered by Cocky’s at the Cove.

kuranda & atherton tablelands

For visitors heading up the range to the village of Kuranda there are some great casual dining options that cover the gamut from tasty pies to super healthy, and tasty, vegetarian options.

Built in 1923, Frogs Restaurant on Coondoo St in the centre of the village, remains one of the most popular dining options in Kuranda with quality Australian and international cuisine served up for very reasonable prices.

There is also a great Vietnamese eatery in the Kuranda Market and Forest Fusion, featuring Australian-Asian cuisine, is the main restaurant at the Kuranda Resort and Spa.

On the Atherton Tableland gourmets can find some real gems tucked away across the rolling hills in small townships and out of the way places.

Mareeba is renowned for its coffee, there are a number of great plantations between Kuranda and Mareeba that offer a nice break with coffee products and snacks available or check out Coffee Works on Mason St in Mareeba town, it also has handmade chocolate.

Although there are not many fine-dining options in Mareeba, there is a fantastic delicatessen of Italian origin, Angelina’s on Burns St, the main street of the town.

As an agricultural centre Mareeba also offers an interesting Food Trail Tour that visits a tropical fruit orchard, a macadamia plantation, a coffee plantation and a tropical fruit winery. Bookings need to be made at least one week in advance.

>> See our Food Tours section for more information

Another experience worth the trip is the lovely Devonshire Tea available at the Lake Barrine Tea House Restaurant at Lake Barrine on the Gordonvale Atherton Rd, the top of the Gillies Highway. Set on the banks of the lake, the teahouse offers snacks and full meals including massive breakfasts from 9am.

Further south is the township of Malanda, once home to a major dairy industry, gracious timber homes have been converted to quality B ’n’ Bs offering some great dining.

On the other side of Malanda is the hamlet of Milla Milla where visitors can experience the unique tastes of Out of the Whey, a charming café on the famous biodynamic dairy farm of Mungalli Creek. You can watch the organic products being made on the farm and enjoy their special Devonshire tea afterwards.

The centre of foodie culture on the Atherton Tablelands is the village of Yungaburra located north of Malanda on the Gordonvale Atherton Rd.

The Burra Inn, on Cedar St, is an award-winning restaurant that creates original dishes from local produce combined with Mediterranean, Asian and South-West American flavours. Closed on Tuesdays, it’s worth booking in advance if you are after a weekend meal.

The restaurant at the Eden House hotel and spa has been recommended by Gourmet Traveller for its contemporary country cuisine featuring modern Australian dishes and excellent seafood. Using local produce and the best from elsewhere, Eden House Restaurant is one of the region’s true gems.

For an authentic Swiss Italian experience and an entertaining night out, people flock to Nick’s Restaurant in Yungaburra. This place is an institution and is renowned for quality European tastes, live music and a friendly atmosphere. It is as popular with the locals as with visitors and can become crowded on the weekends, so it’s worth booking in advance.