A Guide to Eating and Drinking in Cairns

  Barbequed Prawns in Cairns

Up in the tropical north, the pace of life is noticeably less hectic. And with this relaxed feel to proceedings and its fantastic climate, it’s hardly surprising that Cairns is a city that likes nothing more than relaxing over a good meal.

As with the city’s nightlife, restaurants line busy Shields St (just to the south of the city center) and fan out on to the intersections of nearby Sheridan St and Spence St. While there are also countless places on the Esplanade, the wonderful views tend to come at a price.

Eating out in Cairns is generally refreshingly cheap with counter meals, set menus and all-you-can-eats featuring highly. For an even more budget option, the food courts of the Esplanade night market and the Cairns central shopping center also offer a range of fast-food options.

The city is home to any number of international cuisines, with restaurants from neighboring Southeast Asia, particularly popular. Many of the city’s restaurants, however, are keen to offer travelers a taste of truly Australian cuisine, using produce native to Australia.

A glance down the menu is some places can be a little confusing, as ‘wattle seed’, ‘quandong’ or ‘riberry’ don’t tend to feature too highly outside of Australia. But it’s worth taking a chance on one of these exotic sounding dishes or at least asking a waiter for their recommendation.

Another thing that stands out in Cairns is the wine, with the wines of Queensland considered some of the country’s best. Many of the vineyards down in the south east of the state, are small family businesses, and an awful lot of pride goes in to the wine they produce.

Cairns prides itself on its cosmopolitan dining scene and its wide range of fantastic places to eat and drink. But what it really does best is huge portions of locally-sourced, unpretentious food and wine – particularly excellent (and surprisingly cheap) seafood.

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