The Best Places To Eat In Palm Cove: From Breakfast to Dinner
Palm Cove sits 25 minutes north of Cairns, a small beachfront suburb with one main street. Almost everywhere to eat lines Williams Esplanade or sits a few steps off it, under the melaleucas that run the length of the beach.
Palm Cove is one of the most visited spots on the Cairns coast, and the dining has grown with it. The result is a dense run of incredible restaurants along a single street. Here is where to eat in Palm Cove if you are visiting, with options for any time of day.
Where to Have Breakfast or Lunch in Palm Cove
Nu Nu
Nu Nu operates as part of Alamanda Palm Cove by Lancemore, Palm Cove's premier hotel, which opens straight onto the sand of Palm Cove Beach, on Veivers Road at the northern end of the strip.
The breakfast menu ranges from banana bread with rainforest honeycomb butter to their famed spanner crab omelette, with Tattooed Sailor coffee, Numi ice cream milkshakes and mimosas from 10am.
Lunch at Nu Nu is built to run long, and the menu suits it. Start with freshly shucked oysters or barbecued scallops in red curry, then share a whole wok-fried chilli mud crab with laksa and hand-rolled noodles, or keep it to a reef fish with mango masala and a glass of something cold. Booking ahead is highly recommended.
Vivo
Vivo at 49 Williams Esplanade serves breakfast from 7am, seven days, which suits anyone heading out on a reef boat or a Daintree day trip. The dining room sits on the esplanade looking towards the water.
Salty Sandwich
Salty Sandwich is the new arrival to Veivers Road, set beside the pool at Drift and a short walk from Alamanda. Made-to-order sandwiches, gourmet toasties and delicious barista coffee, open from breakfast through to 2pm, with weekly sandwich and drink specials and a few outdoor tables.
Pete's Place
Pete's Place at 73 Williams Esplanade is a takeaway cafe open 7am to 9pm. Order a coffee and something simple, cross the road, eat it on the sand. If last night ran a little long, this is also where you want to be: bacon and egg rolls, fried fish, chips and pineapple fritters, no judgement.
27 Degrees
27 Degrees, tucked off the esplanade at Shop 1 French Street, is a small coffee shop that takes its beans seriously, pouring Allpress espresso and single origin cold brew alongside acai bowls, smoothies, raw treats and gelato. Open daily.
Lucky Fish
Lucky Fish does dine in or takeaway, seven days, from the shops at 111 to 117 Williams Esplanade. Takeaway is the easy call: order, walk over, eat with your feet in the sand. Stay and sit if you'd rather play it sun smart.
Cairns Surf Club Palm Cove
Cairns Surf Club Palm Cove at 135 Williams Esplanade is a great straightforward local option, a counter meal with the beach in front of you. Known to locals as The Surfie, you can grab one of the swing chairs on the deck for the view across to Double Island, or head inside to the air-conditioned bistro when the heat gets going. Every meal helps fund the local surf lifesavers, which is as good a reason as any for a second schooner.
Where to Have Dinner in Palm Cove
Nu Nu
Dinner is when Nu Nu does its best work. Chef Nick Holloway, who founded the restaurant in 2004, builds a seasonal menu around produce from the reef, the rainforest and outback cattle stations. Dishes the Good Food Guide has singled out include local prawns with rainforest honey and red emperor smoked in melaleuca bark. The current menu runs to paper bark smoked duck, barbecued sugar cane quail with rainforest honey, and a Taste of the Tropics tasting menu for those who want the kitchen to decide.
The restaurant was named Australian Gourmet Traveller Regional Restaurant of the Year in 2015 and Good Food Guide Queensland Regional Restaurant of the Year in 2017, and was a 2024 Gourmet Traveller Best Destination Dining finalist. Bookings are essential, year round.
Miguel's
Miguel's at 41 to 47 Williams Esplanade is a great tapas option, designed for ordering many dishes and sharing. The menu is tapas, raciones and bistec, with produce sourced from local farmers' markets, and there is a bottomless lunch on Saturdays and Sundays from 12pm to 3pm. Groups of more than eight are encouraged to email ahead.
IGNIS
IGNIS, in the same complex at 41 to 47 Williams Esplanade, is a small modern Italian diner run by chef Andrea Gennusa. There is an à la carte menu and a Culinary Tour of Italy degustation for those who want to hand the evening over.
Choc Dee Thai
Choc Dee Thai at 123 Williams Esplanade sits opposite the beach in front of Peppers and has been there since 2002. It is authentic Thai with Thai staff, a 2026 AGFG Readers' Choice nod, generous serves built for sharing and spice levels for every palate, from extra mild to Thai hot. BYO wine is welcome for a small fee. Open for dinner Tuesday to Sunday from 5pm.
El Greko Greek Taverna
A thirty second walk from Choc Dee brings you to El Greko Greek Taverna, located at 117 Williams Esplanade, a relaxed open-plan taverna built around traditional Greek food and sharing. The bouzouki comes out, the plates keep coming and large groups are no trouble, with functions catered from 10 to 160 people.
Beach Almond
Beach Almond at 145 Williams Esplanade cooks Singaporean, Malaysian and Indonesian seafood in an open-air beach house looking across to Double Island. This is the place for the full seafood run: live mud crab in Singaporean chilli or Malaysian black pepper, butter prawns, crispy whole fish and Thursday Island lobster in a coconut turmeric sauce. Lunch is Sundays only, otherwise it is a dinner booking.
La Mesa
La Mesa at Peppers Beach Club, 123 Williams Esplanade, serves Mexican and Latin American share plates a few metres from the beach, in a semi-alfresco room that catches the sea breeze. Small traditional dishes built from local reef and tropical produce, and a happy hour from 5.30pm to 6.30pm before dinner. Dinner runs Tuesday to Saturday.
Places To Take The Kids
O'Donnells at 139 Williams Esplanade and Rattle n Hum both run pub-style menus that work for families, with Rattle n Hum open from 11am till late for pizza and grill.
Il Forno at 111 to 117 Williams Esplanade handles the pizza request, and Lucky Fish in the same complex covers takeaway. Finish at Numi Ice Creamery, Nu Nu's sister venue at Shop 8a, 47 Williams Esplanade.
Once where to eat has been decided, the best 25 things to do in Palm Cove blog post covers the rest of the trip.
For those looking for a place to stay in Palm Cove, Alamanda Palm Cove by Lancemore has direct beach access, Nu Nu on site and the rest of the esplanades only steps away.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which places to eat in Palm Cove have a view of the beach?
Nu Nu is the one sitting directly on the sand at Alamanda. Vivo and Beach Almond both look across Williams Esplanade to the water. Ask for a front table when you book, since not every seat faces out.
Is Palm Cove good for eating out with kids?
It works well. Pub menus at O'Donnells and Rattle n Hum, pizza at Il Forno, takeaway from Lucky Fish, ice cream at Numi, and public barbecues along the esplanade if you'd rather feed everyone yourself.
