Port Douglas 2013 - Food update

Staying in an apartment we had the advantage of having a small kitchen in our rooms so we did not always have to eat out.

We organised our own breakfast each morning except for one day when we decided to eat out for breakfast. We chose Cafe Ecco where Robin had Big Breakfast with the lot minus baked beans

while I had muesli, fresh fruit and yoghurt. We also had fresh orange juice.

Lunch was often at the apartment but if we were out exploring at lunchtime we would purchase a sandwich or something similar. On Sailaway a salad buffet with prawns and a selection of cold meat was provided. One day we decided to try a Mocka pie – chicken and vegetables and supreme. Another day we had lunch at The Little Larder where we had a huge turkey, brie, cranberry sauce and salad sandwich – quite delicious but a challenge to eat.

Some evenings we had dinner in our rooms while on other occasions we had dinner at some of the many restaurants in Port Douglas.

For a light dinner a chicken from Dave’s Takeaway to eat with salad proved to be a great choice. Although the grilled fish that we had purchased from the shop on our first night in Port Douglas was dry and not particularly appetizing, the chicken was excellent and we purchased this on two occasions during our stay. We also discovered that the take away tandoori chicken pizza with mango chutney, yoghurt and cashews from Rattle n Hum was a delicious option as was the salmon pizza which we purchased on another occasion. We kept salad ingredients in the fridge to eat with the chicken or pizza and there was usually enough to also have at lunch.

There are many excellent restaurants in Port Douglas with interesting menus but on this visit we decided to eat at restaurants that we knew from experience produced food that we would enjoy.

The restaurant discovery in 2010 had been Bel Cibo so this was the first restaurant we chose on this visit. I had a saffron risotto with mud crab, peas and spinach – delicious – while Robin had the special barramundi which he enjoyed. We always go somewhere special for our last dinner of a holiday so we returned to Bel Cibo and shared the seafood taster plate as an entree. We also shared the Italian flatbread with parmesan and rosemary.  I then chose the handmade pappardelle with chicken, mushroom and spinach while Robin had barramundi again. As it was a special dinner I tried the flourless chocolate cake for dessert - highly recommended.
 http://www.belcibo.com.au/

During the holiday we also had two meals at the Iron Bar. On the first occasion we shared an entree of barramundi spring rolls followed by lamb shank and vegetables for me and rissoles and mash for Robin, good hearty food. The following week we decided to return to the Iron Bar for dinner to try their tasting plate of crocodile, emu and kangaroo served with cheese and an assortment of vegetable relishes. Robin then had the barramundi and chips while I had the rissoles and mash with onion and bacon gravy – hearty comfort food.

 http://www.ironbarportdouglas.com.au/

Dinner at the Jade Inn was stir fried barramundi and stir fried prawns with cashews plus steamed rice - delicious.

http://jadeinnportdouglas.com/

Fish is on most menus but there are also restaurants that specialise in fish. At Finz the battered Spanish mackerel and chips was delicious.
http://finzportdouglas.com/ 

At 2Fish we enjoyed the Sunset Special – crab cakes and barramundi spring roll followed by fish and chips (barramundi and coral trout).
http://www.2fishrestaurant.com.au/ 

The best place for icecream in Port Douglas is Shakes Gelati Bar and we were frequent visitors, especially in the evening after dinner. I can recommend the chocolate sorbet in particular but there are many great flavours from which to choose.

http://www.portico-port-douglas.com/shakes_gelati_port_douglas.htm