Best Brunch Cafes in Cairns | Local Guide

Cairns's cafe and brunch scene is shaped by the city's extraordinary tropical setting and the extraordinary fresh produce of the Atherton Tablelands: the world-class Tablelands coffee (grown at altitude in the Atherton and Malanda areas and increasingly recognised as some of Australia's finest specialty coffee), the tropical fruits (fresh mango, pawpaw, dragonfruit, and lychee available at the cafes from local suppliers), and the fresh seafood (coral trout, barramundi, and mud crab from the Coral Sea and the Trinity Inlet) create a brunch landscape that is uniquely tropical and genuinely distinctive from any other Australian city. The Esplanade foreshore strip and the City Place precinct are the most celebrated Cairns brunch destinations.

The Esplanade and Foreshore — the Cairns Esplanade (Esplanade, Cairns City) provides the city's most spectacular outdoor brunch setting: the morning light across Trinity Inlet, the Daintree rainforest mountains rising above the mangroves on the far shore, and the Esplanade Lagoon (the freshwater public pool on the seafront) create an extraordinary tropical brunch backdrop. Cafes along the Esplanade strip provide tropical fruit smoothies, Tablelands-grown coffee, and freshly baked goods that draw on the city's multicultural food culture.

Grafton Street and City Centre — Grafton Street (Cairns City) provides the most accessible and concentrated CBD cafe precinct, with Cairns specialty coffee operations including Caffiend (Grafton Street) providing outstanding locally roasted Tablelands coffee in the heart of the city. The Saturday morning circuit of Rusty's Markets (for produce) plus a Grafton Street cafe visit is the quintessential Cairns weekend morning experience for residents and visitors alike.

Palm Cove and the Northern Beaches — the Palm Cove foreshore strip (30 minutes north of Cairns) provides the region's most upmarket tropical brunch environment, with the Norfolk pine-lined foreshore, the absolute beachfront location, and the quality of the Palm Cove cafe and restaurant strip creating an outstanding alfresco breakfast experience.

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