Dundees on the Waterfront

Dundees on the Waterfront is a casual-but-polished restaurant on the Cairns Harbour Lights boardwalk, looking out over the marina and Trinity Inlet. Dogs are welcome at the outdoor boardwalk tables, which makes it an easy reward at the end of an Esplanade walk and one of the better-placed tables in Cairns for a sunset dinner with your dog at your feet.

The dog setup

Dogs go in the outdoor seating that runs along the paved boardwalk; the indoor dining room is not for them. The tables sit right on the marina edge, so it is open, flat and simple to settle a dog beside you out of the foot traffic. Staff will often bring a water bowl, but bring your own to be sure. Booking an outdoor table ahead is the safest way to lock in a marina-side spot, particularly for dinner when the sunset seats go first.

Worth knowing

The kitchen is known for seafood towers and the cook-your-own hot-rock plates, plus Australian game like crocodile and kangaroo skewers if you want something you cannot get at home. Barramundi is the local staple and the dessert list runs to lava cake and sticky date pudding. It trades from 9:30am to 9:30pm seven days, so breakfast, lunch and dinner are all on the table. Good for dogs happy around a busy boardwalk with foot traffic passing.

Getting there and parking

Find it on the ground floor of the Cairns Harbour Lights building at 1 Marlin Parade, beside the Trinity Inlet boardwalk. Paid marina parking sits next door and there is street parking through the CBD. It is a short, flat walk from most central hotels and the Esplanade Lagoon.

Close by with the dogs

The Cairns Esplanade and Trinity Inlet boardwalks run straight past the door, both flat and paved for a pre- or post-meal stroll. Note dogs are not allowed inside the fenced Esplanade Lagoon, but the surrounding parklands are fine on lead. If you are plotting a dog-friendly waterfront crawl, Hemingway's Brewery on Wharf Street pours its own beers a short walk away, Blu Marlin Bistro does casual meals nearby, and Howlin' Jay's covers the fried-chicken end of town.