Punjabi Palace Cairns

Punjabi Palace Cairns is a North Indian restaurant and bar at Shop 2/39 Lake Street in the Cairns City CBD, cooking curries, tandoor plates and chaat with a long vegetarian list. It is one of the few sit-down dinner options in the city centre where dogs are welcome at the outdoor tables, so a full restaurant meal with the dog beside you is a straightforward plan rather than a compromise.

The dog setup

Dogs are allowed in the outdoor seating only, with the indoor dining room staying people-only apart from assistance animals. Queensland's food business rules leave it to each venue whether to host dogs in alfresco areas, and this one opts in. The etiquette is standard: dog on a short lead beside the chair, settled out of the footpath traffic on Lake Street. Bring a travel water bowl because this is a dinner table rather than a set-up dog cafe, and pick a corner table if your dog is new to CBD foot traffic.

Worth knowing

The kitchen covers the North Indian classics: curries, tandoor platters, chaat and lamb cutlets, with a generous vegetarian range and the big serves that regulars keep coming back for. The room is pitched as family friendly and relaxed, so a calm dog is not out of place. Services run across lunch and dinner, roughly 11am to 2:30pm and again from 4:30pm into the evening, but the days vary through the week, so check the current hours before you plan the walk.

Getting there and parking

The address is Shop 2/39 Lake Street, a couple of blocks back from the Esplanade. Street parking in the CBD is a mix of free and metered, with paid lots a short walk away, and it is busiest around dinner. Arriving on foot from the Esplanade side is often easier and doubles as the dog's warm-up.

Close by with the dogs

The Cairns Esplanade is the obvious pairing: an on-lead strip of paths and grass where council rules keep dogs out of the playground areas and away from the lagoon. For other dog-friendly tables in the city, Hemingways Brewery Cairns Wharf pours by the water, Dundees on the Waterfront takes dogs at its boardwalk tables, and Mi Piace Espresso Bar covers the coffee end of the day.

More options are on the QLD dog friendly restaurants guide and the Cairns City destination page.

Pepsi: loop the lead around the chair leg, because a tandoor platter landing at nose height is a real test of any dog's patience.