hi tide restaurant
Hi Tide Restaurant - Peninsula Hotel, Port Douglas. Ph: 07 4099 9100
Hi Tide Restaurant at the Peninsula Hotel Port Douglas has long been a local secret, and no wonder because this is as close to a beachfront hideaway as it gets in the middle of Port Douglas. Indeed, if you’re looking to get away from the so called fine dining scene and enjoy a little modern café/bistro style, a cocktail sesh or a drop of rum then the tide will bring you here.
Nestled oceanside in the rather swank Peninsula Boutique Hotel on the Esplanade, Hi Tide Restaurant looks directly out onto the Coral Sea. It’s cool without being over designed, warm and welcoming without sacrificing a certain sophistication and, well, they have the Havana Rum Bar.
The Hi Tide’s great strength is diversity and intimacy. Their fully revamped café/bistro style menu, where traditional offerings sit neatly alongside Mod Oz, Asian, Indian and Mediterranean dishes, underlines this. It’s simple, approachable cuisine with a contemporary edge; and it’s delivered in a classic ‘esplanade’ setting.
No better place to partake of the superbly tender eight hour slow roasted lamb shank. Accompanied by a lush tomato sauce with wilted spinach, served on a bed of mash and finished with a herb gremolata, this is a simple but outrageously satisfying classic.
On the other hand, the good ol’ bucket of prawns, served straight off the trawler with garlic aioli is very hard to beat. It’s tropical, it’s tasty and it goes down well with a beer.
In fact, Hi Tide Restaurant is regarded by locals as a very chilled and cosy little bar, where the cocktails are renowned and the wine list easy to get your palate around; a fine Brookwood Mellow Rouge and the wonderful Morris Sparkling Durif amongst them. Now, with the addition of a specialty rum bar, (with the best selection in Port Douglas by miles), this beachside hangout is likely to become even more relaxed.
Oh yeah, and happy hour at Hi Tide lasts three hours. The daily roster of ‘sea breeze’ drink specials means that your afternoon by the beach is now looking even better.
The new team at the Peninsula Boutique Hotel in Port Douglas have been working hard to keep this little gem shining, and their ethos is very much one that blends casual and welcoming with just enough refinement to make it worth becoming a regular. The super value Tuesday night roast and the Aussie BBQ every Friday night are classic Port Douglas dining too. The tide, as they say, is high.
Wow, the location is right on the beach, this is a great place to lounge with a beer, the girl and some food… oh, not nessiarily in the order either!
This has got to be one of the best spots for a coffee (or beer) in Port. The restaurant looks out over 4 mile beach, the hotel is also very comfortable. Two thumbs up!
My husband and I stayed at the Peninsula Hotel in Port Douglas recently and we thoroughly recommend Hi Tide. It’s a genuine hideaway and a great place to have coffee and enjoy some peace and quiet.