The Restaurant and Catering Association of Australia's Awards for Excellence will be held at the Shangri-La Hotel in Cairns next Monday night, and Port's favourite eateries are in with a red hot chance.

Lure Restaurant & Bar are nominated in four categories including Best Breakfast Restaurant, Best Cafe Restaurant, Best Contemporary Australian Restaurant, and Best Family Restaurant.

Lure's Wayne Stapleton said the awards were a great opportunity to highlight the vibrant food industry that we have in Port Douglas.


"There are so many fantastic restaurants in town and that continues to drive the quality up. The awards recognise the hard work that goes into running a successful restaurant.


"We're concentrating on the Best Breakfast category. We've been trying to build it up over the past 12 months."


Port Douglas will be well represented at the awards with many familiar names featuring amongst the nominees including Salsa Bar & Grill, 2 Fish, and Harrison's.


Winners will be featured in the highly regarded Gourmet Traveller magazine.


Here's the list of nominees in each category. See if you can see your favourite.


Asian Restaurant
Bayleaf Balinese Restaurant, Cairns
Oriental, Great Barrier Reef

Breakfast Restaurant
Azure, Great Barrier Reef
Cafe Fresq, Port Douglas
Lure Restaurant & Bar, Port Douglas
Olano's Ristorante, Cairns

Café Restaurant
Blue Moon Grill, Trinity Beach
Cafe Fresq, Port Douglas
Coast Roast Coffee Esplanade, Cairns
Lure Restaurant & Bar, Port Douglas

Caterer at an Event
Port Douglas Catering & Events, Port Douglas

Contemporary Australian Restaurant
Bistro 3, Port Douglas
Blue Moon Grill, Trinity Beach
Lure Restaurant & Bar, Port Douglas
Nu Nu Restaurant, Palm Cove
Salsa Bar & Grill, Port Douglas
Zinc, Port Douglas

Corporate Caterer
Hayman, Great Barrier Reef

European Restaurant
C'est Bon French Restaurant, Cairns
La Fontaine, Great Barrier Reef
Nicks Swiss Italian Restaurant, Yungaburra

Event Caterer
Ochre Restaurant & Catering, Cairns

Family Restaurant
Lure Restaurant & Bar, Port Douglas
Mango Jam, Port Douglas
The Beach Shack Restaurant Bar & Pizza's, Port Douglas

Fine Dining Restaurant
Tamarind, Cairns

Hotel Caterer
Pullman Reef Hotel Casino, Cairns

Italian Restaurant
Bel Cibo, Port Douglas
Bucci Ristorante, Port Douglas
La Trattoria, Great Barrier Reef
Olano's Ristorante, Cairns

New Restaurant
Beach Almond, Palm Cove
Harrison's Restaurant & Bar, Port Douglas
Salt House, Cairns

Restaurant in a Pub / Club / Tavern
Cairns Courthouse Hotel, Cairns

Seafood Restaurant
2 Fish Restaurant, Port Douglas
Finz, Port Douglas
On The Inlet, Port Douglas
Tha Fish, Cairns

Specialty Restaurant
Bayleaf Balinese Restaurant, Cairns

Steak Restaurant
Paddywhacks, Cairns Waterbar & Grill, Cairns

Thai Restaurant
Choc Dee Thai Restaurant, Palm Cove

Themed Restaurant
Nicks Swiss Italian Restaurant, Yungaburra

Wedding Caterer
Hayman, Great Barrier Reef Port Douglas