Thing To Do & See

Four Birds

What a hip little cafe! Nooked into the arcade on the site of the old Star Cinema (a '74 cyclone victim), this hole-in-the-wall does simple things very well: bagels, toasted sandwiches, muffins, paninis and coffee. Book-reading office types and savvy travellers sit on stools scattered under a burgeoning frangipani tree.

Cornucopia Museum Café

Appended to the museum and gallery, this café makes for a good stop while you're in the 'hood. Maybe share a trio of dips, commenting on how good a dip would be, while overlooking Vestey's Beach. Try a salad or pasta special, remarking on how special that collection of artwork you've just walked around is. It's also good for a late breakfast, for the children and for meaty mains.

Hanuman

Ask most locals about fine dining in Darwin and they'll usually mention Hanuman. Sophisticated but not stuffy or pretentious (you can wear a T-shirt), enticing aromas of innovative Indian and Thai Nonya dishes waft from the kitchen to the stylish open dining room and deck. The signature dish is oysters bathed in lemon grass, chilli and coriander, or the meen mooli (reef fish in coconut and curry leaves) but the menu is broad, with exotic vegetarian choices and banquets available. Killer cocktails, too.

Rendezvous Cafe

The laksa achieves legend status at this institution for Thai and Malaysian cuisine, tucked away in a quiet arcade off Smith St Mall. The menu is also flexible enough to provide a bacon and eggs breakfast and good coffee.

Roma Bar

You've got to love a café with a breakfast menu that gives equal billing to pancakes, smoked-salmon croissants, dhal, and straight-up cereal (around A$3) and toast (around A$4). Lunch won't be pinned down either, flitting between seafood and veg tempura, pies, and parcels of beef rending. It's a sleek-looking modern place that promotes local arts happenings.