Nu Nu has been Palm Cove's best restaurant for a long time. It sits right on the esplanade, open to the beach breeze, with a kitchen that takes tropical produce seriously. The cooking is modern Australian with strong Asian influences — expect coconut-cured fish, Daintree tea-smoked meats, and desserts that use ingredients most southern Australian kitchens haven't heard of.
It is not cheap, but the setting justifies part of the cost even before the food arrives. Dinner on a warm evening with the beach a few metres away and the melaleuca trees lit up is as good as it gets in this part of Queensland. Book well ahead in the June-to-August dry season peak.