TNQ Writer
With tropical fruit in peak season, summer is the ideal time to indulge in local produce including the summer favourite, mango. Here’s where you can get a mango fix in Cairns.
Ahh, summer. The markets never look more colourful than through summer where weird and wonderful exotic fruits and your favourite tropical produce overflow fruit stalls.
Summer creates the ideal time for tropical fruit to produce so it’s when you’ll often find the cheapest and most diverse produce at market stalls. From the lesser-known, starfruit, soursop, durian, custard apple, black sapote, jaboticaba, rambutan, and mangosteen to your more common favourites of pawpaw, lychees and, of course, the summer icon, the sweet and humble summer classic, the mango.
If you’ve got mango on your mind, here are some places near Cairns to get your mango fix.
Mango beer: Sauce Brewing Co
Enjoy a range of summer fresh flavours at Sauce Brewing Co
The perfect refreshing hot day antidote awaits at Cairns’ newest brewery, Sauce Brewing Co. As well as their core range, you’ll find special batches of beer and seltzers on rotation, with the upcoming summer adding many fruity flavours into the mix. Pop in through summer and you may find the perfect combination of two summer favourites – mango and ice-cold beer. These beers incorporate the subtle sweetness of mango, giving a twist on a classic drink that just works.
Mango Shaved Ice: Hayabusa Kuranda
Mango shaved ice
A summer favourite for many Aussies is the humble snow cone. Japanese cuisine puts a twist on the frozen treat with a summer staple called kakigori (shaved ice). In the colourful Original Rainforest Markets in Kuranda, you’ll find a small stall, manned by a Japanese husband and wife duo, called Hayabusa. Here they serve mango kakigori – a generous bowl of shaved ice drizzled with mango syrup, fresh chunks of mango and topped with a scoop of ice cream. It can be enough to share one between two, but with half of it being ice, who are we to judge? #eatup
A light breakfast: Nu Nu Restaurant
Spiced pineapple and coconut cream soaked muesli, daintree vanilla, mango, seasonal fruits and toasted coconut
Hot breakfasts might be a firm favourite among many, but if you’re going to be swayed by anything, it’ll be Nu Nu’s muesli. With spiced pineapple and coconut cream soaked muesli, Daintree vanilla, mango, seasonal fruits and toasted coconut, it’s the perfect brekkie on a warm summer morning. Dessert for breakfast anyone?
Local mango flavours: Ochre
Taste a range of mango meals at Ochre
Ochre has long been a champion of sourcing locally, with any dish on their menu at least two-thirds from the region. With the abundant produce local growers yield through summer, at Ochre you can expect light dishes that hero local fruit including mango, Tropical North Queensland seafood and meats, and native flavours adding a fresh twist to their summer menu.
For your mango fix, sink your teeth into mango and chilli tempura gulf bugs for something savoury, or opt for Mango and blush wood honey mille feuille for dessert to get the full mango experience.
Mango & Bugtail Salad: Dundee's
Chilled bugtail meat tossed through a light salad of mango, mixed salad leaves, chilli, cherry tomatoes and shaved coconut coated with lime mayo.
Warm days and balmy evenings call for something light and fresh like Dundee’s Mango & Bugtail salad. You’ll find this on the menu at both their waterfront location overlooking the Cairns Marlin Marina, or at the Cairns Aquarium complete with its own aquarium wall.
Fresh mangoes: Rusty's Markets
Huge R2E2 mangoes at Rusty's Markets
Huge R2E2 mangoes at Rusty's Markets
Find an abundance of mangoes here
Find an abundance of mangoes here
If you can’t go past a fresh mango, Rusty’s Markets is your one-stop-shop for everything mango. Find every species of mango imaginable, little mangoes, big mangoes, green mangoes, pink mangoes and of course cheap mangoes – word on the street is you can nab them for a little as 99c a kilo at Rusty’s.
Mango smoothies: Kuranda Scenic Railway Teahouse
Get your mango smoothie fix while you ride the rails
Riding the rails of the Kuranda Scenic Railway might make you a little peckish. So while you’re in Kuranda, stop in at the Kuranda Railway Station Tearoom for a legendary mango smoothie or traditional Devonshire Tea. Here you’ll also be able to snack on a range of delicious cakes, scones and light meals.
