The Chambers: Cairns Travel Guide (4.6★)

A terrace on Spence Street

Spence Street is the road reef-trip passengers walk down every morning. It runs from the city grid down to the Reef Fleet Terminal and the water. At number 21, The Chambers sits on this stretch, a café with a terrace, a long brunch menu and a cocktail bar alongside it.

It is consistently well rated by the people who find it. Even so, it gets less attention than the Esplanade cafés a few blocks north. That makes it a quieter find in a city where most breakfasts get planned around a boat departure.

Breakfast before the reef boat

This is where The Chambers is most useful. Doors open at 7am every day of the week. Most Great Barrier Reef day boats leave from the Reef Fleet Terminal at the bottom of Spence Street in the early morning. That means you can eat properly on the terrace, then walk down to check-in.

A few things help on a reef morning:

• Check your boat’s check-in time first. Operators often ask you to arrive well before departure, and that can cut your breakfast short.
• Eat something substantial but not heavy. Open water off Cairns can be choppy, and a big fried plate is a poor idea before a crossing.
• Keep sunscreen and swimmers with you. It’s a straight walk to the terminal, so you won’t need to go back to the hotel.

Most reef boats come back in the late afternoon, after the 2pm close. So if you want The Chambers on a reef day, go for breakfast. It won’t work as a recovery lunch.

Working through a long brunch menu

The menu is described as extensive, and on a first visit that is the point. You don’t need to go in with a plan. Give yourself a few minutes with it rather than ordering the first thing you recognise.

The price level is mid-range, in line with a sit-down CBD café rather than a takeaway window. Current prices are on the menu itself. Order from the menu you’re handed on the day, because long brunch lists tend to change with the seasons.

Coffee in Australia comes in its own vocabulary, and Cairns uses it too:

• Flat white: espresso with steamed milk and a thin layer of microfoam.
• Long black: espresso poured over hot water, stronger than an Americano.
• Iced latte or iced coffee: worth asking about in the tropics. In some cafés “iced coffee” arrives with ice cream, so check how they make it.

The cocktail bar question

The Chambers has a cocktail bar as well as a café. Visitors often assume that means a night out. The listed hours are 7am to 2pm, seven days a week, with no evening opening.

So don’t turn up at dusk expecting the bar to be open. If a brunch cocktail is what you’re after, the late-morning part of that window is the realistic time. Ask the staff what’s on the bar list that day. Don’t plan around a drink you’ve only seen mentioned online.

Ordering, paying and tipping on Spence Street

Australian café habits are relaxed, and a few are worth knowing before you sit down. Some cafés take orders at the table and some at the counter with a number to carry back. If nobody comes over within a couple of minutes, walk to the counter and ask. Nobody will mind.

• Paying: contactless card and phone payments are standard in Cairns. Some cafés add a small surcharge for card payments, and it is usually shown at the register.
• Tipping: not expected in Australia, because staff earn a proper wage. A tip jar or rounding up for good service is welcome but optional.
• Weekend and public-holiday surcharges: common in Australian cafés, usually printed on the menu.
• Water: tap water is free and safe to drink. Ask for a jug, especially after sitting out in the tropical heat.

Weekday mornings are generally calmer than weekends at CBD brunch spots. The weekend crowd tends to linger longer over its plates.

Getting to 21 Spence St

The Chambers is in Cairns City, the compact grid of streets behind the Esplanade. Everything central is walkable from there, and you won’t need a car.

• From the Reef Fleet Terminal: walk up Spence Street away from the water. It takes a few minutes.
• From Cairns Central shopping centre and the railway station: head down Spence Street towards the sea. The Kuranda Scenic Railway arrives at this station.
• From the Esplanade and Lagoon: go south along Abbott Street or Lake Street, then turn onto Spence.

Cairns is hot and humid for much of the year, and the wet season runs roughly December to March. On those months the short walk counts, and a terrace table in the morning is more comfortable than one at midday.

After the 2pm close

The kitchen shuts at 2pm, which leaves the whole afternoon free. These are all within walking distance:

• Cairns Esplanade Lagoon: a free, patrolled saltwater swimming lagoon on the foreshore. It’s the city’s answer to a beach, since the mudflats and stingers keep most people out of the sea.
• Cairns Art Gallery: on Abbott Street, with a focus on Far North Queensland and Indigenous artists.
• Cairns Museum: on Lake Street, covering the city’s history from the Bama peoples to the sugar and gold eras.
• Marlin Marina boardwalk: next to the Reef Fleet Terminal, good for watching the reef boats come back in the late afternoon.
• Cairns Night Markets: on the Esplanade, open in the evening for when you’re hungry again.

A good Cairns City day starts at The Chambers at opening. Spend the late morning at the gallery, then take the lagoon when the heat peaks.