ochre restaurant

a childless night led us to finally get the opportunity to try ochre restaurant.to begin....and i stress that.... service was smooth and professional, friendly but not overbearing or too comfortable. the entree selection was easy- seafood compilation as a main course to share. the wine selection was fine, and we choose a gorgeous wa wine.

on a recent trip to cairns we visited ohcre. situated right on the waterfront one can't help but enjoy the atmosphere. service was fast & efficient & we were seated straight away. food was generally good. our first course was the coconut prawns, crispy & delicious. my main was the vegetarian pasta. light,fluffy pasta in a rich probably a little too salty sauce.

nice dinner at @ochrecairns ♥️♥️♥️
the service was excellent, very friendly and attentive, drink menu was incredible.
beautiful location, i would highly recommend ochre🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

we had such a great night the first time we returned the next night. the location was great, right on the boardwalk. the food was delicious we tried the australian antipasto, the salt and native pepperleaf crocodile, the morganbury beef strip loin, and the lamb rump with chickpea tabbouleh and they were all delicious. but what made us return was the amazing list of cocktails and locally sourced spirits. the standout drink was the old fashioned using local mt uncle whiskey and torched orange that has been barrelled for 3 months. it was outstanding. i highly recommend ochre and would love the opportunity to return to cairns for dinner.

nov2020. went here for a weekend dinner with the partner after making an online reservation ahead of time.
we chose one 3x course set meal (entree, main and dessert) for $72 as well as choosing two more items from al a carte. medium and large plates are considered as mains. we tried the crispy pork and scallops, and sashimi of the day (salmon, tuna) to start, which were delicate and fresh. for mains, we chose the crocodile and prawns, and seared emu. both were delicious, a nice experience of more unusual australian cuisine. for dessert, we enjotyed the deconstructed banoffee pie.
casual ambience with indoor and ourdoor seating overlooking the water. efficient and friendly service. reasonable services.
overall, a better dining experience than previously.
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aug2019. made a weekend dinner reservation here for one during a trip to cairns.
happily sipped on a fun, cheeky cocktail whilst perusing the menu. chose to order the 'salt and native pepper crocodile and prawns', and then the 'quandong brulee' for dessert. nice hint of flavours, although portions appeared small for price and missed potential of highlighting the lovely native ingredients.
smart casual ambience with indoor and outdoor (along the esplanade) seating available. friendly and efficient service. prices on higher end.
overall, an interesting concept (introduction to native australian foods), however just missing the mark for execution.

3.9 stars for the male server who was absolutely amazing and 0.1 star for the scallops and pork belly.

australian platter - boring, mild flavours, no foodgasm here.

scallops and pork belly - scallops were tiny, sauce was great, pork belly was like fatty heaven.

mackerel sugar cane sticks - the older, meaner cousin of sugar cane prawns. again, no fireworks in my mouth, just boring old flavours. sugar cane was flavourless which is a shame because they should still have a tinge of a sweetness to them no matter how you cook it.

salt n pepper quail - good flavour but overly salty.

tempura bugs - mushy, seemed frozen or pre-cooked before fried.

salt n pepper crocodile n prawns - crocodile over-cooked making it too tough and chewy. prawns were okay. flavour was acceptable.

we didn’t end up finishing our food in the end because of how disappointed we were, given the great google reviews. our waiter noticed this and asked us if everything was okay; i said “yes, we’re just too full”, i didn’t want to disappoint him because he seemed so passionate about his job. all in all, please do visit if you have alot of extra money lying around.

presentation is about where the quality ends. great idea using native flavours, only you couldn’t taste them. bland food, wine list was also unimpressive. service was friendly. did feel like we’d wasted shitloads of money on nothing. very disappointing.

food was wonderful! the white chocolate and cumin mash was fantastic. steaks were cooked to perfect. the menu was filled with top quality australian flavours and produce. the only thing that could be improved on is the service. staff were friendly but did not match the standard of the food here.

loved this place. excellent food which was inventive and well prepared. there was a great value option available for lunch. would highly recommend. lovely setting on the waterside too.

great variety of food and great at meeting my difficult dietary requirements. maybe a bit pricey but a good place for an sexy dinner. staff seem lovely and wine list bliss.

very shit service !!!! made booking earlier， but give us a shit table. literally a corner in the restaurant. the manager on duty ( a male person ) should be fired!!! very terrible experience , won't be here anymore. strongly don't reckon this restaurant !!!

ochre is 1 of a few rare restaurants that features australian bushfood and native ingredients on their menu so i was definitely keen for a visit. i decided to go for salt & pepper leaf crocodile & prawns and wattleseed pavlova. the crocodile & prawns were great but the batter was sooo salty, although the pickles and lemon aspen sambal were able to tone it down a little bit. when i mentioned how salty it was the waitress explained that due to the nature of the native ingredients, it tasted indeed more powerful. the pavlova came out looking like a swiss roll but tasted like a pav! the wattleseed cream has a nutty taste to it and i'm glad the davidson plum was there to give it a different contrast and texture, otherwise the whole thing would have been very sweet. all in all it was a great experience, my waitress karly was super friendly and approachable. there are plenty of other things on the menu that i would definitely come back and try next time.

delicious food and exceptional service from staff.

favorite light lunch meal was the crocodile spring rolls, and quongdong brûlée was devine.

came to try this place as it was heavily advertised. we had the 3 course tasting menu.
had the tempura gulf bugs and salt & native pepper leaf crocodile & prawns for entrée. they were both delightful. for mains morganbury pork fillet and sirloin..... had asked for the sirloin to be medium done. it was overcooked, once i notified the staff they brought around another ( it was different in presentation aswell) again it was overcooked and tough to cut through, i couldn't eat it and my partner was happy to eat a 2nd main. and then for dessert we had mango delice and quandong brûlée. again both fantastic desserts.
besides the little main hiccup on the main the rest of the meal was great, staff pleasant and attentive.

we went to ochre as a group of 12 for a birthday celebration the setting was great and the wait service was very friendly and attentive . unfortunately the food let it down badly. the entrees were good and tasty but overpriced for the very small portion that you receive . the main meals that we had were very disappointing, my wife's pasta dish was dry and rubbery with over cooked clams and prawns . my main was terrible the seafood was all very overcooked and the laksa sauce was almost tasteless obviously who ever made this sauce has no idea what laksa should taste like and with tough rice noodles the dish was not nice at all. the calamari dish was stone cold .my son inlaw had the $44 steak which was about 1/2 the size of a tennis ball and was gone in 2 bites neadless to say he was still very hungry when he had finished. for the quite expensive prices the food was very disappointing and i would not go back again.
dave