The Best Places to Eat Near Bommie, by the Record
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Rank 1. Bommie
Modern Australian New American
The name comes from "bombora," an Aboriginal word for the shallow reef formations visible from the deck at low tide, which sets the tone for everything that follows. This is Hamilton Island's fine dining room, sitting inside the sculptural Yacht Club and leaning hard into native ingredients and seasonal regional produce. The Australian Good Food Guide awarded it Two Chef Hats, and the view gives the kitchen stiff competition.
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Rank 2. Catseye Pool Club
Modern Australian
Perched above the Coral Sea on Hamilton Island, this open-air restaurant and bar is where a slow lunch has a way of sliding into dinner without anyone minding. The menu comes from Josh and Julie Niland, with shared plates built around seasonal Australian seafood and produce. The whole thing is designed to feel unhurried, which is exactly as difficult as it sounds when the view involves turquoise water and swaying palms.
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Rank 3. Pebble Beach at qualia
Contemporary Australian
Lunch on a deck at Hamilton Island's northernmost tip, looking straight out at the Coral Sea and the Whitsundays scattered beyond. Pebble Beach is the daytime dining room at qualia resort, and the setting does a lot of the work, though the contemporary Australian kitchen keeps pace with produce sourced from farmers and growers around the country. It holds an Australian Good Food Guide Chef Hat.
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Rank 4. The Long Pavilion at qualia
Modern Australian
Open-air dining room perched at the edge of Hamilton Island, where the Coral Sea fills every window and the Whitsundays do most of the decorating. The Long Pavilion runs breakfast through dinner, Modern Australian menu in hand, moving from a tropical morning spread to sunset plates of kangaroo tartare and bay lobster while the light changes colour outside. A One Chef Hat pick from the Australian Good Food Guide, and a room that knows it has a view to live up to.
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Rank 5. Hamilton Island Golf Clubhouse
Modern Australian
You reach this Modern Australian restaurant by boat, which sets the tone before you've ordered a thing. The clubhouse sits on Dent Island with unobstructed views across the Whitsundays, and during migration season humpback whales tend to upstage whatever's on the plate. The menu runs local and seasonal, the pace is unhurried, and the setting rewards lingering long past any golf score worth forgetting.