Step out of the shade

It's 21 degrees and the sky is blue and cloudless. We're eating mud crab for lunch, pulling the sweet flesh from a scarlet shell, licking fingers and sipping riesling to the soundtrack of waves hitting the shore. Welcome to a Queensland winter. We know (and understand completely) why you would want to spend your winter holiday here, and equally we appreciate that you New South Welshmen like to eat well. Relax. While nature provides the weather, Queensland's restaurants will take care of your culinary needs. Really.

Gold Coast

The southern end of Queensland's coastline was once a culinary desert. Now the problem is choosing where to go. Start perhaps with Ristorante Fellini. We love the yachts moored in the marina, the generous portions, the house-made pasta and the warm welcome.

Views are a big drawcard at Seaduction, with windows framing a Coral Sea view; a flash of silver sand, then blue to the horizon. Tear your eyes away and take in the plush surrounds and equally lush menu under chef Steve Szabo (ex-Vanitas at Palazzo Versace).

Hailing from Britain via Spain and Melbourne's Vue de Monde, multicultural chef-owner James Brady is equally at home offering a ''Scotch egg with curry air'' as he is a terracotta dish of sobrasada to be swiped with good bread or roasted kangaroo, carrot, vanilla and eggplant at Samphire Bites. Grab a stool at the deep bar and pace yourself for the whimsical desserts. Social Eating House recently played host to actor John Cusack five nights in a row. We can't vouch for his taste, but we can recommend Social's schmick share plate menu with dishes such as emu carpaccio with smoked horseradish mayonnaise and garlic croutons or slow-cooked duck breast with yabbies, sweet corn veloute and shimeji mushrooms. And like the name suggests, its perfectly set up for time-wasting lunches or dinners with friends.

Relative newcomer The Fishhouse is sister to the excellent Greek restaurant Hellenika at Nobby Beach and has views of the towers of Surfers Paradise from almost every table. It's hard to fault the beautifully plated dishes with generous complementary sides or the personality-filled wine list by sommelier Barbara Vega.

Sunshine Coast

A pre-surf-or-swim breakfast overlooking Laguna Bay and the Noosa National Park at Season will put you in the perfect holiday mood. And the kids can play on the sand while you linger over a perfectly made coffee. It's an understandably popular dinner spot, too, especially the seaside tables, which should be requested.

Meanwhile, Noosa old-school is exemplified in the the pretty, leafy, all-white Hastings Street restaurant Berardo's. Starched cloths, semi-formal service and a classic menu are order of the day. Worth booking the babysitter for.

A short stroll away, the Sheraton Noosa is in the midst of a much-needed facelift, but its new Beach House restaurant on Hastings Street is already up and running. Once home to the slightly louche Cato's, celebrity chef Peter Kuruvita has lent his name, kudos and cooking expertise to the venture, with any of the seafood dishes our pick.

A short ferry ride away at Quamby Place, Noosa Sound, is Wood Fire Grill, serving up quality meat from a 450-gram Cape Grim grass-fed sirloin on the bone to a full-blood Shiro Kin Wagyu rump. All come with home-made sauces from Armagnac peppercorn jus to cafe de Paris butter.

With two well-earned hats, Wasabi, suspended over the river is filled with natural light during the day and candlelight by night. The food is pristine-elegant modern Japanese, while the service holds up its end under the watchful eye of owner Danielle Gjestland. Pricey, but so worth it.

Locals might not be so happy their secret is out now Humid has moved from it's tucked-away former location above a grocery store in Weyba Road, but holidaymakers will be. In typical Queensland style, the casual ambience at the newly christened Little Humid undersells the seriously good food produced by chef Michelle Gordon-Smith.

A block or so down, Thomas Corner is the perfect spot from which to watch the sunset and the birds swoop over the Noosa River with a glass of wine and a bar snack. Chef David Rayner has always championed the produce of both the Noosa hinterland and sea and his menu is clean, pared back and strongly bound to Noosa. There's also a kids' menu that will pacify parents and children alike.

Tear yourself away from beach or river for local favourite The Spirit House. Impossibly romantic, set among lush tropical foliage in open-air pavilions around a lily-filled pond. Pan-Asian share plates are the go.

North Queensland

Tucked in among melaleuca trees overlooking a palm-lined crescent of beach, Nu Nu's uber-casual looks belie the food, which is edgy without being alienating. It still feels as fresh as when it opened years ago, thanks to the efforts of owner Nick Holloway (also chef) and Jason Rowbottom.

The small town of Port Douglas has an unusual number of more-than-decent eateries for its size. The level of sophistication of both service and food are unexpected at Harrisons, but despite it's rough edges, there is still plenty of money coming to town, and Harrisons is fine place to spend some of it. The other is Nautilus. Call us soft, but we rate it as one of the most romantic restaurants in the country. Hold hands up the jungle path to a candlelit platform built among towering, spotlit palm trees, where you can't help but be impressed. The food, among all this seething tropical beauty, could be incidental but, luckily, it's very good, if pretty steeply priced.

The friendly and excellent Sassi Cucina has been around the block a bit both metaphorically and literally, having recently moved back to its first Port Douglas location after a bit of a wander. Owner-chef Tony Sassi's food, like the man himself, is warm and generous. The zuppa di pesce and his rendition of 'O Sole Mio are both worthy of an encore.

Gold Coast

● The Fishhouse, 50 Goodwin Terrace, Burleigh Heads, (07) 5535 7725.

● Ristorante Fellini, Level 1, Marina Mirage, 74 Seaworld Drive, Main Beach, (07) 5531 0300.

● Samphire Bites, 54 Thomas Drive, Chevron Island, (07) 5504 6404.

● Seaduction, Sea Temple, 8 The Esplanade, Surfers Paradise, (07) 5635 5700.

● Social Eating House, Shop 137, 3 Oracle Boulevard, Broadbeach, (07) 5504 5210.

Sunshine Coast

● Berardo's, Upper Level, Ocean Breeze Resort, 49 Hastings Street, Noosa Heads, (07) 5447 5666.

● Little Humid, 2/235 Gympie Terrace, Noosaville, (07) 5449 9755.

● Season Restaurant, Shop 5, 25 Hastings Street, Noosa Heads, (07) 5447 3747.

● The Spirit House, 20 Ninderry Road, Yandina, (07) 5446 8994.

● Thomas Corner Eatery, Shop 1, 201 Gympie Terrace, Noosaville, (07) 5470 2224.

● Wasabi Restaurant, 2 Quamby Place, Noosa Sound, (07) 5449 2443.

● Wood Fire Grill, Noosa Wharf, Quamby Place, Noosa Sound, (07) 5447 2455.

Palm Cove/Port Douglas

● Harrisons, 22 Wharf Street, Port Douglas, (07) 4099 4011.

● Nu Nu, 123 Williams Esplanade, Palm Cove, (07) 4059 1880.

● Nautilus, 17 Murphy Street, Port Douglas, (07) 4099 5330.

● Sassi Cucina, corner Wharf and Macrossan streets, Port Douglas, (07) 4099 6744.