I recently jumped at a generous invitation to visit the top end city of Darwin, to report on its growing café scene. Darwin to me has always been known as a beer town, rather than a coffee destination. A lot has changed in the last few years.

Sure, Darwin is still a great place to party in one of the many great pubs that line the hospitality strip of Mitchell Street, but there are some pretty interesting café businesses springing up all over Darwin.

The city is very unusual in its layout, as there is no real business district as such, where you would normally find a collection of cafés. Most of the city’s office buildings are scattered all over the city, thus making it difficult to pinpoint caffeinated areas. This made my adventure more exciting, as I set off each morning following the workers and their takeaway cups.

One of the major changes I did notice, compared with my visit many years ago, was that Darwin has had a major facelift. There is a whole new waterfront precinct established on the edge of the city on Darwin Harbour, attracting a different type of tourist. This modern, well planned, architecturally chic precinct includes night clubs, convention centre, restaurants, cafés and a wave pool, which was well visited by me as I escaped the midday heat.

The Harbour was only a quick walk from my hotel, the elegant Crowne Plaza, that kindly accommodated me. I only had two days to visit and the weather was fantastic, so I chose to walk to most places – which was pretty easy in this compact city.

I was blessed that the first person I met in Darwin was budding barista Katie, who was the Food and Beverage Manager at the Crowne Plaza. She greeted me with a nice smile from behind the coffee machine in the breakfast bar. I was surprised to get a great coffee presented to me by this experienced coffee queen, who told me people come from near and far for her brew. Katie was part of a unique program started by the Crowne Plaza Group to get young people involved in working in their outlying hotels, and she has worked her way through the whole system to the Food and Beverage management position and is not moving from Darwin. She said if you last a full year in Darwin through the wet season, you will stay forever.

I was told by some smart locals that I had to visit Cullen Bay Marina, to see a fantastic latte artist who worked at The Boatshed Coffee House. Christos Panas was well known in the area for the aquatic life he pours on top of his lattes. Christos was not in the country, but his apprentices showed me the fishy tricks that their talented boss had passed on to them.

Jade, the barista of the day, showed off some pretty impressive artwork. The Boatshed on Cullen Bay is a great breakfast spot, with seating overlooking the impressive marina.

The owner, Jon Bonnin, also runs Buzz Café and the Boardwalk Café. He is pushing the café/coffee movement in the Darwin area and is planning some big ventures in the near future. The local print media was running a readers’ forum while I was in there, and Boatshed were in the final draw as people’s choice coffee.

Another café I enjoyed was Red Secret Café. They also had a clever barista passionately working away on their rare red leather Rancilio coffee machine. The café boasted a great selection of Asian teas, as well as delectable homemade sweets and was well positioned close to the Council office buildings.

The restaurant scene is extremely professional in Darwin, and I had some really great meals. I had a fantastic Sunday night dining experience of the freshest seafood on Darwin Harbour at II lido, a modern Italian restaurant with a cool bar attached. My other great meal experience was at Redsalt, in the Crowne Plaza.

Redsalt’s Executive Chef, Joel Manton, began his career at renowned Sydney restaurant Catalina, before working as head chef at a number of local jaunts in the city, including a Sydney Good Food Guide favourite, Café Deus.

Since making the move to Darwin, Joel has been working at Crowne Plaza, Darwin’s award-winning Redsalt restaurant as Executive Chef, taking on a larger role that consists of capital planning, strategic business planning, as well as menu design and functions. Joel has a passion for food and makes use of Darwin’s fantastic seafood and fresh legume offerings, a passion displayed in his signature dish of whole Northern Territory mud crab with ginger, chilli and shallots.

Darwin would not be worth the visit if you did not go and see the wildlife … that is, the animal variety. In the centre of Mitchell Street, there is the Crocodylus Park. I am always a bit sceptical of wildlife parks, but this one is a cracker. Not only can you get up close and friendly with the large crocs, but you can don your Speedos and dive with them in a purpose built cage.

Darwin is very accessible now for travellers, with many flights coming in and out daily. There is a lot to see in the city – museums, art galleries and fun nightspots filled with rowdy backpackers, all escaping the cold weather.

The city is on the verge of a major infrastructure boom, being the gateway to South East Asia.

The only negative thought I had about Darwin is that I did not have enough time to explore the city fully. Darwin is famous for its farmers’ markets, which prove popular for local outings and have great live music and fabulous food offerings. The most famous market is the Sunset Mindil Markets, that are on every Thursday from 5pm in the dry season.

I look forward to visiting Darwin again in the dry season, when the hospitality market is in full swing. A big thank you to the Darwin Crowne Plaza team for welcoming me to your city, Starr PR and Darwin Tourism for arranging some great cafés to visit.