Don’t miss Roast & Noodle 328 for a cheap and cheerful Chinese barbecue and a mouth-watering prawn wonton soup.

If you love a bit of Vietnamese pho (and let’s face it who doesn’t) then head to the waterfront and slurp down some of the finest rice noodles with raw beef at kitschy-cool Chow.

The Noodle House opposite Hanuman is great for unfussy inexpensive quick and easy noodles.

With its sweeping views across Fannie Bay to Darwin, tables on the water’s edge under native fig trees, and innovative Top End favourites, Pee Wee’s at the Point is the ideal place to make the most of the balmy, tropical weather.

The beef (including 300-day grain-fed Wagyu rump) and the crispy fried whole baby barramundi are the stars of the menu, but it’s hard to resist a mojito under the lantern-lit trees.

Magnificent views of the harbour are matched with a selection of cured and raw plates (think carpaccio, cured salmon, charcuterie plates and tartare) and grilled meats or small share plates.

Its modern Australia menu features miso tempura crocodile with mango green chilli sauce, Black Angus steaks and baked Massaman market fish in a fine dining setting and gorgeous atmosphere.

Twenty minutes north of the CBD in artsy hub Nightcliff, a ‘village walk’ of new-breed food trucks has popped up alongside the suburb’s milky-blue ocean fringe.

If you want to save on the dollars, arrive for Hot Tamale’s ‘Loco Arvos’ at 4pm to 6pm for $6 tacos, sangria and beers, as well as $12 spicy or frozen margaritas. Now that’s a perfect sunset pairing!

Pull up a chair outside, and order from the enormous menu, which includes crocodile fillet skewers, grilled squid, sizzling chilli prawns, grilled beef and lobsters, wild barramundi, Northern Territory mud crabs (when in season), and Moreton bay bugs.

Located at the Darwin Waterfront Precinct, as well as Coffin Bay oysters served up every which way (natural, Kilpatrick, Thai, with caviar …), you can also opt for house pickled octopus, coconut crumbed prawns, pork belly bites and popcorn crocodile with salad and bush tomato relish. Happy hour runs from 4pm (5pm Fridays).

Grab a table on the manicured lawns, choose your fave bottled beer and watch the boats bob up and down in Fannie Bay, the palm trees reminding you that, hey, you’re in the tropics now. The bistro food here is also on the rise.

There’s a licensed bar and decent food to help you enjoy the show (no BYO) with double-session marathons for the buffs. Definitely one of our favourite things to do in Darwin.

It is the sister bar to Monte’s Lounge, an Alice Springs staple with a cracker of an outdoor area and more atmosphere than you’ll find at a footy grand final. Lola’s serves up another NT newbie, too, a draught beer from local Darwin label One Mile Brewery. Cheekily, the beer’s name is drawn from the knock-off time for public servants: 4:21.

It’s jam night where plenty of talented Darwin musicians pick up a sax or play impromptu drum sets. Fantastic cocktails – try the whisky sour – and Thai/Malay/Indian food is consistently flavoursome too.

Ella – by Minoli promises a well-balanced mix of flavours, which pays homage to Sri Lankan food’s Ayurvedic properties, as well as creative and original cocktails.For the menu, think mas cutlis fried meatballs with a chunky tomato tamarind sauce, crispy whitebait with curry-leaf mayonnaise, and wild-caught Australian king prawns slathered with Lankan butter, as well as black pepper pork belly, served with tamarind coconut sauce and pineapple salsa and much more.