Beach Byron Bay

Beach Byron Bay is the Ferguson-family-run beachfront dining institution on Clarkes Beach. Directly on the sand, in the small bay between the Byron Bay CBD and the Cape Byron Lighthouse. And is the village's most photographed beachfront lunch destination. The restaurant has run on the same beachfront location for over fifteen years and is the canonical Byron Bay beachfront-dining experience.

The cuisine is contemporary Australian with deep Northern Rivers regional sourcing. Signatures include a hand-cut Northern Rivers tuna tartare with passionfruit; a slow-cooked Bangalow lamb shoulder with thyme; a wood-fired Pacific-coast snapper with samphire; a hand-rolled tagliolino with Northern Rivers shrimp; the famous 'pavlova Beach' for the dessert course.

The wine list runs to 250 references with deep mainland-Australian smallholder coverage. Glass pours start at A$10.

The terrace is the experience. Twenty tables along the sand, a 270-degree view of Clarkes Beach and the Pacific, and a south-facing afternoon-sun aspect. The kitchen times the dessert course with the Pacific sunset for diners booked on the western edge of the terrace at the appropriate evening hour.

Beach Byron Bay is the easy-first-date room. The beachfront terrace is the conversation, the Pacific surf is the soundtrack, and the kitchen runs at a friendly mid-tier register. Book the corner two-top closest to the western edge of the terrace at sunset.