Port Douglas is a long way to travel to for crisp pigs’ ears served in a cute airmail envelope, but the snacks at chef Spencer Patrick’s restaurant in the Sheraton Mirage are well worth the journey.

While the decor at this 10-year-old Port Douglas veteran has an eighties-glam twinge, with Roman statues, chandeliers and gilding peeking through the stiff white napery and around the well-dressed staff, the food is ultra-modern.

Patrick delivers quality ingredients, sourced locally where possible, in a tight, perfectly formed menu heavily driven by his UK roots – pork belly with burnt apple and black pudding, say, or pressed ham hock with foie gras – with nods to his current north Queensland home – local cobia gravlax with pickled cucumber and bush lemon curd.

This is a sophisticated restaurant, but it has soul, too, with some dishes heart-warmingly named after Patrick’s children. And while diners should be aware of the 15 per cent surcharge on Sundays, it’s a place to linger, where the service will make you feel a million bucks to match that glitzy fit-out.

Must eat dish: Pigs’ ears