Make your first stop this sprightly cafe for bottomless batch brew and a serving of its smashed avo that rivals Melbourne’s best. The coffee beans come from Alice Springs roasting outfit DuYu Coffee Roasters, which you can pair with Bonsoy, coconut and almond milks for your morning latte. Each coffee can also be served as an ‘on ice’ iteration for coping with the desert climate. The food menu comprises ‘breads and spreads’ like spiced carrot, chilli and almonds for the savoury minded and chai pear, ricotta and pistachio for the sweet of tooth.

This Aboriginal-owned and -operated cafe works with the local Arrernte peoples to harvest the wild native foods that appear on its menu. Of a morning, tuck into the bush tomato and pumpkin damper or housemade crumpets with quandong jam. There are bush food smoothies and smoothie bowls for those on a health bent, or the native fig and ricotta bruschetta with macadamia nuts and wattleseed syrup if you’re feeling indulgent. Come lunchtime, you could order a hearty beef burger, but there are so many alternative local meats to try here—like the camel burger with spiced feta sauce, a kangaroo fillet sandwich with native pepperberry aioli, and beer-battered barramundi from the Top End. Browse the shelves for some bush chai tea, saltbush dukkah or housemade vegan bush food granola to take home with you.

This bakery might have a straightforward name, but its flour wizardry is anything but plain. This might be the outback, but perfect Portuguese tarts, decadent cruffins, and soft powdery doughnuts are not in short supply. The almond croissants come highly recommended and the scrolls rival all country bakeries Australia-wide as the most-sizeable we’ve ever seen. On the bread front, the crispy baguettes are a local favourite and sourdough comes in spelt, rye and white iterations. The coffee is quite good here too, meaning you can chuck back an espresso with a hot pie or roll—try the broccoli and blue cheese pie or popular veggie pastie.

Young, old, tourists and locals alike all congregate at this inner-city watering hole. The decor and crowd are eclectic to say the least, but if your sights are on crisp craft beers and you’re keen to meet some NT locals, you’re in good hands at Montes. Lap up some afternoon rays in the sprawling beer garden with a schooner or pint of 4 Pines Brewing’s IPA or Temple Brewing Co’s Okinawa Sour. The pizzas, burgers and parmas are passable as hearty pub grub, but a visit to this venue is more about the vibe than what’s on the plate.

This organic wholefoods store is the place to visit to pick up locally grown fresh dates. Soft, luscious and super sweet, they’re cultivated by sustainable farming cooperative The Desert Fruit Company just southeast of Alice Springs. When British settlers imported 10,000 camels between 1860 and 1907, the domesticated dromedaries were accompanied by 2000 cameleers from Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Egypt and Turkey. These cameleers started burying the pips of the dates they brought with them in the desert sands of the outback and up sprouted Australia’s first date palms. Pack these as snacks on your day treks.

Alice Springs is blessed with a handful of great Indian restaurants, including Hanuman, which serves authentic Indian and Thai foods at the Hilton Doubletree Hotel. But the locals’ place to eat is Flavours of India. It’s more lo-fi than dining at the Hilton, but the flavours are drool-worthy. Meat and vegetarian options of korma, dhal and masala make up the bulk of the curries. Try the likes of the aloo gobhi (subtly spiced cauliflower and potatoes cooked with ginger and herbs) paired with mouthwatering lacha parantha (a layered wholemeal bread cooked with ghee). The paneer is made in-house and there’s homemade traditional Indian ice-cream for dessert.