The Black Russian Caravan Bar

A converted caravan parked on the corner of the Stuart Highway and Lindsay Street, beside the Katherine Visitor Information Centre, does the specialty-coffee work that a town this size rarely supports. Espresso is the focus, poured from early morning until the middle of the day, alongside toasted sandwiches and cakes made in-house. The set-up is deliberately small and mobile, but the location, first stop for road-trippers rolling in off the highway, has made it one of the most consistently praised places to eat or drink in Katherine. It trades every day of the week through the cooler morning hours, closing by early afternoon when the heat sets in. For travellers used to the instant coffee and roadhouse urns of the Track, it is a marker that decent coffee has reached the Big Rivers country.