Josh Niland to open a restaurant on Hamilton Island, set within a new hotel coming in 2025

Just months after the new era of Saint Peter opened in Paddington’s The Grand National Hotel, Josh Niland and his wife Julie have announced their plans to open a new restaurant at The Sundays, a luxury boutique hotel opening in Hamilton Island next year.

Located at serene Catseye Beach, the yet-to-be-named restaurant from the unstoppable Niland duo is set to open in April 2025 and will overlook a very on-theme backdrop: the Great Barrier Reef.

Josh Niland has fast become a household name in Australia, with the Sydney-based chef pioneering an intensely creative “scale-to-tail” approach of cooking, using almost every part of the fish. His boundary-pushing restaurant Saint Peter now is one of Australia’s finest restaurants, and it’s become an important participant in the global seafood and fishery sustainability conversation, including placing 98^th in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants longlist.

This isn’t the Nilands’ first foray into the hotel game, though. Last year, Josh Niland opened Fysh Singapore as the signature restaurant in the Edition Singapore, bringing his seafood steakhouse concept to international shores.

Similarly, the menu at the Nilands’ balmy new restaurant won’t stray far from the Sydney Seafood King’s beloved fish-forward model. Expect Niland’s signature sustainable seafood ethos front and centre, as well as a selection of land-based proteins and local ingredients that will shine a light on the Hamilton Island region. Inspired by the island’s natural beauty on a recent trip with their four children, the Nilands’ aim for the new hotel restaurant is to blend their left-of-centre kitchen philosophy with a warm and family-friendly approach.

The upcoming opening of The Sundays on Cateseye Beach will fill a void in Hamilton Island’s hotel portfolio, where Qualia and Beach Club do adults-only luxury and Reef View Hotel and Palm Bungalows offer up family-friendly value. Whereas The Sundays will boast only 59 rooms and welcome children, making it an upscale multi-generational offer and the perfect setting for the Nilands’ ambitious plans.

Flushed with tropical flair, the sprawling Hamilton horizon is visible from every room of the hotel. Detailed by celebrated interior designer Carrie Williams, every corner of The Sundays drips with the colours of calm, with marine blue giving way to aquamarine accents and walls washed in sand hues.