It was a little tricky to find the restaurant, which was on the first floor of the complex, and then we were happy we did find it. There was no wait to be seated, the staff were very sweet, service was quick, and we enjoyed eating the sushi as we watched it be prepared in front of us. read more

Sushi Hotaru - Japanese restaurant, Sushi Hotaru - Japanese Near Me - Melbourne, VIC

This place is alright, not the best not the worse. Quite cheap $3 a plate. but not sure if this is a promo price cus it's new. Try the scampi iniri and the seared scallop! Pretty awesome!! Tip: always ask to b moved if ur seated in front of the fryer on the sushi train. Tip: beware of the hungry sushi chef. Was there on thu 25 Feb 2016. I couldn't believe what I'd witnessed. The dude knew he got caught out n pretended nothing happened. I was sitting at the sushi train / bar he had food handling gloves on and for whatever reason he decided to eat one of the scallops. His gloves touched his lips etc. he then used same hand to plate up!!!! Eeeew!! I left not long after. read more

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Our friends took us here for sushi one afternoon and I believe that I have now found my new favourite sushi train spot! Sushi Hotaru over Sakura Kaiten anyday from now on! Everything there was $3 except for the gold plates and some of the desserts. One of the very first dishes that we tried were the scallops from the train and it was so good. Our friends then recommended us to try the seared version of the scallops that you can only get by ordering it from the iPad at the table. IT WAS SO MUCH BETTER. Actually anything that is seared from the menu is guaranteed to be good! We ordering the seared engawa which was a sort of fish that we had not come across before and wanted to try it. It turned out to be a table favourite and we will definitely be getting it again the future! Overall: excellent value, delicious sushi and is now my go-to sushi train place in Melbourne! read more

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Sushi Hotaru is one of the better sushi train around Melbourne CBD. You gotta go there early though, as there is quite a long queue after 12pm which meant you have to wait for up to an hour to get a seat. The seafood are quite fresh and there is a self serve ordering system where sushi can be made fresh to order. I find that some of the rice are quite hard though, especially ones on the conveyor belt. The kitchen staff are not the friendliest bunch sometimes and would not even make eye contact or say anything as they hand you the plate of sushi you ordered. However if you needed a sushi fix for a cheap price this is really the place to go. Most dishes are $3, except sashimi which is $7.9 read more

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Pros: Great sushi at affordable prices on a sushi train Cons: Long queue (only drop by when you have time to spare) Recommendation for the best of the food experience here; Small soba + hot green tea + Handroll Softshell crab + (any Sushi of your choosing) read more

Sushi Hotaru - Small Soba - Japanese Near Me - Melbourne, VIC

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So there's always a line for this little joint. But it's well worth the wait. The digital ordering service is fantastic and the food is fast and ready. Everything is so tasty and fresh. read more

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As someone who is not usually a fan of sushi-train style restaurants, this place is the exception to the rule! It can be a little hard to find, hidden upstairs in the arcade, however the often long queue of people snaking around the corner is the giveaway that you're there! There is a really good selection of various sushi going around with a definite emphasis on freshness. The iPads at the table make it easy to order hot dishes, drinks, accompaniments, and the table service is pretty quick. Prices here are very reasonable, and I love the fact that it's also BYO wine. There are 2 options for seating, either at the bar area or in a booth (max of 5 people). It would be great if bookings could be made for parties of say 4 people for a booth as it can sometimes take a while to be seated otherwise. If bookings were possible, I'd be giving this place 5 stars instead of just 4. read more

Affordable and tasteful sushi you can probably find in all Melbourne. There is a short queue at the front but who is to complain when you can get $3.30 a plate with 10% off the total bill if you decide to pay with cash! Totally good service and fast serving times, kudos to the staff working there read more

It's a bit hit/miss for me. The first few times I dined here they were great. Yes you will have to wait maybe 10 mins or so, but that's fairly normal at any decent restaurant in Melbourne. If you are with a group large than 3, I'd either get there very early, or not bother as the wait could be very long. The quality of the sushi is amazing and authentic. It's also cool you can order additional items such as miso soup, soft shell crab, drinks, desserts and heaps more from the iPad from the iPad at each seat. Which you'll defiantly need to do as the train is very repetitious. read more

One of the better sushi trains I've been to. I found the ordering system slightly confusing at first, but basically you grab whatever you want from the conveyor belt (everything's $3.30) and if you want to order something extra from the menu you use the touch screen at the table. When you're done, you use the screen to get your bill and pay at the front. Food was decent. Lots of fish though, so if that's not to your liking you might have some trouble finding something to eat here. read more

Located on Level 2 of Mid City Arcade in Chinatown, this Japanese restaurant dishes up plates of sushi on conveyor belts. If your fav sushi isn't available on the belt, just order it up on the iPad and it'll be delivered your way. I'm a fan of this place as the sushi is good, especially when you consider the price of $3/plate. I also like that everything is laid out for you (food/chopsticks/condiments) so I'm usually in and out within 30-45 minutes. The downside? The queues. Try and get here outside of peak lunch/dinner times so you won't be staring at your phone like the other 42 people around you. If your sushi cravings are stronger than your patience, expect to wait up to 1.5hours on an extremely busy night (spoken from experience!). Average spend is about $30 a head (depending on how hungry you are) excluding drinks. read more

A very long train of sushi awaits you here. At only 3 dollars a plate, a queue will probably await you too. A great selection for the price though. A touch screen is available to order extra dishes and drinks too. How Japanese! The soft shell crab is A OK! read more

Sushi Hotaru - sushi everywhere! - Japanese Near Me - Melbourne, VIC

I must say, I wasn't initially sold on sushi train here in Melbourne, I had the best sushi train experience of my life (in Japan, of course) and wasn't willing to comprimise for anything less. but after my friend bugged me to go here, I caved after all the fuss. I must admit, I felt a little sheepish afterwards, as I was very pleasantly surprised. I gobbled down everything (and even had seconds of the salmon plate) to say I was a bit gluttonous, the answer would be yes. Price is great, and food is freshly made right in front of you, how it should be. Loved it. A little bit of Japan in Melbourne. read more

Going here was a surprise for my boyfriend and I. We were craving sushi (as usual) so luckily we were exploring the city and were very close by. There was quite a long line - but it honestly went by pretty fast. We had never gone to a sushi train before so this was a delight for us. They didn't tell us how to use the iPad to order, but it was pretty easy to understand and use. I thought it was kinda fun and made the experience a little more exciting. If you're seated at the train (not everyone was) they hand your orders straight to you instead of a waiter/waitress having to come to you - so you got it so much faster. I would definitely come here again. The food was decent and not overpriced. Oh also we got 10% off if we paid in cash (we only had cash), so yay!. read more

Average quality and not always value for money. The menu presents fairly decent choices for a wide selection, but not all options are value for money. From the menu, hand rolls, side orders and rice bowls are prepared fresh on the spot and served well. From the conveyor, some items seem to be sitting there for some time and lacked freshness. The sushi rice was not flavoured or prepared consistently, and in addition, the nigiri style sushi is remarkably small. Traditional nigiri sushi is the size of a human palm. Sushi Hotaru's version of nigiri sushi is 60% the size of traditional nigiri sushi at other establishments. What this means is that customers seeking to get a fill on nigiri sushi may end up spending more on their bill to get the same quantity in sushi that they can obtain elsewhere. The sushi quality is also very poor. My suggestion is to be selective on what you purchase off the menu. If you intend to purchase alot of sushi nigiri and sashimi, due to the portion sizes, you will be best to invest dining at another establishment that offers fresh, good quality sushi read more

Sushi Hotaru - hand roll - wagyu beef - Japanese Near Me - Melbourne, VIC

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Am a huge fan of sushi trains and this hidden gem has to be the best I've ever been to. BYO and very reasonably priced it was a real treat and the food was excellent. Small wait in line to get in but well worth it. will defiantly be back again soon read more

Sushi Hotaru - Japanese Near Me - Melbourne, VIC

Three stars only even though I would like to put 4...agreeing with Mat's review it is a bit of a hit or miss. You might wander why and here it is: After hearing raving reviews from friends, it took me 3 tries to get into this place and that is after lining up in the stuffy corridor for about 30-40 minutes. By then, my HANGRY-ness came out. When you arrive, make sure you go inside to the counter and get a ticket and after that it is a waiting game. There should be a buzzer or number displayed in the corridor to make it easier for all the customers to keep track. Let's get onto the grubb. The sushi is tasty and pretty fresh, the menu is on a fancy IPAD or you can just take it from the turning conveyor belt in front of your bench. A few dishes lacked kick that could be fixed simply with some lemon or spicy magical power in most other Japanese restaurants. Here you will find reasonably priced food and drinks however this is not a place you can sit and relax for hours on end as it is quite fast paced. 2 of us walked out full bellied and happy for $74 AUD. read more

I come here often and every time I enjoyed my food, but not service and today I am really disappointed your customer service even I didn't expect any good service. When I come in(around 3pm) she even didn't say anything and just gave us the waiting number, she didn't even answer our question. After she called us, but my friend was in toilet. I said she'll be back in 1min and she said "there's no toilet around here" she ignored me and call the other number. We were waiting there for 40mins and you guys treat us like this? I really don't wanna come back this place again. There were no respect. If she never change her attitude, customers keep leaving this place. read more

Sushi Hotaru is great when you want a good fix of good value Japanese. The concept makes it an on-the-go type of place with the sushi train and iPad ordering. It wouldn't work otherwise with it's limited space and lines that go down the hallway. I love how you can get authentic sushi like seared engawa (flounder), and the fact that the staff are japanese means its good place to go! One tiny downside is the wait/limited spaces and I have noticed that they have made their nigiri's a bit smaller. read more

I really like coming here when i'm craving sushi. They have a variety if sushi and sashimi all on a train which is a sushi train. It's so good when you don't know what to eat and you can just see it run by you and you can just pick it off the belt. The coolest thing about this place is that you can order anything on the menu fresh off an ipad that's directly infront of you and the waitress will bring it to you. It's genius. Highly recommend coming here and trying the fried tofu and the soft shell crab. Delicious!! Always quiet packed and you have to go get a little number slip from the waitress. read more

The best sushi train spot ive been too. Bit of a line up but well worth the wait and such great value! Definetly will be coming here again.

It's so interesting how they try to minimize service as much as possible here. I've been wanting to come here for so long and when I finally did, I told myself I will never go back. First of all, the host/waitress at the time was so rude. She snapped at my friend and I and told us "just go wait in line outside okay?!" when we walked through the door. We didn't even realize the one guy waiting outside was a "line." We were quite shocked, considering we had JUST got there and already started to look less forward to our meal. Honestly the sushi lacks freshness and the options that go around the belt are limited around 3pm. What really surprised me was that we basically had to use the computer in front of us as our connection with the servers. A button to request for a refill of water? First time I have ever seen that. I go out to eat not only to enjoy the food but to have my whole experience enhanced by wonderful customer service. This is definitely not the place to go for that. read more