This place has nice tasting fresh fish It has a good self serve ordering system with an fast turnover sushi train belt, food came very fast also Only down side was they were out of kingfish nigiri but had sashimi read more

Sushi Hotaru - Seared salmon nigiri - Japanese Near Me - Sydney, NSW

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Went out for dinner and everything initially tasted fine. I had a chocolate mochi dessert, tuna rolls and chicken and nothing else to eat before or after the meal. When I got home, I started experiencing severe stomach pain and intense nausea. I ended up vomiting throughout the night. Based on the timing and symptoms, it is likely that I got food poisoning from the sushi, possibly because it had not been properly refrigerated or prepared in hygienic conditions. read more

So I had never called it a "sushi train" before coming to Australia, but I'm kind of liking the name (in other parts of the world it is called kaiten sushi, sushi boat, conveyor belt sushi, etc. :D). And I also gotta say I rather like this particular sushi train. First off, the interior decor plays up the neon-lit, hyper-stimulating Tokyo streets of your DDR dreams, and the booths have touchscreens (aka iPads) for customized orders to your table. Um, can we say FUN?? http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/sushi-hotaru-sydney#GQh4_6qK6x30_G_K8IJJAQ Be advised there are no iPads if you sit at the counter, though. As for the quality of the food, I've certainly had both better and worse kaiten/conveyor sushi boat/train, but I really didn't have anything *bad*. In fact, I tried grilled scallop nigiri for the first time here, and let me just say it was AMAZEBALLS! A new favorite. http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/sushi-hotaru-sydney#Ray128EYEzj5h7IPglhDUg Be advised that the grilled scallops can be ordered via touchscreen ;) Finally, for the price--$3/plate for most plates--you probably won't get a better deal for sushi in Sydney CBD, just saying. Even if all those little plates DO end up adding up. http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/sushi-hotaru-sydney#84EPyCRilTVqvEJwtnvWtg Be advised that the sashimi plates are DEFINITELY not 3 dollars. They are something like 8 or 9. Different color plate. I would go back. Maybe twice a year. read more

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Back at Sushi Hotaru today & I can't even express how disappointed I am with this place. A long standing favourite, I travelled in here for lunch, giving it the benefit of the doubt after a less than desirable experience a few months ago. It pains me to say it but the sushi here has gone completely down the gurgler. The portions are legitimately half the size they used to be, the sushi is carelessly made, the rice hard & the Aburi is largely cold & pulled from behind the counter when ordered fresh. The staff rush by deliberately not making eye contact, intentionally avoiding the inconvenience of taking your drink order. At $3.30 a plate (prices have gone up 30c), I'm 8 plates deep & actually still hungry. This used to be my favourite sushi train & all its left me with is a heart full of disappointment bordering on anger & short $24 bucks. This place sucks! ...I'm off to find ice cream. read more

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There is a nice variety of sushi and sashimi dishes. Most of the items are $3 each. But there are special items like the fairly fresh sashimi that is called the Golden Plate and it's $7.90 each. Also the calpis drink are at $5.50 each which I thought was really expensive. There is usually a queue during lunch but the wait is not too bad. read more

Sushi Hotaru - Japanese Near Me - Sydney, NSW

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Average sushi train. Was disappointed by the range available on the train, but it is also possible to order directly from the handy iPads located every two seats. The conveyor belt kept stopping frequently for long periods of time throughout our visit, so we had to order off the iPad anyway. The fish was fresh, but the portions are tiny and the nigiri rice was too warm for the fish and fell apart easily. The hand rolls were quite nice though! The service is good, and the venue is conveniently located in the Galleries. read more

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One of my favourite go-to sushi trains! Lunch time gets a bit hectic but just write your name down and grab a number the wait isn't too long. It's one of the longest trains I've seen with every plate being $3. Not finding what you want? You can order straight from the screen. Nigiri, sashimi, hand rolls, side dishes, vegetarian options and dessert. Quickly ask someone for water or ginger which is upon request. One disappointment is that their "flame torches" dishes taste like propane so I would avoid! Card minimum is $15 Stack those plates!!! read more

Sushi Hotaru - Japanese Near Me - Sydney, NSW

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Forget about the food, go to Sushi Hotaru for the decor! That is not a statement I would often make but Sushi Hotaru is maybe the coolest restaurant I have ever seen, it is like something out of Bladerunner. The sushi train runs lengthways down the the restaurant and has a funky pattern along the track. The walls have are in futuristic mosaic like style. The sushi is excellent quality, but I was so captivated by the design features I barely paid any attention to my meal. read more

Sushi Hotaru - Japanese Near Me - Sydney, NSW

Sushi trains are a dime a dozen in Sydney, especially in downtown CBD as you get closer to Chinatown. But this one is quite good and an alternative to Japanese eatery Ichiban Boshi upstairs in The Galeries complex. Its owned by the same people who operate Ramen Kan, Wagaya, Poporo, Sushi Rio, which are actually my other favourite sushi train/Jap restaurants in the CBD. Nothing particularly special about it, but its a great place for a quick lunch/dinner at reasonable prices (budget around $25 per person). read more

Sushi Hotaru - Japanese Near Me - Sydney, NSW

Not unlike other sushi train-themed restaurants, Sushi Hotaru also has seating tables of a regular sit-in restaurant. The booths are situated along the length of the sushi train instead of using single seats. I personally love the improvement. This way I can still quickly and conveniently grab my lunch from the train of food going past my head, but can still sit down and talk to my friends eye to eye. It makes for much better conversation, and you really do realise how much more comfortable these booths are. Like most techy Japanese restaurants these days, they've replaced the good old-fashioned fold out menu with a gadget. Set into the wall is an Ipad that you can directly order extra food from, your drinks, call over a waitress or ask for the bill. It makes for more civilised service without all the crazy arm waving. Food here costs about the same as other sushi trains (though not as cheap as Wagaya that I reviewed earlier), but only because I find the serving sizes are a little smaller than average. read more

Sushi Hotaru - Japanese Near Me - Sydney, NSW

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Sushi trains are a little tired these days, but Sushi Hotaru is funky enough to restore your faith. Juxtaposing a vintagey-style, mosaic interior design with the mod con of an iPad to do your ordering, this restaurant knows how to set itself apart from the rest of the China Town fare. It's located next to Wagamama in The Galeries Victoria, which means it's also got a light, glassy feel to set off the brown, woody pallet of the interiors. Meandering down a dazzlingly long train, all the sushi is $3 a pop and super fresh to boot. You can easily eat your fill and dash off to a movie or for some late night shopping, but you might also fancy grabbing a booth (with iPad ordering!) and settling in for a night of sushi and gossip with your friends. read more

Sushi Hotaru - Japanese Near Me - Sydney, NSW

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Very bad service, the staff there will give you an attitude for ordering alot or asking for the drinks. Unprofessionalism at its best. Treat customers like beggars. Foods are rubbish! This place does not deserve even a 1star, Highly not recommended!! read more

This place is my favourite sushi train in Sydney. I can't even explain why I love this place so much...you can get higher quality sushi at Makoto, you'll get seated quicker at Sushi Tei, you can get cheaper dishes at its cousin Sushi Rio, OK wait on second thought I can; none of them have the glorious fun of touch screen goodness!!! There's usually a queue here during peak times during lunch or dinner, but fear not you won't wait long. If you manage to snag a seat with a touch screen get ready for sushi awesomeness. Nearly everything is $3 a plate so you can easily get full on $20, or if you're a cow like me $30. The train goes the length or the restaurant and service is great since you can call people with the push of a button...and also get in trouble with the push of a button...something the other sushi trains don't have. Yeah... Sushi Hot-Ar-U...I wasn't before but I am now. read more

Great place for quick sushi lunch or dinner. Always very busy but you won't be waiting in line for long time. They also have express lane- 30mins which is enough time to grab some cheap stuff as almost all plates cost $3 so not bad for quick and fresh meal. read more

I've nothing to bench mark these place against as I've never been to a sushi train before. There I've said it you all know my dirty little secret Anyways I've been back twice in the same week. I shall have to go questing now to sample other sushi trains and see what's going on. Great decor with some fantastic mosaic work on the walls read more

Good sushi train - 3.30$ per plate. Sushi are fresh and some interesting/ original options You can also order from an iPad on your table. Be prepared to wait as it is quite popular. They have quite a few sittings but I would not come as a large group (more than 4) as it is mostly tables for 2. read more

We had dinner there while visiting Sydney. The sushi offerings is good and very tasty, the only disappointment was the sitting arrangement were to squeezed elbow to elbow with your neighbour. read more

If you want nice, tasty sushi and are short on time, do not come here! Sushi Hotaru is a great place for a cheap bite of below average tasting sushi if you're willing wait up to 30 minutes to get seated on a busy night. Most of the sushi that run down the conveyor belt are seared or deep fried. It is quite easy to note that most, if not all the dishes on the train were prepared in bulk and have been left there for a long period of time. Most of the sashimi were cuts from frozen fillets evident by the terrible sogginess and chef defrosting fish in the open kitchen. Atmosphere is meh. Loud and quite impersonal. Miso soup was good. read more

This is my favourite sushi place in Sydney! I come from Reno- the land of fresh, all-you-can-eat-Sushi (oddly enough. But if you didn't know that about Reno, now you do...go there and feast!)- so when I moved to Sydney, I wanted to die when I noticed how expensive sushi places were! What, I couldn't just pay $20 and pig out on 10 six-piece plates of Godzilla rolls? The first time I went out to sushi in Sydney, I was shocked that I paid nearly $30 and only ended up with six or seven pieces of sushi. Insanity! Anyway, Sushi Hotaru is great. Most of the plates (and even sides, like calamari, soup and egg rolls) are $3. The sushi is served on a "train" (conveyor belt) and there are plenty of things to choose from. If you'd rather order something not on the train, you can order from the iPad menu. Everything is VERY affordable and VERY delicious. I eat here once a week and I'm always happy with the food, price and service. It does get very busy during lunchtime (typically from 11:30-1:30), as well as dinner (6:00pm-8:00pm) and the bar isn't very big, so you might feel crowded and rushed. If you can try to get there between 2-5:30, I find that's the best time for service- nearly no one there, lots of elbow room at the bar and you won't have to wait long for freshly made rolls. Try the eel and cream cheese roll- it's my favourite! :) read more

Good location, just next to the Queen Victoria's Building. Fresh Sashimi and Sushi. quite reasonable price. Sashimi Salmon and Tuna is highly recommended. read more

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You know you're in a good sushi place when you can't tell what's on the train. The fusion stuff here is out of this world and always a lovely surprise. As per most sushi places, you can order off the menu, but what's the point in ruining sushi train random fun? Pick something that looks interesting and try it! If you have someone with you sharing the excitement of sushi lotto is even better. They offer lots of tea's and other drinks here too. What's even better is that if you do want to order off the menu, there's a tablet in front of you where you can choose your food, drinks and deserts and it is bought out to you instead of trying to flag down the wondering staff who are always rather busy with seating people. If you haven't been to a sushi place before you should definitely go to this one. They impressed me because they have a magic zapper thingy that the sushi goes through every cycle to ensure that bacteria isn't growing on your food. Awesome right? Right. Go. Go eat. All the nom! read more

Liked it .. didn't love it. It's decent for the value, I suppose but definitely did not wow me. I like the self serve ipad though! That seems to be picking up around here. The dishes are $3 each which is fine. Some of the nigiri is TINY. Like .. half the size of my pinky tiny. They had some decent ones, like the scallop and the tako. Those are worth it. Gyozas are also on the small size. Will I come back? Probably. But nothing to write home about. read more

Sushi train with great atmosphere and fantastic selection. We were drawn in for a cheap lunch as many plates are set at $3. We weren't expecting the range to be so extensive! the food was fast and fresh, so we visited several times on our holiday. Each time, we were pleased and found it very affordable. The weekday lunch rush was a bit intimidating, but our number was called within a few minutes. Because we were only a couple, we could only sit at the bar and not try out the booths, which were reserved for groups. The up side to this was having first dibs at the train and being able to watch the various sushi chefs and waitresses whip up creations in front of our eyes. Did anyone else wonder about the UV sanitation unit along the train? Interesting. The house drink was a great experience too, sort of layered minty ginger-beer with a colour gradient running from yellow/brown to green/blue. Points off for not being licensed, as I do like a sake or two with my meal. When we were finished, we signalled a waitress to tally our plates. We followed her up to the register to pay - no table service for bills. Payment was easy, all the usual methods and the tip jar was obvious, because tipping is always a nice thing to do :) Good value and very clean! read more

It's OK for a sushi train, mostly because what you can order off the menu is an OK range and nice and fresh, and actually resembles sushi. Everything on the actual train is blow-torched and/or mayoed within an inch of its life. If you like that, great. The wasabi is that crap in the plastic sachets, and I didn't spot any pickled ginger. Better than Hero Sushi, and that's really it. $3 for each standard plate. read more

Nice sushi train, not too pricey (about 15 AUD per person) The place can get a bit crowded but the food keeps on coming. The fish is nice and fresh, the salmon had the right balance of fat. Could do with more original sushi's on the menu Not worth a trip specifically but if you are in the area its a good choice read more

If I was only allowed to eat one thing for the rest of my life, it would have to be sushi. So to no surprise every time I go to a sushi train restaurant, there is absolutely no self control. Especially if the place has tasty, affordable sushi! Sushi Hotaru is great. It keeps me satisfied every visit, with the quick service and choices galore. The seared salmon (they have one level up spicy seared salmon too!) is delicious, as are the scallops. The booths are great if there are any available, however they are a little tight for space, so if you don't mind strangers sitting next to you and want a little more space, I would go for the normal seats as they are perfectly fine too. Sushi Hotaru would definitely be one of the top places to go in the city for sushi (factoring in cost as well.. we all know how the bill at sushi trains can get out of control with all the temptations passing by!). read more

Best grilled salmon I've ever tasted!!i went with my boyfriend and we had a drink that was a combination of calpis and apple syrup! It was probably one of the best places in the CBD. In terms of walk ins it takes a while to wait but there are some shops in the building so you guys can have a look while u wait. Highly recommend if you're looking for a place with high quality fish and great service. read more

Our favourite place to stop for a quick lunch. Quality is generally very good, the iPads for ordering stuff you don't see on the train is a very good idea as its a narrow restaurant. Would be uncomfortable with waitresses constantly stood over people's shoulders to take their orders. Excellent value with so many options for $3. Recommend to pretty much everyone I meet who wants to get some sushi cheaply read more

$15 EFTPOS limits should be illegal. I had to buy a can of coke to be allowed to leave. Staff were very rude. Good sushi though, $3 a plate read more

Used to always love this place, both for its variety of nigiri sushi toppings and the attitude of the chefs. They used to make you fresh sushi if you ordered it, even if your desired variety is on the train. Maybe the fact that the last couple of times, I've snuck in in time for their last orders had something to do with it... so I'll give them some credit, but definitely aren't going to give them 4 stars this time. Personally, I don't like eating aburi (blow-torched) sushi cold, and that's what happened this time. I ordered 7 dishes, but honestly not every plate is worh a comment, so I won't bore everyone - the plates which I can still remember, so, obviously the ones which left an impression, are: - White fish of the day - it was whiting, from what I can remember from the taste. I'm not really too sure why I keep ordering this dish - maybe because there's a bit of mystery behind it? I mean, it's not bad - if I were to make this dish I'd probably sprinkle a pinch of salt in it though. Just to bring up the flavour. Otherwise it is milky, if slightly on the bland side. - Aburi scallop - a bit cool. I have come to expect this dish to be served at least luke warm. The clearly picked it off the train. But once again, I have sat down at last order, so I don't expect a business to blatantly waste and make me a fresh plate, especially when I'm not at some star restaurant. - Abalone edge ship - they made this one fresh, the nori was crispy and the rice was warm. Well the abalone edge was crunchy and the mayo supporting the shellfish was just the right consistency, and having the crunchiness of the flying fish roe really somehow topped it off. A random chilled conversation with the girl on the next bench topped off the night. :) read more

Best sushi train in the city. Makoto has better quality sushi, but it's way more expensive and the selection is too sashimi-oriented. Most of the plates at Sushi Hotaru are $3 each and there is a great variety to choose from. If you don't see anything you like on the train, you can order from a huge selection on the menu, and almost everything on there is $3 too. read more

A friend told me about this place and said it was really good with cheap prices. I got there about 20 minutes before closing and it was packed. They didn't have much left on the sushi train and what was there didn't look very good. I became very skeptical because of that. I ordered a tuna sashimi plate and a couple smaller things with the intention of leaving if it didn't look fresh. They brought a salmon sashimi plate instead, which was fine, and it was amazing! Nice big pieces, with that beautiful pink salmony glow. I ordered the tuna sashimi again and a few more smaller rolls and everything was great. The prices were very reasonable, two of us filled up on sushi for about $40. The servers were a little inattentive, but not rude when we finally got their attention. Check it out if you're in the area. read more

Don't be tricked into believing this is Japanese food. Sitting watching the sushi train go by, normally makes me hungry, but the burnt salmon and sad looking sashimi don't appeal to me. There are lots of other great Japanese places to eat just nearby. Go try one of those. read more

Somewhere to go when you're just in need for a solid dose of sushi. I have never really gone wrong with all of my visits here - definitely a staple in my sushi experience in the CBD. read more

Left after two minutes... This is my version of culinary hell - loud, industrialised, as impersonal as it gets... The Horror...

Great place for a quick lunch during your work day. Has most of the general japanese dishes you'd expect at a sushi train. It's usually packed with young office workers - it ain't great for large groups though. read more

The place I must admit makes reasonable sushi. However when I arrived to have lunch there one day we were told to wait outside because we were only 2 ppl rather than 3 or more. The table area was completely empty. I pointed it out and they didn't care, so I told them to get lost. Went and ate at wagamama and when I finished & walked by hotaru sushi again, their tabled area was still empty. Pathetic service. I used to be a regular but not anymore. read more

Quick service and fresh fish. However I have been to better conveyer belt sushi restaurants. I do recommend the seared salmon nigiri sushi the unagi/ eel nigiri is very tasty as well. read more

A great place to get some quick sushi. One of the drawbacks in Aussie style sushi compared to what you get in Japan is the thickness of some of the dishes. I always find Japanese sushi to be lighter and more delicate - not to mention buckets loads cheaper. At least this place offers $3 plates for all sushi so there is no need to colour code and watch what you pull of the train. You can get right into it either before or after you've browsed the book store on the level above. read more

Food is always fresh. Good variety. Very modern ordering pad. Will recommend to anyone. Alway my first choice to eat around Townhall. When they are too busy, take away is the second best thing. read more