Hotaru Japanese Restaurant — Restaurant in Adelaide

Overall not an enjoyable experience at the restaurant. The sushi itself was of decently high quality and we enjoyed the food itself. However, it was the atmosphere and the customer service which really let down the restaurant.

When we began our order, with the large sushi boat, we asked how many pieces of sushi we could expect on the platter. However, this question was not even answered by the waitress, who then gave us an arbitrary answer of something along the lines of “how many people it will serve depends on how much they eat”. This was all good and well, but it was not what we asked and it provided no guidance with our order. Thus, we decided to order the boat by itself and then see how much food we wanted after it. When we did this, the other waitress, who came to take our order, snidely asked us if that was all we were ordering tonight. This was somewhat confusing given the lack of guidance offered by the other waitress.

When the boat arrived, the waitress, somewhat condescendingly, explained what each piece of sushi was to our table. This, in of itself, would not be an issue. However, it was tone with which she said it and the fact she said it very directly aimed at my partner’s parents. This seemed to be done under the impression that middle aged Europeans had no idea what sushi was. It almost seemed needless to explain what a tuna roll and a piece of wasabi is, particularly in the tone of voice she used.

Aside from that, we found the restaurant’s ambiance somewhat lacking and distasteful given the price point. We should note, however, that the food itself...

Great option for authentic Japanese food in Adelaide close to Central Market precinct.

Service 5/5: The waitress/assumed owner did a great job at explaining the menu and the various items, she was quite friendly and efficient. The tables are clean and plates nicely arranged.

We ordered the assorted sashimi and some small rolls and nigiri for a light dinner.

Assorted Sashimi $35 4/5: Generous cuts of kingfish, tuna and salmon with shredded daikon. At this price point we were pretty happy with the dish , each fish tasted fresh and the salmon in particular was the most flavourful on that day.

Salmon and tuna rolls $5.50 each 4/5: Each fish was good and there was a good ratio of fish to rice, only improvement would be if the rice was seasoned a bit more for our taste - it was a little plain and some more seasoning would've helped to bring the dish together.

Kingfish $7.50 and unagi nigiri $8.0 4/5: Fish is the same good quality as from the sashimi however a little more seasoning on the rice would've made it a 5/5. Unagi was ok and worked well with the plainer rice in this instance as it is heavily seasoned.

Overall we would not hesitate to visit again and try some of the other highly rated items like the sushi boat with a...

I had an amazing experience here. My partner and I came in and were welcomed very warmly from the get go and the service was both friendly and helpful. The atmosphere was very calming as well. We ordered some starter and mains and let me say the food... was spectacular. All the dishes we had were tasty and fresh and succulent. The miso was tasty and the sushi was so fresh and delicious (salmon, kingfish and blue fin tuna). Some of the freshest I've had in Adelaide. He also tried the beautiful fried dumplings and tempura prawn and both we delicious. For mains we shared a teriyaki beef medium and a sukiyaki hot pot. The broth from the sukiyaki was thick and the veggies were yummy. Every bite of the beef was a delight and the teriyaki sauce was perfectly balanced in flavour. Our experience here was amazing and the lovely waitress was very helpful when choosing our sake to pair with our food which was a lovely and fruity. Sad to see that they weren't very busy at the time and they truly deserve more business as their food is spectacular. The menu also had plenty of selection at a very reasonable price. I also recommend the soy ginger pork highly as every bite was heaven. This place is...