Hungry Wombat — Restaurant in Cairns City

HUGE 5 STAR recommendation for this amazing little Japanese restaurant. My friend saw reviews and said we should go. So happy we did. Returned a week to the day later with my Mum. Exactly the same amazing service and food second time round. You may have to line up if you go when they first open (it's worth it!), as inside the restaurant they only have 3 x tables seating 4 people and a long table of 8 that can be a communal table. They also have outside tables in Orchid Plaza, but the 2 Sundays I went, they were not serving outside tables. There are menus provided with pictures of each dish (or you can just look in the window as they are pictured there too) whilst you wait AND a list of what's NOT available if they have sold out of anything. V helpful when trying to make a decision whilst patiently waiting. When you are seated, you receive a jug of cold black tea too. Excellent on these humid, hot days. Now, to the most important bit, the delicious food! I highly recommend the HANDMADE chewy noodles. Cannot tell you how good these are, you have to try them yourself. Decadent, silky and delicious broths. The BEST and CRUNCHIEST Chicken Katsu curry EVER! The cold Tan Tan Noodles were absolutely my favourite - the broth... the mince... the noodles. Just heaven in a bowl. I also ordered a side of the stewed beef. Tender, falling apart in your mouth just so meaty, tasty... the stock with the softened and sweet onions. My goodness...SO GOOD! My friend had the tempura veg and said it was the best. When I took my Mum the next Sunday she said it was by far THE best Chicken Katsu Curry and rice - ever. NB: it's served with melty grated cheese on the top of half the curry sauce. Makes for extra tastiness. Next best thing about this amazing restaurant is THE friendliest and most efficient service. It's a 2 person operation, the diligent chef and his enthusiastic and genuinely friendly, smiling wife. Feels like you're eating at your favourite family members house for dinner. They both serve when busy but it is predominantly Mrs Chef who is front if house. She is always smiling and literally so quick clearing tables and taking orders. Couple of other notes to mention. They do takeaway, and if your eyes are bigger than your belly, you are given takeaway containers for your leftovers. They have EFTPOS, not AMEX though. Will take cash. Wheelchair accessible. Kids welcomed and a kids meal selection available. Soft drinks and some alcohol available (see photos as I took a picture of the fridge). Air conditioned inside restaurant but the kitchen is open and visible so not always the coolest, but who cares? If you run hot and get a bit sweaty from eating too much curry or chilli flakes over your food, there are tissues on each table to assist. Better than sitting in the open air of Orchid Plaza with zero air con. Seriously, try this place, you will not be disappointed. So happy to have found such an amazing Japanese noodle place to eat in Cairns. Will be going back...

A must-try if you are in Cairns. Cant recommend this place enough. Really a 5 stars place for dining.

Located in Orchid plaza center on ground floor. Hard to miss.

Menu are mainly noodle/udon, rice bowls and tempura. They also have matcha and sesame ice cream for desserts. We ordered cold noodle and hot tan tan which were both really great. I really enjoyed my cold noodle, simple and delight, everything is just bended in together. My husband had the hot tan tan and he loved it so so much. We went to Japan before and ate lots of ramen/udon there but nothing is like the noodle here. They are very chewy freshly made. Very special. Good portion too.

Services are top-notch. The couple that run the business are very very nice and friendly especially the wife. She is very sweet.

Their signature dish is stewed beef udon so we order extra stewed beed which was heaven. The beef was so soft and sweet, melt in your mouth.

This restaurant is super duper popular. We were in Cairns for xmas, new year holiday season 2021, so not many tourists compared to normal due to covid-19 but it took us 4 times to be able to dine in with a booking for outdoor seating in the food court area in the shopping plaza. They open from 11:30am for lunch but take no booking for lunch. Sold out normally at 1pm ish. Dinner opens from 5pm and booking is essential. So dont make a mistake like what we did, make a booking in advance if you want to have dinner here. They normally sold out around 7-7:30pm ish for dinner too and most of the day, fully booked.

Overall, the 5 stars review from all the customers are really what it is for this restaurant. Definitely worth the effort...

I came over during my lunch break because I always like to try new places around Cairns City Centre. When I tried to walk in, they immediately pushed me back and told me I had to wait which is understandable but I was just about to ask a question before deciding whether to get a plate. They didn’t even give me a chance to say anything.

The waitress’s English was very difficult to understand, but I thought, “Okay, let’s give it a try.” While I was waiting, a girl arrived after me, and the waitress said to her, “Come in and have a seat at the big table,” where there were only two spots available. She placed water in one specific spot, but I chose to sit in the corner because I didn’t want to be squeezed tightly between two people.

Then the same waitress came over and told me I had to move back to the other spot. I politely said, “Sorry, but I came in earlier, and I prefer to stay where I am.” She said okay, and everything seemed fine.

But then someone from the kitchen, apparently acting very aggressively, came over and pushed me out of my spot in a really uncomfortable way. I felt completely disrespected in front of all the other customers. Another woman, apparently the host, just kept saying “Sorry, sorry, sorry,” but I told her, “You can’t treat people like that—and instead of saying sorry, maybe just don’t do it.”

In the end, I didn’t eat there. I left. I don’t know if that’s how they usually treat customers, but it felt like they weren’t prepared to offer proper service. I definitely don’t recommend going to a place where they think it’s okay to treat...