Hero Sushi — Restaurant in New South Wales

I don’t normally do reviews on places like this but feel a critical citizenly duty and need to do so in this case …I have been here ( to the Tuggerah location) several times now and although the food has been very good every time I do have some concerns and not sure if I’d ever eat here again after what I’ve seen.

The first visit here I didn’t pay much attention anything nor to watched the food being prepared etc. ( due to my seating position ) it was a quick visit and I was done. My initial thoughts back then was the food was really good but very overpriced, the staff were rude and ignorant.

The second visit I was seated directly in front of the person making the sushi rolls, I noticed something extremely alarming from this particular staff member, more so because there was a lady about 5-6 seats away, whom only ordered vegetarian dishes, this same staff member ( at the rolls station) made the food with no idea of food safety and had touched meat and fish then made vegetarian rolls etc without changing his gloves, they also used the same knife for cutting chicken fish and veg and continually without cleaning it, they Wiped the cutting board with the same dirty cloth after each roll was made / chicken / fish/ vegetable etc. I was appalled. I was just about to get up and go tell the lady but she got up too and had finished/ left. So I left too.

I was very reluctant to revisit but a friend wanted to come here so I decided to go again hoping I wouldn’t see anything like that again. But unfortunately…The next time I visited I had a prime view of all staff at every making station and I must say I was absolutely appalled to see every single one of them doing the same vial act of using the same gloves, knife, utensils, cloth throughout making each and every item without changing gloves, and without new or cleaned knives and utensils boards etc.

They all swapped between meat fish veg and garnish with no awareness whatsoever, touching everything else in store, door handles, plates, dishes, containers etc with no regard to cross contamination or food safety whatsoever. Then I seen the most disgusting thing I’ve ever seen in a restaurant in my life ( and I’ve seen a lot) a staff member with still the same gloves on got handfuls of food items out of various containers using 1 gloved hand and dipping into each one after another, fish, fish roe , then shallots, then raw beef, etc etc, sticking their dirty gloved hand into each container to grab some more. This continued until I couldn’t stand watching any further. They had no concept of what they were doing was wrong in any way.

( most of the staff are still rude and arrogant and will also argue back if you say anything about anything ) and ALL are in desperate NEED of full training at the most urgent level.

I got up and left at that point. Need I say more!

Will I be returning.. NO ( not unless every single staff member gets full training in safe food handling and customer service, and only if every surface of the entire store and kitchen is wiped, sanitised and deep cleaned )

Do I recommend this restaurant.. NO

As to my attached example picture, I note I have read many previously written reviews for this location and also read the owner’s responses to these similar claims of health issues. I’m not afraid to single you out because people do get sick from these types of issues which I have clearly seen with my own eyes. It was enough for me to up and leave your restaurant, I invite the council inspectors to do a spot visit, a recheck, or to just sit outside and watch these horrific practice you allow to happen in your store, you do not follow any government guidelines whatsoever and trying to justify like you do do them in any way is bad for your business. Vegetarians and vegans value their status and should not be compromised by these bad situations, Im sorry but I will not sit by and watch restaurants like yours get away with barbaric stuff like this anymore. it’s dangerous practices like these that can kill people especially people with...

Thank you for the food poisoning!! My 11yr old son and I were feeling sick couple hours after eating here. Our Stomachs were rumbling and feeling nauseous. We didn’t eat anything else except sushi. Another few hours went by and then both of us started vomiting. None of our other family members are sick. We both said SUSHI, 100% certain it was the sushi!!

I’m reporting it to the NSW service/ NSW Food Authority Contact Centre as we are 100% eligible!

Add after reply…

I’ll make it less emotional for you as it seems the so called lashing out has made you uncomfortable.

We ate Weetbix and milk for breakfast at 6am which doesn’t cause illness anyway.

Then ate your sushi for lunch, that’s all we ate. Then few hours later we both had same symptoms at the same time which lasted for hours. Our bodies violently rejecting your bacteria covered food. We stopped being sick at the exact same time. Indicating that it was a direct result from your food.

I think that’s enough evidence to point to your sushi restaurant. Of course you wouldn’t hurt your customers on purpose but it’s happened. It is what it is.

Congrats about the 4/5 star rating. Maybe if the council was in that day you would have 0/5 due to your food being left out of the fridge and circling around a warm room all day.

I hope now the review isn’t classed as “lashing” or feelings of anger at you but informative and factual information.

I’m not writing this review for us to have a friendly chat about how your food, food poisoned a small child and I. This review is to warn others that your seafood and chicken had bacteria in it.

As you can see other reviews have raw chicken complaints and old food complaints. Maybe you need to re address your standards and hopefully get a 5/5...

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ An Absolutely Heroic Lunch Experience!

I visited for lunch yesterday and was completely blown away by the entire experience.

A massive shout-out to Raf who was working the floor. His service was absolutely exceptional! He was incredibly friendly, attentive, and made fantastic recommendations. He genuinely went above and beyond to ensure we had a great time, and his positive energy really made our visit special. Please let him know he is a huge asset to your team!

And of course, a huge thank you to the talented kitchen staff! The food was incredibly fresh, delicious, and presented beautifully. Every piece of sushi was perfect, and the dishes came out quickly despite the lunch rush. You could really taste the quality and care that went into preparing the meal.

From the amazing service to the incredible food, it was a flawless five-star experience from start to finish. We will definitely be...