Hungry Bears — Restaurant in New South Wales

I went there today for a little treat, and I was pleasantly surprised with the place. The interior is beautiful and I love the theme of it, especially the drawings on the walls. I only went into get a drink, but I wish I could have stayed and had a large meal. The menu range is amazing, and as a vegetarian I love the number of options available to me, as well as how clear it is on the menu. Speaking of the menu, the designs are very cute and easy to read, but they do use some foreign terms that people may not understand. I go to Japanese restaurants quite often, and a lot of the time I see that they put pictures up of the food on the wall, or have it out in display cases so people can see and understand. I also knew a place that had double sided menus, one with the names and one with images of foods, making it easy to know what you were ordering. Perhaps the Hungry Bears would benefit from doing something like this? In particular I ordered the peach bubble ade, which is similar to a bubble cup if you have ever had that before. The drink was very good, one of the best ice tea flavours I've had in awhile, and the tapioca pearls were delicious. The pearls are a little hard to suck up, and you basically have to drink the liquid and then the pearls, but I think that makes it a little more fun and exciting. If you are unsure of what tapioca pearls are, they are the little coloured ball toppings you can get at the frozen yogurt stall in the plaza, and they are absolutely delicious (and vegetarian friendly). The staff was also very friendly and did not have to wait long for my drink. The only thing I disliked was the location of the store, because it is right next to a busy road. However, I cannot fault the store, because getting prime location in Coffs Harbour is quite hard, so I felt this was pretty good considering. I also think it would benefit from some music, which would add to the atmosphere a lot. It is a little pricey, but I can understand why and I think it is well worth it. If there was one big thing I could change though, it would be to fill it with customers! I loved this shop and plan to visit as often as possible, but I think that many people may be unsure about trying it or do not know it is there. Perhaps I just came at a quiet time, but I hope that the store gets many customers, because it certainly deserves it. I highly recommend trying it out, ESPECIALLY if you are a vegetarian, as the food is good and the bubble ade is delicious! I will be coming back again, next time for...

We were excited to try this restaurant. We love Japanese cuisine, the freshness and flavours are incredible. It makes me feel sad to leave this review, but i do it in the hope that the restaurant is able to use it and improve because there is room for this place to be amazing.

We ordered dumplings, one of my favourites. They arrived fried, but also dry, almost certainly from a packet. Incredibly disappointing when I expected some delicious steamed fluffy dumplings.

The Bento trays were also a disappointment. We ordered the fried prawn and chicken. The temperature of the "home kitchen" deep fryer must have been too low as the crumb on the prawn absorbed an incredible amount of oil and detracted from the prawn. There was a lack of seasoning and a few chunks of onion 'sauce' on top. The rice was overcooked and underseasoned. The dressing on the salad and mushroom salad tasted the same.

Being winter we opted for the warmer dishes, I feel that we made the mistake of not ordering sushi which looked a little more appealing.

The experience was topped off by under-trained waitstaff who 'plonked' our dishes on the table and struggled to speak. There was little warmth other than a thank you from the chef as we walked out the door.

Unfortunately I wont be back to try the sushi based off this experience and I know there are better options in the area.

Again a real shame, this place could...

I would of rated 5 out of 5, however there was one small issue..... I ask politely and with all due respect to the owner of hungry bears that the owner of the store holds his great staff from mopping the floor to early before close. To be advised that the bleach or flour cleaner used and the, washing/mopping of the floor etc to be saved untill close of business and not before.... especially when we were still eating...... The punchant bleach smell was knocking us out and by no means was it pleasant to smell whilst my partner and I were still eating. Other than that.... Excellent staff mostly, excellent food presentation, excellent quantity of food, very clean and tidy, reasonable money for top notch food. The cleaning of the shop is totally awesome to see just a little too hasty..... All...