Wara Sushi — Restaurant in Queensland

Really disappointed with our recent experience at Wara Sushi Cairns Central during our tropical holiday in beautiful Cairns.

I’m a regular customer of the chain and ordered what I thought was Teriyaki Chicken based on the photo on the self-order screen. I tapped the image without reading the full name, and what I received looked nothing like what was pictured.

When I asked about it, the supervisor became immediately defensive. I acknowledged that I hadn’t read the item name properly, but politely asked whether the image might be misleading. Her response: “You’re not getting a refund”—even though I never mentioned anything about a refund.

When I questioned her attitude at the counter, she replied, “I’m sorry you feel that way, thank you, bye.” It was rude, dismissive, and completely unnecessary.

To make matters worse, the atmosphere in the restaurant was incredibly loud and chaotic, which made the whole experience even less enjoyable. The other items we ordered were also below the standard we’ve come to expect from Wara Sushi, both in freshness and presentation.

As seen in the photos, there’s a clear mismatch between what was shown on the ordering screen and what we were served. Judge for yourself. This is not the level of quality or service we associate with Wara Sushi. I guess the standard is lower in Cairns than in Brisbane. We’ll stick to our favourite Brisbane locations, where the food and service are consistently exceptional.

EDIT: Response to the Manager Thanks for taking the time to respond. What you’ve outlined is mostly accurate in terms of the sequence, but it misses the tone and context of what actually happened. As I noted in my review, the real issue wasn’t just the mix-up with the photo—it was the defensive and unnecessarily aggressive attitude of the staff member when I raised the question.

It’s good to hear that the staff member passed on the feedback to you, though based on your response, it seems this was only done because I mentioned, “Isn’t it better to drop the attitude than get a bad review?” which speaks for itself.

What’s disappointing is that your reply also seems a bit defensive, rather than acknowledging the core of the issue—how your staff interact with customers. The photos clearly show there’s a mismatch, and the way the situation was handled was far from professional. I hope this helps bring attention to how tone and attitude can impact an otherwise minor...

Went to Wara Sushi on a Tuesday afternoon at approx 5:00pm when it was quiet. As soon as I was seated I ordered a dish on the tablet. Also the chef just put few plates of fresh sushi on the train so I grabbed one which was good. While I was still waiting for my ordered dish I picked a plate off the train.. and what a mistake. Rice was hard and had clearly been sitting on there all day, but it gets worse! After waiting around 10mins and watching the chef make fresh sushi for the group next to us he grabs my order off the train to which I catch him do! He instantly puts the plate down on the bench because he noticed me watching then proceeds to look busy. A few minutes later he picks it back up and tries to give it to me! Super sneaky!! I tried to tell him that I caught him do it but he then acted like he couldn’t understand so palmed me off to the waitress who I found condescending and pushy. I felt extremely uncomfortable and said that i’ll just pay for the plate that I ate and that I would just leave. They insisted that they make me the 2 dishes fresh which I hesitantly agreed to. They all continued to bicker in Korean to each other after the ordeal. My partner and I eat out multiple times a week and often recommend restaurants to our friends and customers. Will definitely be avoiding this place...

A busy restaurant with lots of customers especially on public holidays and weekends. Visited this restaurant on one of those busy weekends. It looked chaotic, loud music and staff shouting in a foreign language.

The tables are left dirty for a long long time and ultimately when the table gets cleaned, it is not fully clean.

I liked their food train, never runs short on food. One can order food via an iPad. The service staff are inexperienced and unhygienic and they are so busy that they don't have time to listen to anything.

If you happen to be a vegetarian, please get ready to starve at this place. If the chef does agree to modify a dish or a food bowl for you, trust me they just remove the meat and fish from an existing bowl and pass it on to you with the flavor and smell residue on the food.

Under normal situations, if you go as a group, you will find it difficult to sit all together. Most of the tables are configured for a max of 4 on one table.

The food is average and there is a lot of choice. Their beer selection is small...