Junk Maroochydore — Restaurant in Sunshine Coast Regional

We are so excited to talk about the amazing staff at Junk! The Sunshine Coast Guide & Queensland's Advertising Collective loved the whole team working at Junk Maroochydore on our visit. They all made us feel very welcome as well as being friendly and inviting in letting us capture them in action on what was an evening of a full house. We appreciate them for their hospitality. Kel and Georgia were our hosts for the evening. Kel, a highly efficient gentleman who impressed immediately with his ability to turn a long reservation line, on an extremely busy night into a reasonably short wait period. He was truly fantastic. Smiling and greeting customers with a friendly and professional warmth at all times. With the restaurant at such full capacity, his capabilities on the floor were essential to the smooth running of the night. Seemingly unperturbed by the crowds, Kel was in his element and managing that floor with a calm and skilful manner.

We had the wonderful Georgia looking after us on our table and how lucky we were to have her! Such a kindness that shines through amongst the bustle of a busy restaurant. Watching Georgia glide through the venue as she tended to everyone was another impressive sight. Junk was pumping on our Saturday night visit and Georgia showed no signs of pressure as she worked that floor and tended to each and every table of diners with such a helpful and friendly mannerism, all the while ensuring that we were happy and catered to. Thank you Georgia. You fantastic human!

Moving onto the the fabulous bar staff at Junk Maroochydore. A huge shout out must go to the ladies managing the Junk bar. Wow! Hayley, Hannah, Naomi, Ange and Georgia you blew us away. What a team you all are. These ladies were running that bar like a scene out of the movie 'Cocktail'! No kidding they astounded us with the energy, smiles, expertise and fun that was going on behind that bar as they created an endless stream of cocktails, mocktails and an array of other tasty beverages. It was a great time watching them and was definitely one of our favourite parts of our experience here. One big thing that stood out to us also, is that the staff at Junk do work so well as a team. Everyone knows their role well and gets about smiling and loving what they are doing.

Both dine-in and takeaway options are available. You'll find reasonably priced meals at Junk Maroochydore that are bursting with flavour and deceivingly filling. We are going to rate the Satay Chicken on account of having a satay lover with us who ranked it up there with some of the tastiest they have had. We do recommend ordering anything involving their BAO buns! OMG. Delicious! Pork, duck and chicken bao at Junk have been tried, tested and rated and all we can say is that they all belong in our bellies! SO good. Maybe a slight obsession happening with these now. The House-made Kimchi Fried Rice had flavours around every corner during our eating experience. Suggesting you grab a house-made rice from Junk for sure or you'll be disappointed. The Chef, Operations Manager plus all the kitchen and wait staff are a bunch of legends. We witnessed them seamlessly get out so many tasty meals while we were there!

Alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages are available. A nice choice of cocktails and mocktails both of which we enjoyed tasting. Our cocktail maestros in the bar delivering us a killer Acai Daisy - Gin, Lychee Liquor, Lime Juice, Fresh Mint and Diablo Ginger Beer and it would be completely rude to not give Kel a big cheers for making us a cocktail of his own personal choice and creation. Lucky I wasn't wearing socks Kel, they would have been knocked off! Non-drinkers are taken care of with a selection of mocktails to choose from. You can't go wrong with the Tropical Paradise - Mango Puree, Passionfruit plus Lime and Pineapple Juice.

We have thoroughly enjoyed our review experience for Junk in Maroochydore. Thank you for inviting us along guys! It was a fun one and we will be back to enjoy more of your delicious eats.....and probably another...

Atmosphere: This restaurant used to be warm and cosy with atmosphere, thanks to warm lighting, friendly table service and the ceiling dragon. 🐉 Sadly between visits in the last few months it’s been renovated for the worst. It’s too bright, too metal, too loud, too cagey. Literally it now is enclosed behind a yellow cage!! The dragon and warmth has gone. The tables feel like metal cheese graters, especially cold in winter. Shucks. Our favourite Maroochydore restaurant is masquerading as a cheap bar. It’s obviously now only angling for takeaway profits. Where it was a lovely restaurant for couples, groups and families. It now feels like a fast food outlet with a bar! 🤷‍♀️

Food: The plate sizes are diminishing over time & I will forever miss the duck pancakes & the dumpling sauce that had that special flavor and ingredients. Now the duck pancakes (with the full crispy duck leg) are gone & the special dumpling sauce has been replaced by cheap soy sauce. Shucks this is another place that keeps changing for the worst for profits. The fried chicken comes with sauce and cole slaw both way too chilli hot! 🥵 The Pad Junk is still a fabulous dish but is slowly reducing in size. The dumplings are lovely but wanting for a special dipping sauce. The Edamame is too chilli hot. Roti, chicken sticks and spring rolls are winners with the kiddlets. They’ll still do a Cosmopolitan at a push for discerning cocktail fans.The food is still good.. better than the ambience!

Service: The poor waitress had to deal with our disappointment at there being no cosy place to sit. We opted for the expanded side away from the cage. We sat under bright red club lighting with cranking dance beats on the cold cheese-grater metal table. She was gracious & apologetic admitting that she liked it better before too! She earned 2 stars. But there is NO TABLE SERVICE anymore. Only one poor waitress to serve food that you now order and pay upfront like a cafe at the counter. Is this still classed as a restaurant? I’m not sure. 🤔 We booked late and had our conversation interrupted by a table cleaner that we had a tug-o-war with as he attempted to clear unfinished dishes. Awkward! He lost 1 star, leaving 1 for service.

The wonderful Junk that was.. is not yet completely trash (junk) but at the rate this place is going, it’s not far off! Owner.. what are you doing?💰 This once was a wonderful gem! It’s now disappointing for those that know how...

Junk Maroochydore is a well recognized and busy restaurant in Sunshine Coast. From previous reviews my expectations were very high, but unfortunately the food did not deliver all the hype.

Located in a busy street, Junk is one of the restaurants that it is always packed. Attracting different types of people, group and families it can not be denied that the ambiance and service are great. The service was fast, friendly and polite.

With a fairly small and new menu (different to the one in their website), options include a wide variety of Asian plates. The restaurant's slogan is that "all plates can be shared". Sadly, this is not true. For example, the Pork Bao ($15) includes three servings. This is not a plate that you can share for its price and size. So, as a recommendation, select those dishes that include rice and noodle (Pad Junk, Junk Fried Rice etc). These will be the ones that can be easily shared and have a reasonable price ($12-$15).

The main issue of this restaurant is their Junk Spice. I do not mind a bit of spice in my food, but when you order 5 plates and all of them have the same spice it does get very boring. It is shame that the Gangnam fries and the Calamari rings have the exact taste - because of the spice. Going a bit into detail with the calamari rings, I have tasted better calamari. Ours were very soggy with in-existent crumb. I also do not recommend this plate for sharing. The Pad Junk was ok, with enough taste and food to be satisfied at the end. But, it lacked texture and depth of flavor.

The plate presentation leaves a lot to be desired, with some plates looking as if an amateur cook prepare them. This can be improved.

Another issue is that tables are very close to each other, making it really difficult for clients and staff to move around. Several times my partner was hit by staff members and clients trying to get to other tables.

Tables are also very small and the food for 3 people may not fit in their standard size tables. Reducing the size of the sauces and chopsticks container could improve this.

On a more positive note, their alcohol selection was acceptable and their cocktails were delicious.

Overall the experience was average which included an exciting expectation and a...