In my past life (i.e. last job), I used to eat sushi and sushi train fairly regularly, call it 3 times a week (no, I didn’t work at a Japanese restaurant!), so I never used to enjoy eating sushi on the weekend or when out with friends. In my new life though, I have rediscovered my love of the sushi train.
Sushi Hotaru in The Galeries Victoria was good enough for me to visit twice in one weekend recently. Let me take you through the key factors to consider when eating sushi train:
1. Freshness: no one likes eating old sushi, particularly old sashimi or raw seafood. It’s also a bit risky if you’re eating at a sushi train that isn’t busy such that the food has been on the train for hours. Hotaru was packed both on the Friday night and Sunday lunch that I visited. The sashimi was decent (not the most amazing, but fresh enough) as were the raw octopus and scallops. I did have a beautiful spicy seared scallops sushi on the Sunday there though.
2. Variety: going to a sushi train without variety is like going to a yum cha without variety – #epicfail. Hotaru is great – there may not be tonnes of variety on the train itself but you can order off the large menu on the handy tablet in front you. The staff are also really efficient with preparing the dishes including non-sushi / hot dishes. The agedashi tofu at Hotaru is topnotch and super crispy.
3. Price: often variety at sushi train also comes at the (literal) expense of a variety of prices making it difficult to work out how much you’ve eaten in dollar terms. At Hotaru, all of the sushi dishes are $3.50 except for a few select items e.g. sashimi plates. There is also a decent selection of side dishes at $3.50 including chicken karaage, fried salmon skin, takoyaki balls and octopus karaage (similar to deep fried calamari)
Overall, the fact that I went to Hotaru twice on one weekend says it all. It’s great value for money, delicious, and an easy experience thanks to the staff.
Details: Sushi Hotaru, The Galeries, 500 George St, Sydney NSW 2000
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