Located on the western side of Gouger Street, Hotaru offers all your traditional Japanese dishes. They’ve tried to decorate the place traditionally, however, Matsuri have done a much better job. Hotaru have private dining areas at the back of the restaurant for large groups and an open kitchen where you can see the chef cooking.

The thing about the private dining area is that benches are used as seating, and customers are required to take their shoes off. I can understand the requirement if you’re sitting on the floor, but I didn’t think it was particularly necessary in this instance. I also noticed that the seating was very close together. For a group close to 20 people, it was certainly a cosy experience.

On this occasion, I ordered the Assorted Tempura. My meal came out after a 20 minute wait, however, as I was finishing my meal, a few people in my group were still waiting. My tempura was beautifully presented, and it was tasty and not too oily. For the price I was paying, I did expect something a bit more substantial. 3 prawns and half a dozen sliced vegetables was not satisfying.

There aren’t that many Japanese restaurants in Adelaide, but I didn’t particularly like this one. I didn’t like walking around without shoes on floors that weren’t particularly clean. The waitress serving us was a bit loud with a hint of attitude, and my meal didn’t represent good value for money. I’m afraid the place across the road just does it better.

WHERE: 162 Gouger St, Adelaide