Authentic Japanese Sushi freshly made daily
Sushi Paradise is a popular little Japanese dine-in and take-away restaurant in Cairns. It is the locals' favourite lunch places to eat as it offers fresh sushi and authentic Japanese cuisine that are both delicious and affordable.
From Sushi Paradise
The take-away shop is located near the corner of Grafton Street & Shields Street next to Pro-Dive shop. It is not hard to miss this place, specially with the bright rainbow colour signboard with two jumping fishes at both ends.
On my recent trip to Cairns, I was fortunate to discover this tiny Japanese eatery because the temperature was so warm and I ran out of dining options.
Inside of the tiny takeaway shop. Photo courtesy of Sushi Paradise
The interior setting may looked simplistic with some Japanese memorabilia decorations hang up on the back walls. The ambiance of the place is what you would expect from a small busy takeaway shop with limited of seating space. However this tiny eatery was buzzing with fantastic atmosphere, it was only 12.30pm and there was a queue formed already.
I had a quick peek around before joined the queue. One thing I noticed that Sushi Paradise offers a variety of Inari Sushi at a bargain price of $1.70 each! Not only they are cheap, they are the perfect healthy filling snacks if you don't want a full heavy meal. They also offer a good variety options for vegetarians, such as veggie rolls and seaweed inari.
Sushi Hand rolls from $2.80 - $3.50 Photo courtesy of Sushi Paradise
Although the menu for Sushi Paradise was not extensive, there were plenty of sushi rolls on offer but they were not the fancy ones you get in Sydney. However there was enough good choice for me to pick something to eat. The freshly made raw salmon sushi looked delicious and the hot food bar offered chicken karaage, chicken wings and chicken teriyaki. I was surprised how quickly I made up my mind about what to get when there was less choice.
The staff were super energetic and friendly. They took my order with efficiency and my meal was served almost pretty straight away!
Salmon Special $6.50
My favourite dish was the Salmon Special Set, which consisted salmon sashimi, lightly seared salmon, salmon belly nigiri and salmon maki rolls. The quality of the salmon sashimi was remarkably fresh and it was prepared with the proper Japanese knife skills. The rice ratio was low and the nigiri sushi all had generous slabs of fresh salmon which was a good indication.
The aburi salmon had a delectable char-grilled flavour from the process of searing it with a cooking blow torch. I enjoyed this special salmon pack exceedingly and I really couldn't ask for more!
I returned again with my colleague. She informed me that her favourite dishes were the Inari Sushi and the chicken karaage. The fried golden karaage chicken looked tempting delicious with the crisp coating, but the weather was too warm on this occasion so we resisted the temptation.
Inari sushi All $1.70 Photo courtesy of Sushi Paradise
My friend enjoyed her favourite Inari Sushi - the Wakame (pickled seaweed) and the Shrimp with cocktail sauce. I got the salmon pack again because it was utterly delicious. There were no complaints from either of us.
Sushi Paradise may be small in size, but it makes up by providing quick fresh Japanese food at good portions at a very competitive price, so it is no wonder that the tiny eatery is often full. It is a great place for a quick bite and it is open everyday except Sunday, from 11am - 6:30pm.
