O Cha-Cha

we can enjoy real Japanese meals here!!
All staff were very polite and friendly! And meals are good,it reminds me when I was traveled Japan.
You should go there!

The best food and good prices on all the food at OCHA-CHA.
I am a local and i have a 20% off vip card so it makes the whole experience a lot better again even if i did not have a vip card i would eat at this restaurant anytime.
People are good food is excellent and i love the cute little Japanese decors it is well done.

Great authentic experience and hard to go past for value for money and a truly authentic experience that closely mirrors the Japanese experience we had.

BUT after having been there 3 times and making an effort to get in early last time for a special occasion, am sick of missing the nigri zushi and hoso/futo maki (of all sorts, even cucumber/avocado) so will unfortunately be heading elsewhere next time.

Awesome, the best little restaurant, amazing food and primo service
5+

The Ocha-cha is fantastic.great food,great friendly service,great dining.wish I knew about this place years ago.try to eat here atleast once a week.you can't go wrong for great taste and awesome value for money here.5stars for sure.

Best cheap eat in cairns! great value and great food!!!!!

We're locals and love this restaurant. Being vegan it is almost impossible to eat out in Cairns. The place has charm, good service and best of all we rarely see fatties in there.

This is the CUTEST little retaurant! Terrible wine (brown brothers) but the food is brilliant!
It's the cheapest restaurant i have ever been to in Australia.
Cute little japanese staff and lovely japanese decore. Its good to order a few dishes and share.

Hidden gem. Reasonably priced with fantastic food. Will definately be coming back and regularly

lovely restuarant in all aspects. Would recomend you eat here!

After visitng Tokyo recently, and trying some japanese cusine there, my partner and I really wanted to go out for a genuine japanese meal.

Our Japanese niegbours recommended O cha-cha above the Blue Sky Brewery.

We sat at one of the low set tables, which adds to the experience, The food was fantastic and the prices very reasonable. We had a party of 4 people and shared various dishes including wasabi octopus (not my kinda thing, but when in Rome...)

The total bill for food and drinks (soft drinks) was approx $85.00. The food was great and the quaility was fantastic.

Soba Noodles and Katsu Don being amoung my favorites.

This places gets busy and I belive it is mainly locals japanese and western people, I was suprised at the amount of western/australian people that were wating there.

We will most definitley by coming back to O Cha-Cha.

Try something different and give it a whirl.

I LOVE O Cha-Cha!! It is the most 'Japanese' Japanese restaurant in Cairns....almost feels like you are in Nihon for an hour or so!

Great food, authentic Japanese atmosphere, very reasonable prices. You can even watch a bit of Japanese TV or read a manga while you sit and enjoy your meal. OISHII DESU YO!!

Going there tonight for second time. Great meal, great rates, GREAT place. Yooooou Bloooody Beauuuuty

This is definitely Cairns' best kept secret. I have been living in Cairns for 6 years and only just discovered this gem of a restaurant!!

Great prices, friendly staff, authentic Japanese that comes in complete meal sets with rice and miso and you even get to sit on the floor.

Make sure you try Umeshu on the rocks - a delicious plum wine that washes everything down perfectly.

You just let Cairns best kept dining secret out of the bag.
Now we will have to book ahead and even stand for hours in a que just to get into our favourite restaurant.
The whole of our family and various friends that i blindfold and take up have been enjoying O Cha-Cha for the last 5 years or more. Can you please not tell anyone else!!!!

I eat there 5 times a week... have been for the last 5 years... and keep going back - 5 STARS all round...

Bloody Oishi Mate
Robu San

This is a fantastic restaurant that offers a peaceful and calm environment offering superb, quality food at a bargain price. The set menu's come with soup, tofu and your main course and cold greentea is provided at no extra cost. Located in palm court this restaurant is a must to visit, a great, comfortable restaurant at an affordable price.

This is a fantastic place that offers excellent value. We ordered the grilled fish sets and a kid's set and were more than satisfied with quality and quantity. Authentic Japanese flavours, fish perfectly done. Thanks for the review, wouldn't have ventured into Palm Court otherwise.

Authentic Japanese Secrecy
Reviewed on: 2003-03-21
Reviewer's rating: 4

<img src="images/ochacha-02.jpg" align="right" border="1" height="200" width="250" hspace="5" vspace="3">This review could land your humble diner in trouble. While dining at the O Cha Cha Japanese restaurant, a lady dining at the table next to me noticed my note-taking and threatened to beat me up if I caused masses of people to converge on the restaurant. It became quickly obvious this was a secret restaurant lair and she wanted it to remain that way, dammit! Therefore, I find myself in a delicate position - this is a fantastic Japanese restaurant that deserves high accolades, but part of its appeal is its authenticity and quiet location.

To put it simply, O Cha Cha is Japanese dining at it's best and you really should give it a try...but not everyone at once. As I was driving there I thought the name suggested tackiness, but as I stepped inside the air-conditioned Japanese restaurant I was instantly proved wrong.

The only things in this restaurant that weren't Japanese were the cans of soft drink on the menu, the money used to pay for the meal, and me. The chefs were Japanese, the waitresses were Japanese, the music playing softly in the background was Japanese and the news on the television in the corner of the room was Japanese. I suspect the television may have even been made in Japan. Wow, that's authenticity for you. An extensive bookshelf housed a selection of Japanese novels and magazines. Even the menus were written in Japanese - a problem for an ignorant mono-linguistic speaker like myself. But after an exchange of hand gestures, an English translated menu was presented to me.

<img src="images/ochacha-03.jpg" align="left" border="1" height="200" width="250" hspace="5" vspace="3">Revealed on the English menu were simple meals and very cheap prices. And I also learned that O Cha Cha offered free cold Barley tea to complement all meals, a nice touch. Even though this restaurant has an unmistakable Japanese atmosphere, the menu isn't filled with raw delicacies that will freak the palettes of western diners. Rather, it's an honest fare of rice, miso soup, various forms of teriyaki style meats and other dishes. I ordered the teriyaki chicken, traditionally accompanied by shredded cabbage. I'm unsure if chicken has ever been described this way before, but it melted in my mouth. Highly recommended.

I sat on the carpeted floor with a low wooden table hovering above my folded knees. I have obviously spent too much time at Australian versions of Japanese restaurants because my inflexible knee joints yearned for a chair. But I persisted nevertheless. I recommend attending a yoga class prior to eating at O Cha Cha, or use your squash, unlike me, and ask to eat at one of the tables.

O Cha Cha is tucked away in Palm Court on Lake Street. According to the violent woman at the table next to me the restaurant has been around for over 10 years, but I'd never heard of it before the day I ate there. I will be going back, to the dismay of those who think they have a good hold on the secret O Cha Cha. Too bad I say. I want more.

- Diner Diller