🌸 wagamama review... 🌸

For my first entry in relation to food & drink, I chose to review Wagamama. Wagamama is classed as a pan-asian restaurant (with many UK branches) which I quote: serves food from the bench. The restaurant specialises in food from countries such as Japan and South Korea, putting bold flavours together. You have an assorted menu consisting of various forms of dumplings, noodle dishes, salads and more.

I came here with a friend last year and the food service was good. I ordered a firecracker chicken plate at the time with a sakura g + t (gin and tonic for non-British people) and prosecco (albeit a small glass).

Firecracker chicken (a colleague recommended this as I love spicy food).

sakura g + t... yes, it is nice.

and of course prosecco... ♡

However, I can't really say the same this time (at least where service is concerned). If you thought I was picky when it came to receiving quality food and service in a restaurant, you haven't met my mum.

We stood in a queue (normal for weekends) and sat down, only to wait 15 to 20 minutes for service (my mum actually timed it because as I said, she is pickier than me). I will say, it isn't a good start to wait that long so there is one demerit point already. Then, there was the lack of cutlery. Normally, you would have cutlery organised in front of you on the table (well, there were chopsticks, I used to use them as a child oddly enough - still do on occasion when eating ramen) but in this case... nothing but a single spoon, soy sauce and what I assume is rice wine vinegar (but I don't think rice wine vinegar is brown).

The cutlery setting... ignore the glass. Ain't mine.

The atmosphere of the restaurant is quite let's say... brown. Warm, earthy shades and lanterns combine together for what is supposed to be a relaxing experience. The seats don't have backrests though which isn't great if you have long-term back problems (I had to elevate my posture too often which I don't like). I do like the interior though. Only thing is we had to put up with sitting next to drunk bastards coming from a football match... as much as I love a glass of wine - I hate drunk people. You would never see me around one. No...

So, onto the food.

I ordered a yakisoba noodle dish with chicken and prawn + assorted vegetables and a (small, 175ml) glass of pinot grigio blush. My mum ordered a Thai beef salad with a (small, 175ml) glass of merlot (wine is a tradition in this family). We also shared chicken dumplings with dipping sauce. However... the food didn't arrive at the same time. Normally in restaurants when ordering, the food arrives simultaneously which is great service. In this case, my noodles and wine arrived before my mum's. Then the dumplings took a while.

Yakisoba noodles... presentation, okay.

Pinot Grigio blush. There was something floating in the wine and I don't like floating items...

In terms of my food, I give the yakisoba a 2.5 to 3 out of 5. I was hungry so ate it (since I only had fried eggs and Excelsior crackers - what a diet am I right?). Problem was, the noodles lacked seasoning so I had to add soy sauce twice. When I cook noodles at home I love to use various seasonings (more-so for the meats as it creates a beautiful sauce which just adds so much flavour and colour).

The wine, 4 out of 5 because I love wine (come on, it's part of the character) and the demerit is for the floaty white item.

The gyoza.

As for the chicken gyoza... 3 out of 5. For what it was, it tasted decent with the dipping sauce (which helped in terms of flavour) but the shell was a tad too crunchy for my liking. That and the filling lacked seasoning. I needed some salt or some sort of marinade... anything, please?

My mum's thai beef salad with assorted vegetables.

My mum's beef salad consisted of well... beef (very clear) and also vegetables such as radish, mangetout etc. The beef according to her was chewy (not good). As for the salad itself, everything went well together. My mum's rating for this dish is a mediocre 3.5 out of 5 as the beef gets multiple demerits.

As for the merlot: my mum says and I quote: wine is wine. Yes, wine is wine. So, a 5.

Now when it comes to paying, you have the option to scan a QR code, enter your details (+ placemat number) and either pay the whole meal in full or split the bill evenly (an American custom). I am not a big fan of QR codes as I find this very tedious - yes I love technology but certain things really bother me.

So, my mum and I both paid £28.35 each (as we split the bill between us to save time). She complained about the payment process though.

To make up for the inadequate service, we went to a prosecco cafe and got New York cheesecake (although mine had chocolate - I am actually seeking alternatives to chocolate now because of the palm oil discovery).

A classic New York cheesecake with chocolate dressing.

And the signature prosecco, a good choice for sparkly wine lovers. 🍷

So, the verdict. Would I recommend Wagamama? Eh... better off with the takeaway option. As my mum says and I quote: it's shit.