I only have one friend who will go to Wagamama with me. Similarly, I'm the only person she knows who will go to Wagamama with her - so whenever we meet up for lunch more often than not we end up going to Wagamama.
I've always liked Wagamama; I like the atmosphere, the staff are friendly and attentive, and eating the food makes me feel like I'm being healthier - as if eating noodles and vegetables once will cancel out those three pizzas I ate the previous week.
I'm a big fan of noodles. I'd even go so far as to say I was a "noodle enthusiast" if such a thing existed (I don't think it does), so I ordered the Yaki Udon and gyoza as a side dish. My friend ordered chicken tama rice and chilli squid as a side.
The chilli squid arrived first and was cooked to perfection. A lot of people don't like squid because of the texture (it can taste like rubber bands or old chewing gum if over-cooked). But I'm a big fan and I have to say, it really was delicious.
The gyoza arrived next and they were steamed dumplings from heaven. I don't even really know what gyoza are, but I would happily order four or five portions and instead of a main if it wasn't totally frowned upon.
Then my friend's chicken tama rice arrived - freshly steamed and colourful, I felt healthier just looking at it. So my friend and I chatted, and she told me how good the chicken tama rice was, and I guzzled some more gyoza and chilli squid, all the while looking over at the kitchen, hoping my Yaki Udon would show up soon.
Now, I know that the food is cooked freshly as to order and won't necessarily arrive at the same time as the other dishes, but my friend had nearly finished her chicken tama rice before my Yaki Udon emerged. When it finally arrived, it wasn't the steamy taste-fest I had anticipated.
Have you ever accidentally left a pan on a high heat for too long? And when you remember, you return to the pan to find it's a charred mess glued to the bottom of the pan? You know that whatever it was you were cooking (say, stir fried noodles with meat and vegetables) is ruined but you're hungry, so you attempt to salvage the burninated mess by sloshing half a bottle of oil into the pan and chiselling the mess out with a spatula and gloomily eating it even though it tastes horrible?
Well, I think that's what happened to my Yaki Udon. It was a greasy, charred mush. I was really disappointed. I've never had a bad experience at Wagamama, but I really felt like my main had been thrown in a wok and forgotten. The meat and prawns were burned on one side and the noodles were oily and slimy. Normally I plough through a plate of Yaki Udon, but I gave up once the indigestion set in.
In the evening I ordered a totally non-healthy pizza to make up for the lunchtime sadness.
I'm hoping that this was a one-off, and that the Yaki Udon will make a return to form next time. Or maybe I'll just order the chicken tama rice (or some other steam-tastic, nutritious-looking main) when I next make a trip to Wagamama. Or maybe I'll just order five plates of gyoza and try not to feel judged. read more