Back in the day, I used to think that I was pretty damn sophisticated for eating at Waga's. On the rare occasion that my uni friends and I had cobbled together more than a tenner we would treat ourselves to a plate of ramen. Then I used to come here with friends from work, we would make a Thursday evening of it - late night shopping and a trip here. I don't know whether it was because we went here so often that we got bored of it, but after a while, the dishes all stopped being exciting.
So coming back recently, I was intrigued to see what was going on at Wagama's. The menu has had a few tweaks here and there, but is still the same old; plenty of ramen, noodle soups, rice dishes and salads, plus all the sides. I love the yasai gyoza - steamed dumplings so I ordered them first, followed my my old favourite, the ebi kore lomen, the thai inspired dish of noodles, spices and coconut milk.
Now here is the thing; when Wagamamas got big, it was before every neighbourhood had a Thai on the corner, and before it was normal to go out for just dumplings, like we can do if we go to Ping Pong. So when I came here 10 years ago I thought that a Wagas dish tasted like how it was meant to authentically taste, and my ten years on taste buds detected something different. There was something weird about my Thai kore loman - it didn't taste like a Thai meal! My dumplings were great, but after sampling about 10 different flavours in Ping Pong, it was a bit...meh.
So, it was all fine, but from now on, I will keep on exploring the plentiful amount of other Asian restaurants that London now has. read more