Wagamama

We met up in Civic for a late dinner on a cold night and as usual were greeted by the bubbly young wagamama staff. We sat in the window, allowing us to watch all the north quarter passers-by saunter past.

Wagamama is a chain that stretches all over the world and has restaurants in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Canberra. Their philosophy is fresh, nutritious, high quality Japanese food delivered fast. It established itself in civic’s north quarter in the last few years.

We ordered edamame to start. I love edamame and these totally lived up to expectation.  They were simply prepared, steamed with some sea salt. We devoured them.

We also ordered chicken gyoza which was the only choice on the ‘gyoza menu’ that wasn’t deep fried, which seemed a little unusual to me. The gyoza were really oily, we didn’t really like the filling, the wrappings were quite cardboardy and the dipping sauce was really salty. In short, they were really disappointing.  They also arrived at the same time as my main course. 

One of the greatest frustrations about wagamama is that they can’t guarantee your meals will arrive at the same time so it’s not a good choice for a special occasion where you’re hoping for a bit of ceremony. Sometimes the timing is perfect but we’ve also had occasions where our mains have arrived a long time apart, or our entrees (or ‘sides’ as they cunningly call them) have arrived after mains. It’s definitely designed for eating quickly and moving on.

I ordered salmon ramen which was a huge bowl of chicken miso broth, bok choi, carrot, pickled bamboo shoots, pieces of seaweed, a big stack of udon noodles and a large salmon fillet that had been cooked nicely on the grill and then placed on top of the vegetables in the broth. The broth was full of flavour and not too salty. I loved this dish; it was full of fresh vegetables and delicious salmon. It was hearty without being heavy and I’d consider it a perfect winter meal.

 

M ordered ebi kare lomen. This was a coconut cream based soup, also filled with udon noodles, lots of vegetables, grilled prawns and coriander garnish. The broth was rich and creamy with a hint of spice and  peanut; the prawns were cooked beautifully on a very hot teppan. M adores this dish and usually drinks every drop of soup after he’s finished his noodles.

Along with its ramens and other soups, wagamama makes Japanese curries, teriyaki dishes, teppan noodles, stir fries and a range of salads. They provide water and jasmine tea free of charge, which I think is really nice- no one brings free tea any more these days!

‘Sides’ range from $7 - $10 and mains are around $20. None of the wine is expensive. People complain that wagamama is overpriced which I guess is a fair criticism although the servings often include a generous amount of quality meat. We also find that they have specials so often we never find ourselves paying full price.

As we were sitting around, eating and chatting, the restaurant cleared out and the bill was subtly placed on our table. It was only 9.30 on a Thursday night, which was a bit depressing. Anyway, we took the hint and headed off home, after all, it WAS a school night.

Not everything here is great but there are some real winners. Wagamama needs to be taken for what it is- there’s no ceremony but the food is fresh and fast.

Wagamama

Canberra Centre

Shop fgo80 ground floor

125 Bunda St

Canberra

Ph: (02) 6247 1584