Wednesday, 17 October 2007
(Ferret Food) Julian Lynch is impressed.
~
It's new, me and the lady fancied a night out, hence Positive Eating + Positive Living, which is what Wagamama is all about according to their website. Fuck knows that's supposed to mean.
I had:
1 x diet coke
1 x duck gyoza
1 x chicken katsu curry
1 x chocolate fudge cake
Newly opened in Oxford town centre, Wagamama is like noodle bar, but for people who don't like thumping techno music with their meal. It's hard to miss down... 'Cornmarket street' *ahem*, being right next to the seedy back entrances to the Covered Market that always stink of fish and have sinister men hanging around in them. It's excellently located for a dinner in central Oxford, as long as you don't want to park too near it.
Here's that marking scheme again:
30 points for food
30 points for ambiance
20 points for service
10 points for price
10 points for drinks
--
Food-wise, Wagamama is deceptive. It tricks you into thinking it's going to be Noodle Bar with a touch of class - the menu is pretty much the same, and is even on one of those loathsome paper placemats that the staff insist on scribbling on all the time. But the food is better. Much, much better.
For example, the gyoza and the katsu curry. I have had them both before, lots of times. They're nice enough, but usually have a kind of processed taste to them, and leave you with a slight MSG headache. But the food at Wagamama was different. It looked (dare I say it)... hand made. It looked like it might have a chef involved in the process somewhere. The ingredients were fresh... E-numbers were not to be tasted. All in all, I was suprised, and very pleasantly so - I'd go so far as to say this was a properly cooked oriental meal, rather than fast food. Seeing as the only other place in Oxford you can get that (at least at a high standard) is Edamame, that's a serious compliment.
The one let down was that the starters and mains were a little conventional. To be fair though, I'm probably only noticing that because the pudding was fun, and possibly one of the most delicious I've ever had. It was chocolate fudge cake... with wasabi in it. Sounds vile? It really, really wasn't. The wasabi brought down the richness of the chocolate, and made the cake morish and accessible. It also went a long way to ditching any sort of chocolaty after-taste, and left the mouth with a pleasant tingle for some time afterwards. I've had far, far worse puddings in restaurants with a Michelin star. Wagamama isn't the kind of place that really encourages you to eat pudding, but if you go there, don't miss out on their hidden gems.
Food: 24/30
--
Ambience... well, Wagamama was clean, and I don't get upset about benches and shared tables in a noodle bar - that's part of the experience. The decor was also very un-Oxford, and not in a bad way. Cool and cosmopolitan, it made me feel like I'd stepped over to central London for a few hours (without the expense). A nice little urban moment. There was no dance music to try and speed people up, we got reasonable space on the tables, and the place was extremely clean and pleasant all round. I didn't manage to try the toilets though... oh well, next time.
Ambience: 25/30
--
The only problem here was that the staff were a little bit shouty. I was scared out of my skin a couple of times when someone sneaked up behind me then suddenly bellowed 'IS EVERYTHING ALRIGHT FOR YOU GUYS???' in my ear. I also have to say I kind of disapprove of the Noodle Bar-inspired habit of writing down people's orders on their menu. I get the impression it's done so that people who are surprised by the contents of their meal can't claim they really ordered something else.
I'm quibbling to avoid looking like I've gone all gooey though. Staff were polite, service was very quick and efficient. In fact, the fact there's really very little to say here is a big compliment.
Service: 15/20
--
Wagamama is a touch expensive for what it is... I feel Noodle Bars really ought to be cheaper that traditional chain restaurants. That said, the food really was worth the price, even if it's a bit too expensive for regular visits.
Price: 6/10
--
Drinks... well, there was a decent selection of the traditional Asian beers, and the few drinkable Merlots and the like were available in the wine selection. No let down on the soft drinks side either. In fact, the drinks were pretty much perfect matches to the food - posher drinks would have just been a bit silly. Could have been a few imaginative signature drinks, but I'm actively looking for problems again.
Drinks: 8/10
--
Overall... my, yessssssss........... I'm never soiling myself in Noodle Bar again. Calmer staff and lower prices would make this place perfect for an unpretentious meal, but even as it is it's great.
78%
I had:
1 x diet coke
1 x duck gyoza
1 x chicken katsu curry
1 x chocolate fudge cake
Newly opened in Oxford town centre, Wagamama is like noodle bar, but for people who don't like thumping techno music with their meal. It's hard to miss down... 'Cornmarket street' *ahem*, being right next to the seedy back entrances to the Covered Market that always stink of fish and have sinister men hanging around in them. It's excellently located for a dinner in central Oxford, as long as you don't want to park too near it.
Here's that marking scheme again:
30 points for food
30 points for ambiance
20 points for service
10 points for price
10 points for drinks
--
Food-wise, Wagamama is deceptive. It tricks you into thinking it's going to be Noodle Bar with a touch of class - the menu is pretty much the same, and is even on one of those loathsome paper placemats that the staff insist on scribbling on all the time. But the food is better. Much, much better.
For example, the gyoza and the katsu curry. I have had them both before, lots of times. They're nice enough, but usually have a kind of processed taste to them, and leave you with a slight MSG headache. But the food at Wagamama was different. It looked (dare I say it)... hand made. It looked like it might have a chef involved in the process somewhere. The ingredients were fresh... E-numbers were not to be tasted. All in all, I was suprised, and very pleasantly so - I'd go so far as to say this was a properly cooked oriental meal, rather than fast food. Seeing as the only other place in Oxford you can get that (at least at a high standard) is Edamame, that's a serious compliment.
The one let down was that the starters and mains were a little conventional. To be fair though, I'm probably only noticing that because the pudding was fun, and possibly one of the most delicious I've ever had. It was chocolate fudge cake... with wasabi in it. Sounds vile? It really, really wasn't. The wasabi brought down the richness of the chocolate, and made the cake morish and accessible. It also went a long way to ditching any sort of chocolaty after-taste, and left the mouth with a pleasant tingle for some time afterwards. I've had far, far worse puddings in restaurants with a Michelin star. Wagamama isn't the kind of place that really encourages you to eat pudding, but if you go there, don't miss out on their hidden gems.
Food: 24/30
--
Ambience... well, Wagamama was clean, and I don't get upset about benches and shared tables in a noodle bar - that's part of the experience. The decor was also very un-Oxford, and not in a bad way. Cool and cosmopolitan, it made me feel like I'd stepped over to central London for a few hours (without the expense). A nice little urban moment. There was no dance music to try and speed people up, we got reasonable space on the tables, and the place was extremely clean and pleasant all round. I didn't manage to try the toilets though... oh well, next time.
Ambience: 25/30
--
The only problem here was that the staff were a little bit shouty. I was scared out of my skin a couple of times when someone sneaked up behind me then suddenly bellowed 'IS EVERYTHING ALRIGHT FOR YOU GUYS???' in my ear. I also have to say I kind of disapprove of the Noodle Bar-inspired habit of writing down people's orders on their menu. I get the impression it's done so that people who are surprised by the contents of their meal can't claim they really ordered something else.
I'm quibbling to avoid looking like I've gone all gooey though. Staff were polite, service was very quick and efficient. In fact, the fact there's really very little to say here is a big compliment.
Service: 15/20
--
Wagamama is a touch expensive for what it is... I feel Noodle Bars really ought to be cheaper that traditional chain restaurants. That said, the food really was worth the price, even if it's a bit too expensive for regular visits.
Price: 6/10
--
Drinks... well, there was a decent selection of the traditional Asian beers, and the few drinkable Merlots and the like were available in the wine selection. No let down on the soft drinks side either. In fact, the drinks were pretty much perfect matches to the food - posher drinks would have just been a bit silly. Could have been a few imaginative signature drinks, but I'm actively looking for problems again.
Drinks: 8/10
--
Overall... my, yessssssss........... I'm never soiling myself in Noodle Bar again. Calmer staff and lower prices would make this place perfect for an unpretentious meal, but even as it is it's great.
78%
~
A gourmet conspiracy
Follows Julian.
They want to make sure he doesn't get served from the secret menu... the one everyone else gets to order from when they're not with Julian.
@Kyra And I found the whole "in, eat, out, uber efficiency" kind of de-humanising
You'd hate eating with me, then- the only place I feel really comfy eating in nowadays is in my car or at home. I *liked* the in-outness of it then, and I think I'd still like it now.
I see the Oxford branch has tried to reproduce something of this effect by giving out a misleading address, but I fear it's just too delightfully small a city for any restaurant to be genuinely elusive for long.