Monday 13 September 2010

wagamama, cbd

A tale of disappointing noodles:

very boring noodles

I'm not sure why I thought Wagamama in Melbourne would be any better than Wagamama in Perth, as it's a chain, and just as bad the country over. The vegan options are severely limited, and the only soupy noodles on the menu come with zucchini and ratty, tatty beanshoots. Zucchini, one of the most inappropriate vegetables ever. Would a little bok choy or gai lan be that hard to come by? The zucchini just didn't work at all with the broth. And I know that beanshoots get gross really quickly, but these ones were just bitter and taily and yuck. The broth was a bit boring too, we had to sauce it up with soy sauce and chilli.

Regretfully, the service was also terrible; though the juice was adequate.

We never would have ended up at Wagamama if Enlighted Cuisine wasn't closed for lunch on Sundays, truly a learning experience and a tale of woe.

Wagamama
83 Flinders Lane
Melbourne

6 comments:

Celeste @ Berrytravels said...

I tried wagamama in the city and at chadstone, both were really disappointing. Guess it's pretty much settled that they are not very good then!

Unknown said...

Wagamama around the world varies. I had Wagamama in Salsbury (UK) and it was awesome. But then Wagamama in Dublin and Perth - same soup - not so great. Also, they deep fried the gyoza in Perth whereas mostly it's steamed.

Also, it seemed Wagamama in the UK and Ireland serves limited drinks, whereas in Perth you can get cocktails!

Anonymous said...

Interesting to see the difference, given that I love Wagamama here in London and they are really good with vegan options and veganising dishes. Outside of the UK I have only been to their Cairo store and it wasn't great but it sure as hell beat falafel for the 10th day in a row!

Fiona said...

Aw, I quite dig Wagamama! Maybe because it's convenient when I'm in the CBD for other reasons (and Enlightened Cuisine seems so. far. away when you are already around the area. This is probably the point where you tell me about the tram that goes down Swanston St directly there or something.)

I found they've always been good about vegan options. There's a list here of what you can have changed: http://wagamama.com.au/food/dietary/vegan, which is handy.

steph said...

@Celeste I guess it is! :o(

@Christine that is interesting, I guess I shouldn't rule them out in other locations, maybe take it on a state by state basis. :o)

@vegetus yeah, I'm thinking I should keep an open Wagamama mind!

@Fi, thanks for the link! There are some things on it that I wouldn't have thought were available for customising, so it would be interesting to give it a go. And, sadly, there is no tram direct from that end of the CBD to EC! It requires either walking, or catching a Collins St or Flinders St tram and then changing, and changing trams is effort!

Fiona said...

I totally agree, changing trams is a ridiculous amount of effort. It shouldn't be, but it always is and if someone says, "You go here and then change to this tram and go there" I will inevitable go "uuuggggggghhhhhhh." Hence why I can never be bothered going to Brunswick Street unless we are driving there on the way to throw me out at work.