A Fresh Taste Of Food At Wagamama’s Watford | Restaurant Review

*We were given provided with a complimentary meal in exchange
for an honest review, so all thoughts and opinions are my own

I’m sure everyone’s seen a Wagamama’s branch on their local high street or in their local shopping centre. They’re one of those household names. My closest one is about a 5-minute walk from my flat and I can get it on Deliveroo if I don’t fancy the walk. But until recently it had been about 2 years since I last grabbed some food from there.

In my local town of Watford, there’s a lot of development going on with the Intu centre being regenerated. So it’s fast becoming a busier town to live and surround yourself in so I’ve been spending more time going out to the local restaurants. Wagamama’s were lovely enough to invite me to their Watford branch. So I decided to take my mum and dad along as they deserved a night out and a meal they didn’t need to cook themselves.

Wagamama’s collaboration with Mind

One of the great things that Wagamama’s are doing at the moment is through a partnership with mental health charity Mind. They state “We believe in nourishment from bowl to soul”. In branch through the purchase of either their ‘super green’ or ‘power’ juices, they are donating money to the charity. This helps them in their fight to end the stigma around mental health which is such a great charity to support.

We managed to have a chat with the manager in branch and she said how much the company were doing to support their staff both in raising awareness around mental health and encouraging conversations to be had. Something I think a lot of companies can learn from.

Wagamama’s Watford review

We headed to Wagamama’s on a Monday evening around 6.30pm and even then it was pretty busy which I wasn’t expecting. It felt more like a Friday or Saturday when come 7.30pm the whole restaurant was pretty much full. Although that’s the thing I love about Wagamama’s is the communal family style seating. It always feels busy as there are rarely empty tables, just empty spots at the long benches. The restaurant itself is just outside the shopping centre and in a vibrant spot full of other restaurants. All completely different from each other.

But onto the main event of the food. Usually with Wagamama’s if you order starters/ sides and a main they come out in the order that they’re cooked as everything is super fresh. I love this concept as it means you know your main meal won’t be sat under a heater to keep it warm until you’re ready for your food. We did, however, order our sides and starters before our mains so we could really get a good range of things to choose.

Wagamama’s Starters

We had a portion of the steamed chicken gyoza’s (£5.95) which are the only items I don’t have pictured here. They were so yummy they didn’t last too long. Now, these are what I’ve always ordered when I’ve come in the past and the memory of their taste did not disappoint with a beautiful dipping sauce which added a little punch.

Then there was the Tama Squid (£6.95) shown right at the top of this page which were crispy fried squid balls drizzled with a sauce. We opted for these as we all love calamari but these were on another level. With a super crispy exterior and a juicy soft interior. Out of everything we got these may have been my favourites.

Then we had some of the Korean BBQ Beef Steamed Buns (£5.95) which were so soft and fluffy with a well balanced pulled BBQ goodness inside them. The red onion and mayonnaise which accompanied it kept the slight spice down to a minimum. I massively appreciated this as I’m not a fan of anything too hot. Unlike my dad who will drizzle chillies on top of anything.

Then the final side we had was the Bang Bang Cauliflower (£4.95) which is wok fried cauliflower in a firecracker sauce. Although I didn’t give them a taste if anything is going to get me to eat cauliflower it’s these. My mum absolutely loved these and would have happily sat there and demolished the whole portion to herself.

Wagamama Food Review

After much deliberation, it was time for our main’s. In a bid to try and be ‘good’ my mum opted for the Pad Thai Salad (£10.25) which you can see two photos up. It’s one of the most colourful meals I’ve ever seen. The bed of mixed leaves, mangetout, plum tomatoes, pickled beetroot, carrot and red onion was mixed with ginger chicken and prawns. As someone on Slimming World, she was perfectly able to stay within her syns for the meal which she was happy about.

Now every other time I’ve been to Wagamama’s I’ve had the chicken and prawn pad thai (I’m such a creature of habit). But this time I threw caution to the wind and went for the Teriyaki Donburi with Chicken (£10.50) which was beautifully cooked chicken in teriyaki sauce. It came with sticky white rice, shredded carrots, pea shoots, spring onions and sesame seeds. I am so glad I opted for something different as the dish was incredibly tasty. Even though I had to give in use a spoon for my rice.

As my dad loves anything spicy the manager recommended the Firecracker with chicken (£11.95) which my dad ordered with no hesitation. He’d never been to a Wagamama’s before so had nothing to compare it against. The description of red and green peppers, onions, hot chillies and mangetout with white rice and chicken sounded like a great option. Now it wasn’t super hot (he has a very high tolerance for spice). But he said it was the right amount of heat to properly enjoy the dish which is what you want.

Saving room for dessert

Originally we didn’t think we’d have a dessert but whose to turn down something when you’re presented with a menu?! Me and mum opted to share as half a dessert is better than nothing. I remembered great things about the White Chocolate and Ginger Cheesecake (£6.25) which had a slightly crunchy base but was so light and fluffy in the actual cake. It’s definitely on the lighter end of the dessert spectrum, which after you’ve eaten that much is just what you need.

My dad isn’t always the biggest dessert lover but the Fig and Coconut Cheesecake (£6.25) took his fancy. It was just a little bit different and unlike what you see in other restaurants. And he must have loved it as it didn’t last on his plate long enough for my mum to even get a taster.

After around 90 minutes in the branch, it was time to roll on home after plenty of eating. And considering how plain I like my food it’s amazing how many of the dishes I loved, or wanted to try.

Have you been to a Wagamama’s?

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