Category: restaurant

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Honey Fried Chicken and Chicken Pho

After an appointment in Bristol we headed to Wagamama in Cabot Circus. Now I thought to myself I don’t think I have eaten at this branch before. However going through my photos using the Map feature in Apple Photos I discovered we had gone there in May 2022 and I hadn’t been impressed with the service back then.

As for the service, I was less than impressed. I know at Wagamama the food arrives when it is ready, so dishes won’t be served together. Normally I am alright with this, but this time the first two dishes arrived quite quickly, the other two took much longer to be served. By the time the final dish arrived, we had nearly finished our food. We ordered some more drinks, and they spent a lot of time on the bar, before they were brought to the table. There appeared to be a fair few staff. I think part of the issue was they were being inundated with online takeaway orders which was swamping the kitchen.

I have to say this time the service was so much better. My usual visits to Wagamama are when I am travelling or if eating locally, I find myself at the branch at Cribbs Causeway more so than Cabot Circus.   A lot of the places I would normally have eaten at when visiting Cabot have either closed down or have become something else. 

I went with a main course and a side dish. I decided I would definitely go with dishes I had not had before. I do like the food from Wagamama, but a lot of the time I order the same thing, I really like their yasai yaki soba and eat that a lot when I visit Wagamama. This time I wanted different things, also there were some new items on the menu.

For my side dish I went with the hot honey fried chicken with yuzu. This was chicken coated in hot honey + yuzu sauce, topped with mixed pickles and served with a zesty vegan mayo on the side.

hot honey fried chicken with yuzu

For my main dish I with the new pho – chicken thigh, a vietnamese-inspired noodle soup with a clear yuzu broth, red pepper, bean sprouts, spring onion, coriander, mint, lime; served over konjac noodles, a lighter alternative to rice noodles made from the root vegetable, konjac.

pho - chicken thigh

I usually avoid pho or ramen, only because they can be a bit messy to eat, being more of a soup. However I liked the sound of the dish, so against my usual behaviour, I ordered it.

The pho was really good, I really enjoyed the clear yuzu broth which had a real depth of flavour. I liked the konjac noodles too. I did think the chicken could have been better, but it was still nice. The mint was an interesting addition that I wasn’t expecting which added not just a different flavour, but also an interesting texture as well.

I have wanted to try the hot honey chicken for a while now. It was nice, but it was in the main crispy fried chicken with sauce and mayo on the side. Don’t get me wrong I enjoyed it, but I am not sure I would order it again any time soon. I washed the meal down with an alcohol free beer.

My daughter had the duck donburi with some yuzu sauce. She didn’t enjoy it as much as she thought she would, probably would have been better with either no sauce, or some teriyaki sauce.

duck donburi

Overall the experience was so much better than it was in 2022, even though the place was busy (and they had online orders as well) the service was both speedy and efficient.

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Pie and Rump

I have been to the Landing Light quite a bit recently. It’s local so easy to get to, the menu is good, with special offers it’s good value for money. As a pub food place, it’s really nice.

On a previous visit to The Landing Light I had wanted to try the Roasted Lamb Rump & Mini Pie Duo but it wasn’t available that night.

This night it was still on the menu and available. The Roasted Lamb Rump & Mini Pie Duo is described as:

Roasted rump of lamb, recommended served pink, mini minted lamb pie, rosemary & garlic-roasted potatoes, honey-roasted carrots, kale, peas, green beans & mange-tout, and gravy.

Roasted Lamb Rump & Mini Pie Duo

When the plate of food arrived, I was both impressed and a little disappointed. I thought the plate looked great from a presentation perspective; I was disappointed though with the size of the portion of lamb.

I was expecting a portion of lamb rump, what I actually got was two quite small chunks of lamb. It was also a little overcooked and not served pink as recommended, which I think was probably down to the size of the portion.

I really liked the mini pie, which though small was for a mini pie, quite a good size, nice pastry and a tasty filling. I liked the variety of veg on the plate, from the crispy potatoes, the roasted carrots and green vegetables. I did appreciate the mini saucepan of gravy on the side as well.

Though disappointed with the size of the lamb portion (have I mentioned that), I did enjoy the plate of food. 

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Wagamama at Nottingham

It was one of those times when I thought to myself, what do I want to eat, I will go with something I know and like, it’s getting late and all that. I was staying in Nottingham for a conference and having arrived the day before, I headed out to get something to eat. I chose Wagamama as I do like the food and the restaurant was relatively close to my hotel as well. I had looked on Google Maps before heading to Nottingham to see what was around, but the few places I looked at were not open on a Monday night.

Wagamama was heaving and I had to wait for a table, normally I prefer not to wait, but I did think all I probably would do would be walk around a bit and then end up back at Wagamama. I was a little surprised on how busy it was, this was the end of June on a Monday. All the students would have “gone home” and I would be surprised there would be that many visitors around compared to July or August.

After waiting for a short while I was shown to my table. I had missed out on lunch so was quite hungry, so I ordered the chilli squid, pork + panko apple bao buns, and yasai yaki soba. Despite the busyness or the place, it wasn’t too long before my food arrived.

The chilli squid, is Wagamama’s iconic crispy fried squid tossed in shichimi spice, and served with a chilli + coriander dipping sauce. 

squid

This was lovely generous portion of crispy squid. They’ve stopped doing the crispy chilli mushrooms which I may have ordered as an alternative. I did think about having the hot honey fried chicken, but went with the squid; I do like the squid and it was nice and tasty.

The next dish to arrive was the pork + panko apple bao buns, which was two buns, that contained slow-cooked pork belly with crispy panko-coated apple, sriracha and vegan mayo, topped with coriander.

I would usually have the mixed mushroom bao buns, I also thought about trying out the korean barbecue beef, but I liked the sound of the pork and apple buns. The pork was tender and soft, which contrasted well with the crispy apple.

My main dish was a regular choice of mine, the yasai yaki soba. This is mushrooms,  soba noodles cooked with egg, peppers, beansprouts, onion, pickled ginger, crispy fried onions and sesame seeds.

I think it needed more mushrooms. The amount of mushroom in this dish is rather inconsistent when I have this dish, which surprises me. Despite the lack of mushrooms, it was a very tasty dish and I enjoyed it.

Overall the food I had was very tasty and rather filling. I don’t think I really should have two side dishes with my main course, but it is hard then to choose just one. Maybe next time I will just have side dishes instead.

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Pizza in Ilchester

So, we went for a walk in Ilchester and ended up eating pizza. I’ve never been there before and we hadn’t planned to stop in Ilchester, it was merely an act of convenient desperation.

We were travelling back from Bournemouth and my electric car was running low on charge, I had planned to stop at a charger in Yeovil but couldn’t find a charger using the in-built navigation in the car. My daughter got her phone out and on Google Maps found one in Ilchester ten miles further up the road. We drove there. I did expect that there would be more chargers in Yeovil, but was frustrated that there didn’t seem to be many. There was a single charger in the car park. We stopped there and put the car on charge. We went for a walk. We found the Nuova Italia restaurant, they have a outside patio and people seemed to be enjoying themselves. They also have a table out the front with food and drinks on show.

My daughter liked the sound of the menu, and they did a good range of gluten free stuff, all their pizzas could be made with a gluten free base, and gluten free pasta was also an option.

We walked in and were given a lovely warm welcome. We sat down and looked at the menu. My daughter went with a gluten free Pizza Boss, this was a gluten free base with San Marzano tomato sauce, Fior Di Latte mozzarella cheese, roasted chicken and pancetta from Valtellina.

I had the Pizza Napoli. This was a white base mozzarella, San Marzano tomato sauce, Fior Di Latte mozzarella cheese, Tuscan Italian sausage and friarielli spicy vegetables from Naples.

They have a wood fired pizza oven and our pizza were cooked to order. It wasn’t long before our pizzas arrived. My daughter’s pizza looked wonderful. I have to say I didn’t think mine looked as nice.

My daughter said of her pizza, it was one of the best she ever tasted, the gluten free base was different to others she has had at other restaurants. 

Mine, despite the appearance was in fact rather tasty. I have a preference for the white base pizza, the sausage was delicious and the friarielli, a kind of broccoli added to the pizza.

Overall the meal was delicious, the service was excellent, it was good value for money and I think we would certainly visit again.

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Sizzling(ish) Chicken

I was staying in London close to Euston Station, my hotel was the Travelodge. Went out with the intention of having something to eat, I wasn’t that hungry, so did think about getting some tacos from Tortilla, however Tortilla was really only takeaway. I did then think about Prezzo, but in the end as it was now getting late, I went back to the hotel and had chicken and chips.

The menu called it sizzling chicken. Well I think what I got wasn’t sizzling chicken, it was pretty obvious that the chicken was not cooked on the chargrill (the kitchen probably didn’t have a chargrill). The chicken was then dressed with a spicy sauce. Accompanying the chicken was some chips, salad, coleslaw and corn on the cob. 

It wasn’t awful, but it certainly wasn’t inspiring and it wouldn’t be a dish I would order again. I know now I should have been more organised and got out earlier to get something to eat, this was London, it’s not as though there isn’t a wide variety of places to go out and eat!

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yasai yaki soba with mushroom

We were in London for a show, and afterwards we headed to the Covent Garden branch of Wagamama.

That area of London is quite busy on a Saturday evening, but the advantage of Wagamama is that you can’t book. We arrived and were able to go straight in. When we left there was a queue for the place.

There was a wide range of choices on the menu, I had initially considered a Korean hotpot with tteokbokki, however it was quite a hot day and I wasn’t sure if I wanted a hot pot dish, also for me that ruled out a ramen as well. I did like the idea of a salad, but in the end I went with the yasai yaki soba with mushroom.

This was soba noodles cooked with mushrooms, egg, peppers, beansprouts and white and spring onion. topped with crispy fried onions, pickled ginger and sesame seeds. It was really good. I love the combination of flavours and textures. It is probably my go to dish when visiting Wagamama. This dish had a good portion of mushrooms and I found it delicious.

Though service was okay, we did have a long delay on the gluten-free dish for our table. When it did arrive it was very tasty I was told. I really don’t mind that Wagamama bring out the dishes when they’re ready, but we weren’t really expecting the difference to be nearly thirty minutes! As a result I had finished my food (as it was the first to arrive) by the time the gluten-free dish arrived on the table. That was disappointing.

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So, that’s not on the menu, nor that!

We were having a meal at The Landing Light and I was looking over the menu.

I decided I really liked the sound of 

Our Roasted Lamb Rump & Mini Pie Duo – Roasted rump of lamb, recommended served pink, mini minted lamb pie, rosemary & garlic-roasted potatoes, honey-roasted carrots, kale, peas, green beans & mangetout, gravy

Alas, when it came to order, I was told it wasn’t available. So, ah well in that case I will go with the similar sounding

Our 4oz Fillet Steak & Mini Pie Duo – Two fillet steak medallions, recommended served pink, mini British steak & malbec pie, served with rosemary & garlic-roasted potatoes, honey-roasted carrots, kale, peas, green beans & mangetout, gravy

No that wasn’t available either! So, I had to choose quickly, what should I have, I thought, I went with the sirloin steak.

Though I asked for medium-rare, my steak was cooked to medium, if not on its way to well done. It was a little dry and I thought lacked flavour. I didn’t enjoy my tomatoes either.

It wasn’t awful, it was just okay. I guess I was a little disappointed that what I had my heart set on wasn’t available. I would go again, but I don’t think I would have the steak again.

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Rigatoni Pasta

Close to my office in Bristol is La Panza, now an Italian restaurant, which use to be Chatterton’s Cafe.

They have a £10 lunch deal which consists of pasta, focaccia, and a drink. I liked the idea of this, so decided I would try them out. I have been meaning to try out for a while, but I quite like a walk at lunchtime, so as it’s practically next door to the office, I often give it a miss. However this time, I went there after my walk.

Upon arrival, I wasn’t really given any kind of welcome, I had to wait a while before being seated. There is no seating downstairs, all the tables are upstairs. There is outside seating, but it was quite chilly for that, even with table heaters. The place was busy, which is probably why I had to wait a while to get my table sorted.

With the lunch deal, you have no choice about the pasta, they serve the pasta of the day. This time they had a rigatoni pasta dish with tomato, ham, and chilli. I am not sure what they would do if you were vegetarian, but there are some nice sounding pasta dishes on the main menu (but they’re not as cheap as the lunch deal).

Though I had to wait for the table, it wasn’t too long before my meal arrived.

Alongside the pasta was a slice of focaccia. I have to admit I was expecting a chunk of focaccia, but that’s on me, not the restaurant. The pasta was excellent, cooked to perfection and a delicious sauce. The bread was fresh, light and fluffy. As part of the deal you get a drink, and you have the choice of a coffee, a soft drink, or a glass of house wine.

I will take a little annoyance with the 10% service charge, I don’t mind paying for service, but for a lunch deal, couldn’t you just include the service charge in the price? To be honest the service wasn’t that good, however I paid the service charge. I much prefer it when the prices you see on the menu actually reflect the price you pay. It’s much worse in London where everywhere feels they can charge 12.5% or higher service charge. I am not sure what they’re thinking, yes pay for service, but make it part of the price of the food on the menu. It feels a little fraudulent to have “lower” prices on the menu, but these aren’t the prices you are going to pay. 

The key question, despite that 10% surcharge, will I go again for pasta? Yes I will. 

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Wagamama in the heart of the city

I do like the food at Wagamama, though I like trying new things, I also like having what I had before. On a recent visit to Wagamama in the City of London,  I went with two dishes I had before. For my starter I went with the crispy otsumami. 

This is six squares of crispy fried rice soaked in a soy + yuzu dressing, topped with pulled shiitake mushroom, smashed avocado + edamame and sriracha mayo, garnished with coriander cress.

I had these before when I went to Wagamama in Basildon. I did think this time they were even better. They are tasty morsels of yum! I like the different textures and the flavours combine to create an extravaganza of different tastes within your mouth.

 For my main I went with the silken tofu gochujang rice bowl. I had this before in Ealing in 2023. This is silken tofu in a spicy gochujang glaze on a bed of sticky white rice, bok choi, pickled cucumber, snow onion slaw, red and spring onion, red chilli, sesame seeds.

I like the contrast between hot and cold ingredients in this bowl. There are a diverse range of complementary flavours within the bowl. Overall a tasty dish.

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Time for Wagamama in Basildon

I was on my way to East Anglia and was staying over in Festival Leisure Park in Basildon at the Travelodge.

Across the retail park are various places to eat. I did walk around looking at various outlets, thinking about what I wanted. In the end I went to Wagamama with the plan that I wouldn’t have what I usually have at Wagamama. For a starter (or is it a side) I had the pulled shiitake crispy otsumami. 

This is six squares of crispy fried rice soaked in a soy + yuzu dressing, topped with smashed avocado + edamame and sriracha mayo, garnished with coriander cress.

These were really interesting and tasty. They were also very pretty. They were quite an intense flavour, but I liked them.

For my main course I went with the (new) crispy chicken sambal fry.

Described as lightly battered chicken coated in garlic + red pepper powder, mild tomato sambal, vibrant pickled slaw. coconut rice. chilled turmeric-stained egg, amai sauce on the side.

I wasn’t as impressed with this dish as I thought I would be. The chicken was disappointing, and I didn’t really like the mild tomato sambal sauce. I enjoyed the plate of food, but I wasn’t blown away by it. Think I should have had my usual mushroom yaki soba.