 | I was kindly invited to try the offerings at Wagaya so we went along this week one night after work. Stef had previously introduced me to Hotari Sushi which is part of the same group and we enjoyed the sushi train one lunch time. I was interested to see how different Wagaya would be. This link shows a short promotional video about the group that owns Wagaya and Sushi Hotari: http://youtu.be/rX-z-9ixuVo |
Located in Mid City Arcade above Sushi Hotari, Wagaya does not have obvious frontage so will naturally miss out on footfall and interest. However a decent social media campaign can remedy that!
I met Steve there and he was already seated in one of the booths. It's pretty dark in Wagaya, all dark wood with accents of hot pink from the fake cherry blossoms that are placed here and there. It's not too off putting though and the place is spacious and still shiny and new.
Ordering is done by touchscreen which is the same as Sushi Hotari and the menu is vast covering sushi, sashimi, hot entrees, rice and noodles, hot pots and yakitori. The table itself has a hot plate too for the hot pots. It was a warm day though so we didn't try that.
We did work our way through some entrees, a sushi / sashimi platter, tempura udon and some beef and chicken yakitori. That's the name for the meat on skewers.
Everything arrived promptly and the service was efficient. Given the presence of the touchscreen ordering it does mean wait staff can be hard to find as they only appear when delivering food so asking for some extra napkins or a bowl can be difficult. Having said that there is a "Call Waiter / Waitress" button on the touchscreen but I felt a bit bad for using it just for an extra spoon!
Onto the food. The sushi and sashimi was spankingly fresh and were of a generous cut. Lots of scallop, and then there was also raw prawn, cooked prawn, tuna, salmon and kingfish as well as thin slices of omelette.
The gyoza were also good and didn't taste premade. The filling was pleasant and not mushy and there was none of that mystery meat feel. The yakitori was also tasty. I had high hopes for the chicken wings but I didn't like the sweet glaze on it too much so probably not one for next time. Tempura udon was also good and I loved the bouncy texture of the noodles and the soup was not too sweet which sometimes it can be. There was only one prawn though but it was a good one!
Overall we really enjoyed the food, It's traditional back to basics Japanese cuisine and admittedly it covers the rudimentals very well.Price wise, it's more e.xpensive than little sister Sushi Hotari and I'm not 100% convinced food wise it's that much better but the seating is far more comfortable and feels a step above so the higher price point is acceptable. Compared to other restaurant prices it's mid range. Good Japanese food is all about the product and seafood needs to super fresh so it's never the cheapest cuisine but this is pretty affordable
Thank you for inviting us Wagaya. See you again!
I met Steve there and he was already seated in one of the booths. It's pretty dark in Wagaya, all dark wood with accents of hot pink from the fake cherry blossoms that are placed here and there. It's not too off putting though and the place is spacious and still shiny and new.
Ordering is done by touchscreen which is the same as Sushi Hotari and the menu is vast covering sushi, sashimi, hot entrees, rice and noodles, hot pots and yakitori. The table itself has a hot plate too for the hot pots. It was a warm day though so we didn't try that.
We did work our way through some entrees, a sushi / sashimi platter, tempura udon and some beef and chicken yakitori. That's the name for the meat on skewers.
Everything arrived promptly and the service was efficient. Given the presence of the touchscreen ordering it does mean wait staff can be hard to find as they only appear when delivering food so asking for some extra napkins or a bowl can be difficult. Having said that there is a "Call Waiter / Waitress" button on the touchscreen but I felt a bit bad for using it just for an extra spoon!
Onto the food. The sushi and sashimi was spankingly fresh and were of a generous cut. Lots of scallop, and then there was also raw prawn, cooked prawn, tuna, salmon and kingfish as well as thin slices of omelette.
The gyoza were also good and didn't taste premade. The filling was pleasant and not mushy and there was none of that mystery meat feel. The yakitori was also tasty. I had high hopes for the chicken wings but I didn't like the sweet glaze on it too much so probably not one for next time. Tempura udon was also good and I loved the bouncy texture of the noodles and the soup was not too sweet which sometimes it can be. There was only one prawn though but it was a good one!
Overall we really enjoyed the food, It's traditional back to basics Japanese cuisine and admittedly it covers the rudimentals very well.Price wise, it's more e.xpensive than little sister Sushi Hotari and I'm not 100% convinced food wise it's that much better but the seating is far more comfortable and feels a step above so the higher price point is acceptable. Compared to other restaurant prices it's mid range. Good Japanese food is all about the product and seafood needs to super fresh so it's never the cheapest cuisine but this is pretty affordable
Thank you for inviting us Wagaya. See you again!
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