Wagamama, Spinningfields

So I've told you before; I hated fish and anything remotely Oriental, apart from special fried rice from Golden Harvest. Then I got a grip and started to try new things, and found that Japanese food is actually amazing, and that I now love it.

I recently struck up an online friendship with a lovely lady called Zoë, who turns out to be the manager of Wagamama in Spinningfields. She told me tales of ginger and white chocolate cheesecake, and lovely bits which had me hooked on the idea of visiting. I have to point out that this wasn't on some weird site, it was actually Instagram! After weeks of chatting online, we finally met in person last week. She's a little doll and I gave her cake (see said Ginger and White Chocolate Bundt Cake). So I gathered my Japanese loving homie, and off we trot to have a chin wag about Japanese stuff, and eat lots of food.

After the initial excitement of a green haired weirdo delivering a massive cake had died down, we had a chat about the menu, waved at some of the chefs in the open kitchen, and soon declared that we just couldn't pick. We let them pick for us! We very nearly didn't eat at all, because we were too busy chatting with the nice folk who work there.

First up came drinks... (left to right)

Positive juice - pineapple, lime, spinach, cucumber and apple: I loved this even though it had cucumber in it; outfoxed.
Power juice - spinach, apple and ginger: By far my favourite. I'd never have known there was spinach lurking in this.
Laughing Buddha Beer: Best beer bottle I've seen in a while!
Plum wine: I had never had this before. It tastes a bit like wine mixed with cider; sweet yet not like a dessert wine (which kill me dead).

Hitachino Nest - White Ale: Who doesn't love a craft beer with an owl on it? It has an ever so slightly spicy undertone, which complemented the chilli in the food to come.

Sake: We're convinced that this got stronger the further down the bottle we got... served in rather cute ceramic pots though, which made us feel rather refined indeed.

Ebi katsu - crispy fried prawns in panko breadcrumbs, served with a spicy chilli and garlic sauce, garnished with lime: They even have tails... That's right, not only did I eat prawns with tails, but they were gorgeous! Dip these lads in that lovely chilli sauce. 

Grilled duck donburi - tender shredded duck leg in a spicy teriyaki sauce, served with carrots, mangetout, sweet potato and red onion on a bed of sticky japanese rice, finished with a crispy fried egg, shredded cucumber and spring onions with a side of kimchee: I could eat my own body weight in this glorious item; sticky rice, sweet shredded duck, that runny egg yolk, all finished off with a drizzle of teriyaki sauce. Why oh why have I only just found this?! Need it again, stat.

Steak bulgogi - marinated sirloin steak and miso-fried baby aubergine served on a bed of soba noodles, dressed in a sesame and bulgogi sauce, finished with spring onions, kimchee and half a tea-stained egg: I had no idea that the Japanese did this stuff. Who's feeling like a complete buffoon now? Rare steak served on a bed of kimchi and noodles went down nicely, thank you very much. So filling though.

Mix it up mochi ice cream - a combination of all three flavours of our mochi ice cream (coconut, raspberry and toasted sesame), little balls of ice cream wrapped in a layer of sticky rice, served with sauce: The cases look like lychees, but they are not... They are actually made from rice in some kind of witchcraft that we didn't understand. As for the ice cream, they are like ultra cold (so cold) sorbets, which are ridiculously refreshing, but will induce brain freeze in under three seconds. 

White chocolate ginger cheesecake, served with a chilli toffee ginger sauce: Oh my lord. Cheese dreams are made of this. I gallantly announced that I could polish a full one of these if it were required. I mean the full cheesecake, not the slice. Yeah, I didn't even manage the slice... Poor show Doll, poor show. 

Lemon and ginger tea, and espresso: Minor death had set in, it was still bucketing it down, and it was getting late. I couldn't move to save my life, so we opted for the sensible option of a nice hot drink! When wild things get old hey...?

I can't even tell you how much I loved Wagamama after years of convincing myself that their food would surely be the devil's work. It was a combination of the drinks that differed to your standard list, those bowls of meat teamed with sticky rice and noodles, that god damn cheesecake, but equally as important was the lovely time we had chatting to Zoë and her team. Every one of the people who work there seem passionate about what they're doing, and even when they were rammers, seemed to genuinely love the food they were serving. I'm going back.