Wagamama - Victoria Square, Belfast

Wagamama was established in1992 and has branches in 17 countries across the world, so they must be doing something right with their food. Let this post, therefore, be mainly about what not to order at Wagamama.

We visited the Victoria Square branch last November as part of a group. The service was fast, although the staff got our order of Wagamama Ramen wrong and served us the Chicken Ramen instead.

Wagamama has the dubious honour of having the worst ramen I've ever eaten. The broth was thin and bland, as were the pieces of chicken breast accompanying it - some effort in marinating the chicken would certainly have helped. The serving size was also significantly smaller than the teppanyaki dishes that some of our group had ordered, a fact accentuated by the enormous bowl it was served in. The large bowl meant that there was a generous portion of soup, but was in this case an unfortunate turn-off with all of that tasteless liquid staring back at us.

Chicken karaage is another dish on my must-order list. While it's basically fried chicken and easy to make (theoretically at least; I've yet to try it myself), it's seldom found on menus outside of Asia. Hence, we jumped at the chance when we spotted it at Wagamama.

Sadly, the chef's hand must have slipped when preparing the chicken, as there was so much rosemary (which doesn't belong in karaage) that it overpowered all other flavours and had me spitting out bits of the dried herb. Wagamama also used breast meat instead of thigh meat, which was a tad dry after frying. Thankfully, our chicken gyoza was much better with a well seasoned filling, and the ebi katsu another of us had ordered was as crispy and as light as you'd get.

The dessert I had was delicious and the highlight of my meal - but unfortunately is no longer on Wagamama's website. It was a scrumptious tart with a tropical custard (mango or pineapple or both; I can't quite recall!) and raspberries, with dried coconut shavings that complemented the flavour.

The dessert E ordered is also no longer on the menu - and thankfully so. It was a taster trio of desserts, and a case of how less can be more. For example, wasabi does not add to the taste of chocolate fudge cake, ginger does not belong in a white chocolate cheesecake, and pistachio mousse doesn't really go with raspberry jam.

The dessert trio reminded me of Wagamama's sauce accompaniment to their gyoza. In place of the traditional vinegar + soy sauce combination, Wagamama had a chilli garlic sesame soy sauce version instead. So many ingredients, yet none of the 'extras' were really necessary and also did little to bring out the flavour of the chives. There is a reason why certain combinations exist in food, and being innovative or modern does not necessarily mean mixing up many different things.

I might still be persuaded to return to Wagamama though, as their teppanyaki noodle dishes looked tasty enough and seemed to be the more popular items too. I'll just stay well clear from the ramen!

The Ginger Tree

We celebrated my birthday a few weeks ago with dinner at The Ginger Tree, a Japanese restaurant on Donegall Pass.

It looked promising enough upon entry, with Japanese sake, whiskey and beer bottles lining the shelves behind the cashier - just as in actual Japanese restaurants and an easy way to display the range of alcohol served. As we weren't very hungry but wanted to try a variety of their dishes, we ordered the Osaka Set Menu, sashimi moriawase and a side of croquettes to share.

The Osaka Menu boasts little in relation to Osaka and its regional specialties, and was probably named because it's the largest set on the menu and the hometown of the head chef and owner. It started with a tsukidashi appetiser - crunchy French beans topped with a dollop of sweet miso sauce.

The appetiser was followed quickly by the side of croquettes. Croquettes are among my many 'must-order' items on a Japanese menu, and these were fragrant and crisp on the outside. The potato and minced meat filling had a light curry flavour, which is probably more suitable for the palette of Ginger Tree's Belfast customers than the spicier curry I prefer. Unfortunately, the perfectly mashed filling was spoiled by bits of pork fat that accompanied every mouthful - while I love to chow down fat that accompanies bacon, steak and pork chops, I was neither expecting to find nor enjoyed the chewy fat in my croquettes.

The second of 3 appetisers from the Osaka Menu was next - the tonkatsu. I was probably too greedy in anticipating a full breaded pork cutlet and was slightly disappointed by the two strips of cutlet on skewers that arrived instead. The strips of pork were perfectly crisp on the outside but slightly dry on the inside, and lacked the thin layer of fat that a good piece of tonkatsu has, which serves to keep the meat moist and juicy. The pork was accompanied by the slightly sweet kushikatsu sauce and not the salty tonkatsu sauce - which seemed wrong until I was reminded that our tonkatsu, by virtue of being skewered slices of pork, was actually kushikatsu and should have probably been named as such instead.

When our next order arrived, I was surprised to see the sushi moriawase instead of our assorted sashimi. Sashimi was the one thing I was looking forward to the most, hence had to regretfully send back the sushi and insist on our actual order. This probably the reason for the sashimi, when it arrived, being unceremoniously dumped on the table similar to how wooden blocks are deposited during shuttle runs - I was not at all impressed. Thankfully the salmon, tuna and ika sashimi were fresh, delicious and all that I'd been waiting for, despite being oddly sliced and of uneven thickness. The pieces of cooked prawn and cooked octopus added further variety.

The final appetiser from the set menu was a generous portion of tempura, consisting of two king prawns and a slice each of courgette, aubergine, red pepper and carrot and onion strips. It was a treat to have tempura again, although the honest opinion would be that the tempura was merely passable. The batter was slightly soggy and lacked the lightness that tempura should have, while the items were a tad overcooked.

It is here that a few words on The Ginger Tree's service are in order. While the restaurant was at full capacity that night, the crowd did not justify the long wait we had between courses as the place gradually filled up. Our entire dinner - that comprised neither alcohol nor dessert - took about 1.5 hours and we must have waited at least 15 min for the main (and final) course to arrive. Such a long wait was unacceptable, especially since we'd ordered a set menu that should have taken less time to prepare than a range of ala carte items.

When our Nabeyaki Udon finally arrived, we dug right in, savouring the warm, delicious broth. We were pleasantly surprised to find a slice of sweet beancurd in the bowl - something we've missed from udon in Japan - until we realised that the udon did not come with unagi as described on the menu and website. Again, the udon and tempura were overcooked too, but the broth tasted so much like what you'd get in Japan that we were willing to overlook the other aspects.

Ultimately, The Ginger Tree is a place I'd visit again, purely for their sashimi and perhaps to also try their sushi and some other items. If the craving is too strong to deny, I'd also order their tempura and udon - just not the nabeyaki unless they can guarantee unagi in it. The Ginger Tree would also be a far more pleasant dining experience if they can improve on their speed and delivery of service, as well as turn the lights up a little so that diners can actually take some photos!


The Ginger Tree

23 Donegall Pass

Belfast, UK

028 9032 7151

Four-wheeled goals

My grand plan to take intensive driving lessons while I’m unemployed has been dashed by the realisation that I will need to apply for and obtain a provisional driving licence before any school will start giving me lessons.

The process will take about two weeks, cost me £50 and I will have to surrender my passport – again, and with my visa inside this time – to the authorities handling my application >.< I just hope they won’t lose my passport, like the Embassy staff did to one of my friend’s passport.

So much for keeping myself gainfully occupied as far as possible when unemployed. In that case, I probably should purchase a copy of the highway code and start preparing for the theory test, spend lots of time looking for a proper job, take on some part-time work, and offer my services for English <—> Mandarin/Japanese translation.

On the bright side, it should all be done in two weeks and I definitely don’t expect to find a job that quickly anyway. Gargh.

Bene Spaghetti ベネ・スパゲッティ

Be warned: your ears will be assailed by the deafening chirps of the staff as you walk through the doors of Bene Spaghetti at 84 Circular Road.

And throughout your meal, you will continue to suffer rude shocks from the staff’s shouts of welcome or acknowledgement of a customer’s request for service. While the service is friendly and prompt, we felt that the jarring noise marred our experience. It doesn’t help that Bene is a small place, and the echoes of conversation and the staff’s loud voices got somewhat irritating after a while.

For an idea of how cosy Bene is: there are just two more rows of tables to the left of hte below picture, and my back was up against the wall:

The food was fusion Japanese-Italian, which meant that it was neither the best type of Japanese nor Italian cuisine. While there are many authentic Italian restaurants owned and run by Japanese this one attempted to mesh both styles together.

What resulted was a Clam and Mussels Risotto in Tomato Sauce presented Japanese style – like kamameshi (釜飯) -  that didn’t quite have the full bodied flavour that Italian risottos have from the slow-cooking of the rice. Bene also gave customers the choice of eating the risotto like ochazuke – by pouring into the pot some soup with herbs mixed in – but I felt that further diluted the flavour of the risotto.

The restaurant’s signature dish is mushi pasta (蒸しパスタ) – or steamed pasta – which is said to make the pasta soft without being wet. It’s also meant to be healthier and lighter as the pasta is cooked without oil. We ordered the Smoked Pork with Blue Cheese Cream Sauce Mushi Pasta, which scored points for its presentation:

After waiting for 5 minutes as the pasta continues to cook at your table, the dish itself was unearthed. It was indeed quite light, although the pasta was not al dente and was too soft. I felt that the pork ended up a bit too wet and lost its smoky flavour from the steaming. Boo.

A more satisfying dish was the Chicken Thigh and Bacon in Tomato Sauce Gnocchi Gratin. Though it looked a bit oily, the tangy tomato sauce was delicious and we enjoyed soaking it up with the bread given. The gnocchi was also soft and tasted great with the bacon and chicken flavours. The crunchy vegetables added a healthy touch to this dish.

My favourite dish, however, was the wonderful Bacon with Onsen Egg Pizza. I absolutely loved this as the flavourful bacon slices were fairly thick with a good bite, there was a generous amount of runny egg white and the yolk, though a tad overcooked, was still moist on the inside. I also loved that the thin crust was just the right thickness to taste substantial.

While the food wasn’t the most authentic or the best tasting around, Bene wins on its value for money. Their dinner sets cost $25 and are accompanied by a salad, a plate of assorted antipasto (olives, greens, parma ham) or homemade focaccia, a main and a choice of dessert or drink. The bread is replenishable and servings are big - our party of 6 were stuffed with four dinner sets, an assorted antipasto platter and a serving of garlic bread.

The salad is quite large:

And their Assorted Antipasto Platter ($26++) wasn’t too bad. (From left: mozzarella and tomatoes, thic omelette, grilled chicken thigh, smoked salmon, vegetables in tangy thin tomato sauce, parma ham, and olives and assorted vegetables.)

I really liked their Garlic Bread ($8++) too, as the thick slices of bread soaked up all the olive oil and garlic flavour. While Bene terms its bread accompanying the sets “homemade focaccia”, it’s the same bread that’s used for the garlic bread, which is anything but focaccia. No complaints though, as it was soft, fluffy and complemented the sauces.

All in all, I have mixed feelings about Bene. The food was okay, the service was good but had some really annoying aspects, and they have some nice quirks like presenting a frozen hand towel upon arrival and writing your name down at your table for reservations:

While this warmth of service extended to two members of staff standing outside the door to wave goodbye and hand you a complimentary slice of homemade bread each, we got slightly self conscious at the loud volume at which they said “Goodbye Simon! See you again! Thank you! Have a nice time!!”. It’s a bit too genki and over zealous, and I wonder if the staff go home with a sore throat from all that shouting.

That said, I’m not sure if I’ll return to Bene again, and if I do, I will need to be mentally prepared for the full assault on my ears.

For a look at their menu, check out Bene’s Facebook page.

日本語

Found it interesting that someone whom I thought has better Japanese than me – and had studied it to JLPT2 level in school – still made the rookie mistake of saying 「私は」, which is redundant and culturally awkward, given that in Japan – and in Japanese – the usage of “you” and “I” are rare.

It was strange hearing it three times, at the start of three consecutive sentences, in a brief conversation to introduce the self. And particularly so because I think most of us had it hammered out of our system in Japanese class somewhere along the way.

The other observation was the usage of 「ありがとうございました」. This was interesting in a different way, as it made me reflect that I only really kinda understood when to use the past tense, and when not to, only after going to Japan. I’m sure my teachers had made the difference known to us, but it was only when I got really confused from sometimes hearing people use －ます and at other times say －ました that I asked, had it explained to me, and processed it better with further observation.

I’m really not sure how much my Japanese benefitted from me being in Japan. This someone has powerful reading skills – could translate a brief news report very fast and in very well-written English (the same would have taken me much longer and way more effort) even with (supposedly) very rusty Japanese. My reading was quite good when I was still in Japan, but I think even then it may not have taken me that short a time to process that article.

Feeling 残念 for the deterioration in my Japanese skills. It’s time to try even harder to pick it back up again.

Ten Restaurant (Japanese) @ Central

We were looking for a place to have Japanese food for dinner before heading to Cuba Libre at Clarke Quay, and settled on Ten Restaurant due to its good reviews on Hungrygowhere.

I feel that the quality of a Japanese restaurant can be judged by a few items on its menu: the freshness of its sashimi, how crispy and light its tempura batter is, the firmness and chewiness of its udon, and how juicy and tasty its saba shioyaki is.

The Ten Special Bento ($20++) was a good set to order for a feel of the food at Ten Restaurant. Most of us ordered it due to the variety in the set:

 

Given its name, the tempura don is the signature dish at Ten Restaurant and the reviews on Hungrygowhere rave about how Ten’s tempura is the best in Singapore. Unfortunately we weren’t very impressed by the tempura – though it more or less retained its crispiness even towards the end of the meal, we found the batter to be a bit thick and heavy. I felt that the prawn was a tad overcooked too, and we were only given a shallow dish (like the one holding the pickles above) instead of a bowl for dipping the tempura in sauce.

 

The saba shioyaki was a bit tough and slightly dry for me, although the skin was quite crisp. Given how immensely fussy I am about saba, I’d still rate it a pass. I think we were most surprised by the quality of the sashimi here. We all agreed that it was fresh and delicious – while the swordfish could be better, it was more than good enough and the salmon was perfect.

Considering the price, we were satisfied with our dinner at Ten Restaurant. I wish the miso soup came with a lid, as my soup was mildly lukewarm by the time I got to it, but I think the impression of the sashimi was strong enough in my mind to override the average experience with the other items. We’ll be looking out for set lunches for even better value!