Wagawhat?

            I just returned home from a meal out at Wagamama. It is a Japanese restaurant and noodle bar that first opened in 1992 off Gower Street in Bloomsbury. Currently, the chain has extended to multiple countries in Europe, New Zealand, Australia, and the U.S. My overall opinion is that the food is great but the atmosphere is…awkward. I begged Tom to come dine with me at the Wagamama on Southbank, right next to the restaurants Giraffe, EAT, and Strada. I remembered the delectable cuisine from when I lived on Stamford Street while I studied abroad at King’s College London. The restaurant was merely a ten-minute walk away. So tonight I waltzed up to the line trailing out the door and happily waited when a server handed me a menu and stated it would be a ten minute wait. Despite those bone-chilling ten minutes (I stupidly forgot my coat), my thirst for ramen was all the more quenched once I warmed up inside. The steaming edemame appetizer with chili and garlic salt was wonderful. My big bowl of chicken ramen and veggies was also worth the £ 8.45 I had to pay. I even splurged on a rich Asahi bottle of beer. My only reservation was the claustrophobic seating arrangement. Seriously, it is as if the restaurant chain wanted to take the annoying, suffocating feeling of an overcrowded Japanese sushi bar and transport it to London in all its glory. Tom and I were sharing benches with a semi-talkative couple to my right and a blind date to my left. I felt a lack of space at the table. Further, the whole restaurant was packed and therefore very loud. I often found myself not talking simply because I did not want to shout across the table over the dull roar of the customers. Ultimately, I had my Japanese food craving filled for this vacation. I will not be returning to Wagamama for the rest of my stay in this city.