Someone asked me a while back to do a comparative review of Wagamama’s to the one back in Brisbane, so here goes. Wag’s is a bit of an institution over here in London with 23 locations in Central London, many more in Greater London and numerous stores opening overseas. The concept is simple – modernised, fast and efficient Japanese food you eat at benches you may share with other people. Attendants beam your orders wirelessly to the kitchen, scribbling down numbers on some paper placemats and food comes out as soon as it’s cooked, so you may get your main meal before your side dish.

There are subtle differences to the ones over here compared to my memories of the one at The Emporium in Brisbane. I think the dishes on offer do not greatly differ, but I think prices are comparatively more reasonable here in London – I think you’ll pay about the same price for a meal at many other places. Queues here at some of the more central ones are bound to be long if you go anytime after 7. Surprisingly many of them are very close to each other, so if the Covent Garden one is busy (which it usually is), then it’s very close to go the Bloomsbury one.

Living in the UK also gives you access to the member’s site that offers your even more promotions such as a free side or two for one meals at selected branches. Better yet, when a new store opens, you can even win tickets to some of their pre-opening sessions where they give away whole sets of meals all for nothing but your time. My sister’s attended two openings since moving here.

I think the concept of Wagamama’s is great, and the number of times I have been the food quality is always consistently high, though service will always depend on who is serving you.

Okonomiyaki is a Japanese speciality dish best described as a savoury pancake mixed with a pizza. Traditionally you cook it in front of yourself on a hot teppanyaki grill and even though the base typically includes cabbage, flour, egg and water, you can put pretty much anything else into, or on top of it. Abeno, located closest to the British Museum, is the only place I know of in London that serves this Japanese speciality. They also have a second store aptly name Abeno Too (the latter word meaning the equivalent of ‘also’ or ‘as well’ in Japanese).

I have eaten at both of these places and both are quite good. The clean and smooth table tops and real Japanese attendants indicate that they will serve you good quality Japanese food (appropriately Westernised for taste). Its prices are decent although typical for what you pay for Japanese in London and any of the super-deluxe okonomiyaki mixes are good value for money. Both of these places are small, so I recommend you make reservations for dinner or lunch if you intend to go on busy day or night like Friday or Saturday.

The two times that I have eaten there, the service has been good although I have heard it gets more difficult if you are eating at peak times. The staff speak to you in polite and soft tones and can explain the concept if you are new to okonomiyaki. Staff will cook the food on the grill in front of you and finish it off in the traditional manner topping it with okonomiyaki sauce, mayonnaise, seaweed flakes and bonito flakes that dance entertainingly from the heat off the hotplate. You then use mini spatulas to take pieces off the grill to your plate you can then liberally douse it in additional sauces (I highly recommend the hot sauce) for additional flavour.

Details: Abeno (7 Museum Street, Bloomsbury, WC1A 1LY) or Abeno Too (7-19 Great Newport St, WC2H 7JE)
Highlights: Okonomiyaki has strong layers of flavour and there’s nothing like eating off a hot grill.
Room for improvement: The premises are quite small and can be crowded
The Kua Rating: 7 out of 10

Persian cuisine is easy to find here in London with lots of restaurants serving it all over town. I’ve been to quite a few now but I read that Mohsen at Earl’s Court was quite a good so that’s where I went for lunch yesterday. I find Persian cuisine difficult to describe as they serve quite a number of different things such as shish-kebab style meats, lots of dips and bread, salads with lentils, and various stew type dishes, and its definitely too cliché to deem it middle-eastern.

Having been to several restaurants specialising in Persian cuisine, I can at least confidently say that there are some consistencies between them. One guarantee is that I always tend to leave feeling extremely stuffed (especially if I have rice because the serves can be massive). If the restaurant serves rice you they will always offer butter (intended for melting into the rice), and there is usually some paprika floating around in addition to the normal salt and pepper. If you order bread (Taftoon), the restaurant will generally cook it freshly in a stone oven called a Tanoor, which usually sits next to the entrance. Though very close to the same process of making Naan bread, the Taftoon is slightly different in texture being a little bit thinner and probably more intended for scooping up dips and assorted items than absorbing curry sauce.

Mohsen is located up Warwick Road away with the closest tube station being Earl’s Court. It is exactly opposite the Homebase store that can be quite odd if you get the window seats, and the restaurant is quite big all round with outdoor tables out the back that would be ideal in warmer weather. The restaurant has nice tables and intricately decorated plates all surrounded several paintings and numerous articles from various magazines and newspapers surrounding it. The food on offer is quite standard affair, and though not necessarily as cheap as several others, the quality of the food was quite good. I went for a chicken and lamb kebab that comes served with rice with both being deliciously moist and with that char-grilled flavour that comes only with real care. The lamb was probably one of the better ones I have had, and was juicy definitely from the meat and not the fat that several other restaurants I’ve been to seem to serve. The saffron rice was nice and fluffy and there was enough to finish the meat off easily. The orange juice they serve, though slightly expensive at £3, seemed like they had actually squeezed it themselves fresh and was both tasty and had just the right amount of pulp. I literally had to roll myself out of that place after eating there but was pleased that I had been to. Overall it’s good quality and although for value for food, I would still prefer Madhi, is nice if you’re in the area.

Details: Mohsen
Found On: 152 Warwick Road, W14 8PT
Contactable On: 020 7602 9888
Highlights: Good quality food and nice decor
Room for improvement: Slightly strange location
The Kua Rating: 7 out of 10