Wagamama Westfield London

Wagamama at Westfield White City, London

Wagamama, in Westfield, is normally very busy, but we arrived early for lunch so we were seated swiftly.

They have a system in place for fast service; waiters are equipped with handheld devices to take orders which are then directly transmitted to the kitchen where they start making your food straight away. It reduces the time taken for the waiter to go back and forth to the kitchen, which is great when the restaurant is busy. The food is brought to you as soon as it is ready. This means that you don't necessarily get your starters before your mains and you will probably be watching your friend eat their food before yours turns up, but at least your food will always arrive hot.

When we mentioned nut allergy, the waitress brought out a few enormous folders and went through the many laminated pages to verify that our order was fine. It made us wish we had checked this information on their website in advance. Using her PDA, the waitress sent a message directly to the kitchen with the order regarding the nut allergy.

The Firecracker (prawns and vegetables in a spicy sauce with rice), arrived first and had good flavour and lots of heat. Lollipop prawn kushiyaki (with lemongrass, lime and chilli) came on small sticks, and were tasty . The small bowls of Miso soup were comforting and came with pickles on the side, which had a nice crunch. The Teriyaki soba, with a small piece of grilled salmon on a bed of soft sobaramen noodles and crunchy vegetables, was delicious and not too sweet.

We enjoyed the meal. The portions were generous, the food is light and the umami flavours left a lovely taste. We finished with the Jasmine flowering tea, which is not only beautiful to watch it open in the warm water, but a good digestive aid with a lovely aroma.

(Wagamama was set up by Alan Yau, the man behind Hakkasan, Yauatcha, Busaba Eathai and more recently, Park Chinois.)