Wagamama High Street Kensington

One of the Japanese/Asian restaurants in London, very well located. The space is very popular and can be full at the lunch time which can generates queues. I've had a Yaki Soba without prawns (yes, you can ask to remove any ingredient that you don't like) with an amazing Lucky Buddha beer. I'll definitely return to it when I return to London.

Love revisiting Wagamama every chance I get, and I chanced upon the Kensington Branch last time I visited London. Probably one of those no-fail Japanese places that won’t make you feel too poor afterwards haha. I tried out the cauliflower bomb thing and it was so good!!

Efficient service as well but we were seated in a bad area (right by the door so the cold draft would hit me every time someone came in).

So miss this Japanese chain in Porto. Absolutely love their ramen. And Chicken firecracker being my favourite.
Ate thrice here when in London for 5 days, enjoyed it everytime.

Wagamma is the best resturaunt for japanise. The food is amazing and the staff are nice. There is not one bad thing about Waggama!!!

Recently I attended an event at Wagamama that will change my eating and dining out habits forever. Prior to the event, I had to submit my favourite selections from the Wagamama menu so they could be analaysed by two fantastic foodies.

My favourite Wagamama menu items were:



#60 Mandarin and Sesame Chicken Salad (marinated chicken with mixed leaves, mandarin, coriander, red and spring onions, mangetout and cashew nuts with a sesame, thai basil and mint dressing, garnished with sesame seeds)



#48 Wagamama Pad-Thai (teppan-fried rice noodles in a sweet tamarind sauce with chicken and prawns or fried tofu, egg, beansprouts, leek, red and spring onions, chinese chives, garlic, ginger and chillies, garnished with coriander cress, fresh shallots, peanuts, mint and lime)



I arrived with 9 other bloggers for a unique experience involving a collaborative effort between their Executive Chef Steve Mangleshot and Channel 4 Taste Expert, Dr. Christy Fergusson.

After hearing a short introduction from each of them, we were each treated to an alternative dish from the Wagamama menu. The purpose was to learn about the science behind our favourite ingredients and to analyse our taste buds.



I received #37 Chicken Itame.

Chef Mangleshot & Dr. Fergusson picked up on my citrus preference from my original selection and picked a new dish to create a stronger sensory experience for me. It worked!



Dr. Fergusson, who is a Doctor of Psychology, Chartered Psychologist AND Nutritional Therapist, explained to us that only 10% of taste is determined by taste buds, and the other 90% is by smell. She also said that those who prefer chilli tend to be thrill seekers because endorphin levels are raised when eating them. We also learned that certain ingredients can trigger special emotions, memories and moods. This means our food preferences convey insight to our personalities. Whoa!!



Perhaps growing up in Florida triggers my citrusy selections on menus now?



I was a bit puzzled why Chef Mangleshot guided me to chilli, considering I’m not a big risk taker. However, I did take a pretty big gamble with naming a blog Sunny in London, when let’s face it, the town isn’t known for its tropical climate ;-)

My second entrée, #44 2nd entrée- Ginger Chicken Udon.

It was delish! I always stick with Pad Thai because I not only love the flavours, but also I try to eat gluten free. Through talking with Chef Mangleshot, I learned that it’s easy to substitute rice and noodles on the Wagamama menu for gluten free meals. I always thought they didn’t have flexibility because everything is so keenly defined by numbers on their menu.



Aside from the amazing food, a highlight of my night was talking to the two food stars, Chef Mangleshot & Dr. Fergusson.


It would be tough to find a chef who loves his profession more than Chef Mangleshot. In our conversation, he said, “For me, it’s about how well we do at Wagamama.” He truly wants people to converse with wait staff to learn alternatives to their favourite entrees, based on the key ingredients in them, and to explore the 60+ other Wagamama menu options.



The bloggers who favoured soy sauce, which forms the basis of dishes such as Yaki Soba, tried dishes such as Cha Han. This is Yaki Soba, but with rice. Dr. Fergusson suggested Donburi, because she says people who like saltier soy sauce flavours don’t like bitter dishes.



Dr. Fergusson also was a canon of information regarding the science of food. I highly suggest you explore her website to learn more.



After my second course, I was really starting to feel like I was part of a Man vs. Food episode, but somehow I found room for the dessert tray!

So, I have to ask, Sunny friends…. When you go to Wagamama, do you order their Chicken Katsu Curry? Chef Mangleshot says it’s their most popular selection. If so, maybe you’d consider conversing with them to discover an alternative that might become your new favourite?

A small lovely branch, The food and service were fantastic! My vegetarian daughter ordered the gyoza ramen - loved it! (Careful its spicy) I ordered the gluten free pad Thai with prawns - loved it! (Spicy )

First time at Wagamama ever. Decent interior for a chain restaurant, very attentive and friendly staff. Great ramen noodles. Did not liked the option to pay by scanned QR code - actually the part where I must enter my names, email and other personal information. Paid by card instead.

The best service at the Kensington High Street branch, Ellie was absolutely fantastic and really looked after us, absolutely lovely girl who obviously loves her job! Food was fantastic as usual, great busy busy atmosphere... only negatives was drinks took far too long to arrive, the food actually came before the drinks which was very odd but then there was only one guy working behind the bar so not his fault... oh and they took forever to seat us when we could clearly see empty tables so maybe someone needs a bit more training in that department but everything else was great so it didn't really matter in the end!

The experience was overall good, as expected, but I was a little bit disappointed by the katsu curry this time. It just didn’t taste as good as it used to.

Great place for ramen and for Asian food in general. Great prices, services and quality food. Definetky recomend. Specially the duck dumplings and the beef ramen.