Wagaya

Wagaya is a modern Japanese restaurant located in China Town, Fortitude Valley, Brisbane. They have a very extensive food and drinks menu, where you can ONLY order from a touch screen. Even if you just want a glass of ice water, you still have to select it from the touch screen menu and can't order from the waitress/waiter!

I've been to Wagaya several times for dinner (most times I called to make a booking because they can get so busy), but a couple of times I just tried my luck and turned up early (say around 5:30-6pm) to have an early dinner without any booking.

There's good and bad with having the touch screen menu...... it's easy to order because you can see a picture of all the food. The touch screen also gives you a running list of what you've ordered and how much it costs so far. But because it's so easy to touch and order, you may end up ordering too much and it can end up being very expensive!

I think most of the food items are reasonably priced, but some things can be quite expensive. So you really have to pick and choose what to order if you don't want to spend too much! It is quite possible to order and try several different things without it costing too much, you just need to choose wisely.

All the tables are booths, which creates privacy for the diners.


About a month ago, we visited Wagaya for dinner and this is what we ordered.........

The touch screen

Takowasa - $6.90
 Takowasa is a starter that I always order. This is basically raw octopus cut up into small pieces and then marinated in wasabi sauce. Very good to nibble on while chatting with friends and drinking!
Spicy Chicken Wings Fry- $6.50
 Next came the spicy chicken wings! The serving size was ok, there was basically two whole chicken wings (drumette and wingettes x 2). The flavour was good and it was crispy.
Scampi Sushi - $7.90
 Scampi!!!! One of my favourite! The sushi rice was just right and the scampi on top was fresh and tasty
Iced Green Tea Latte - $4.50
 Iced green tea latte is very good value because not only is it a drink, it can also act as a dessert because it has a scoop of green tea ice cream inside! I say it's good value because the drink can last for the whole meal, as the ice and ice cream melts.
Assorted Yakitori (Ox tongue, chicken, salmon, prawn) - $13.50
 This was the first time I tried yakitori at Wagaya. The yakitori menu in my opinion is quite expensive in general (starting from $7 for 2 skewers). We decided to try the assorted yakitori because it seemed to be better value for money! And also, you get to try a few different things. Out of the 4 meats, my favourite was the ox tongue and the chicken! Both were tender and juicy. The ox tongue was a thick cut, which meant plenty of meat!
Grilled Salmon Wing - $7.90
 The grilled salmon wing was quite nice! Sprinkled with salt and then grilled until crispy. It is served with lemon and grated white radish and soy sauce. I also thought this dish was quite reasonably priced as something similar at other Japanese restaurants would cost from $9.00.
Scallop Sashimi - $7.90
 Normally we would order the Assorted sashimi and sushi platter, but because we wanted to try other cooked food that we, we opted to only have a little bit of sushi/sashimi instead of a huge platter! The scallop sashimi was cold and fresh.
Lightly Grilled Salmon Sushi - $9.90
 Aburi salmon nigiri! If you order this from sushi train it would cost you $4.50 for 2 pieces! So at $9.90 for 5 pieces, it is extremely good value!
Mentai Mayo Chips - $5.50
 OK, so this was a 'special' menu item. The small picture on the touch screen doesn't really show clearly what this was, so I thought I'd order it and try. Afterall it was only $5.50.............. When the dish arrived, it was basically potato gems mixed in mentaiko flavoured mayo. Let's just say, this will be the last time I order this dish........ because I think it's something that I can make at home.
Salmon & Avocado Hand Roll - $3.90
The salmon and avocado handroll never disappoints. Whenever we have already eaten quite a bit and can see that the bill is getting expensive, but we are still a little bit hungry....... we order a hand roll! It is cheaper than most sushi places but it tastes way better! The seaweed is always crispy!

Even though there isn't much 'service' from the staff, I really like dining at Wagaya because I prefer the non-intrusiveness. The touch screen menu eliminates any language misunderstandings and incorrect ordering, either by staff or customers. The food is brought out very quickly too! Although I must say, if you order sushi/sashimi it could be that it's already cut/made and just put in the fridge and brought out to you when you order. But if you order hot food, it is definitely freshly made for you.

Wagaya Website

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