Summer lovin’ | Wagamama Summer Menu 2014 | Bluewater Shopping Centre, Greenhithe DA9 9ST

The invisible man convention was a huge success, every seat was taken! Photograph: Wagamama

When you have a grumpy hormonal son and possibly one the world’s fussiest eaters as a daughter, finding a suitable restaurant at our local shopping centre can be a nightmare. Luckily Oliver is very adventurous and keen to try anything. His only problem is being seen out in public with his dad (or any adult), so sitting in the food hall with the possibility of seeing any of his friends is an absolute no-no. Charlotte, my 10-year-old daughter, on the other hand loves the chicken/burger/pizza options in said food hall but very little else. So now can you see my dilemma?

Luckily for us Bluewater has three main food halls. The Winter Garden is where most of the fast food chains are, therefore where most of the teens ‘hang’. The Village is possibly the most high-end that Bluewater gets. The Plaza is somewhere between so this is where we headed, unfortunately not to Tapas Revolution. For The Plaza has two restaurants that the whole family are happy to eat at – Wahaca and Wagamama.

We were off to Wagamama to try out their new summer menu. In fact we tried all the new items except the Mushroom onigiri £5.50, Grilled tuna with stir-fried vegetables £10.95 and Brown rice £2. It would have been a full house but fussy eater Charlotte stuck to her tried and tested Kid’s Chicken Katsu curry £4.50.

These juices are such a twisted rush!

We tried two new juices from the Summer menu – Saff’s Twisted apple juice (Reg £3.40/large £4.40) – freshly squeezed apple with the perfect balance of fennel and tarragon, but not in the slightest bit overpowering. Oliver and I had the Raspberry rush juice (Reg £3.40/large £4.40), a refreshing blend of raspberry and apple.

And Charlotte went for… Milk £1.25!

To start we all shared the Pork ribs £6.75 and Grilled pork bulgogi wraps £5.65. The teppan fried ribs were cooked in a Korean barbecue sauce and sprinkled with mixed sesame seeds. These ribs were fall-off-the-bone perfect, we really should have ordered another bowl. The teppan-grilled pork belly was simply drizzled in the Korean barbecue sauce and served with sweet pickled red onions, crisp bean sprouts and coriander all ready to wrap up, rather messily,  in baby gem lettuce leaves.

Oliver wanted his Coconut seafood broth all to himself. Sometimes he can be so shellfish!

Oliver, the adventurous ordered Coconut seafood broth £12.95, partly because he loves prawns and partly because it was the most expensive. You know how kids think, it cost the most, so it must taste the best. This time his reasoning was spot on – Saff and I were desperate to tuck into his leftovers! His big bowl was jam-packed with rice noodles in a coconut and vegetable broth topped with prawns, salmon, squid, scallops, mussels and tender stem broccoli. And sprinkled with spring onions, chillies and coriander cress… We definitely has a bad case of food envy!

Chicken was getting flirty with Salad. ‘Lettuce be more than friends’ he whispered seductively.

Saff ordered the Lobster super salad £10.45 – lobster and pollock with mixed leaves, shredded pink star cabbage, mango, carrots, mooli and cucumber with a nouc cham dressing, again garnished with fried shallots, chillies and coriander cress. It was packed full of texture and flavour with a great citrus tang. The portion size was good too especially compared to my Warm chilli chicken salad £9.60. The stir-fried chicken was a little dry but its seasoning added a really satisfying smoky taste. The salad part consisted of red peppers, mangetout, tender stem broccoli, red onions and baby gem lettuce in a sweet chilli sauce. This was topped with cashew nuts, chillies, spring onions and drizzled with Wagamama’s house dressing.

And Charlotte went for… The kid’s Chicken Katsu curry £4.50.

The dessert menu also had a couple of new Summer menu items. Saff and I (reluctantly) shared the Coconut mochi ice cream £4.95. The kids dared me to call it a Moshi Monster ice-cream when ordering, much to Saff’s embarrassment. Gorgeous chewy sticky rice wrapped around coconut ice-cream served with a passion fruit sauce, we can’t get enough of this flavour combo. Oliver tried the new Sweet onigiri £4.95, little balls of sticky rice mixed with coconut, deep-fried with panko breadcrumbs and served with a passion fruit sauce. Kind of like little donuts, only better judging by the way his face lit up.

And Charlotte went for… Vanilla ice-cream £1.50. I told you she was a fussy eater!

www.wagamama.com
The Plaza, Bluewater shopping centre
Greenhithe, DA9 9ST

Telephone: 01322 38 7773
Book a table here

Opening times: Monday – Saturday: 11:30am – 11:00pm
Sunday: 11:30am – 10:00pm

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Nearest station: Greenhithe

The new summer menu is available at Wagamama nationwide to eat in or take-out .

We ate at Wagamama as their guests, this does not affect our review in any way. We always write with complete honesty.