Wagaya - Sydney

For a friend's birthday, we ended up in Wagaya again.

The "again" seems to carry a negative connotation huh?
But that is totally not the case.
I was very excited to play on the LCD screen menu again - and since this time, we have 7 people instead of 2, it means that I get to sample much more foods! :)

This time, the drinks menu was also sampled.

Drinks menu

As it was my friend's birthday that night, he received a complementary drink - the "Opal".

October birthday drink - Opal

The "Opal" looked very flashy when it came. Very sparkly~

Sparkly Opal - complimentary

But, sparkly flashy things soon fade and we were left with a slightly ordinary looking grapefruit juice + syrup (and possibly colouring). The birthday boy took a sip - and it was too sweet! But that's probably because he didn't mix it, and all he drank was syrup.
After mixing, the drink became much less sweet (and slightly bitter) - commented my friend.

Non-sparkly opal

The other cool-looking drink which was ordered (sparkle-less) was the "Sapphire". Again with a piece of grapefruit as decoration (grapefruit must be cheap), it was actually pineapple juice + blue colouring (oh, and syrup of course). Again too sweet, my friend opted to pour water to dilute the potion.

Sapphire - $5.90

Onto the food now.

One of my friends (let's call him G for convenience) was rather obsessed with ox tongue and fried foods.

Hence, ox tongue was ordered ($5.50). The comment about Ox tongue was "it's like french-kissing a cow". Mmm... nice imagery over dinner. Nonetheless, another plate of this was ordered later during the night so I guess french-kissing a cow isn't too bad after all!

Ox Tongue - $5.50

We also ordered my favourite- scallop sashimi ($6.90). As before, this was still very yum and very nicely presented :)

Scallop Sashimi - $6.90

The Renkon Chips ($5.50) were very crispy and bought along a light taste. It was well liked by all on the table.

Renkon chips - $5.50

My deep-fried loving friend, G, also managed to punch Chicken Nankotu ($6.50) on the computer screen. Chicken nankotu is chicken soft bone - battered and deep fried. G seemed to enjoy these very much. As for me... I don't really have any opinion about eating deep-fried bones.

Chicken Nankotu - $6.50

Something I really wanted to order last time was the sushi roulette ($8.50). And yes - it was just salmon sushi loaded with wasabi. And since my company were all wasabi-lovers, I guess it didn't bother them all that much LOL :)

Sushi Roulette - $8.50

Instead of ordering noodles or hotpots or rices, we decided to order sushi galore!
The first on the table was the rainbow roll ($9.80). Nicely presented, the sushi tasted nice and fresh.

Rainbow Roll - $9.80

Another highlight of the night was the lightly grilled salmon and scallop box sushi ($11.90). The scallaps and the salmon were nice and fresh and juicy and grilled to perfection - all topped off with mayo and flying-fish roe. Mmm... So delicious that we ordered two of these~

Lightly grilled Salmon and Scallop box sushi - $11.90

Also deliciously presented was the spider roll ($8.90). Sushi pieces topped off with a huge chunk of soft-shell crab. Presentation wins my vote. And the taste... well, like every other spider roll (which isn't a bad thing).

Spider Roll - $8.90

Now for something a little different. The Rice cake gratin ($6.50) is basically rice cake with a tomato-y gravy and heaped (and I mean HEAPED) on with cheese. Very very cheesy. But the rice-cakes were a bit too sticky and gooey for my liking.

Rice Cake Gratin - $6.50

My friend G, managed to get quite a few more deep-fried dishes on our table.
This included agedashi tofu ($5.50) complemented with moving bonito flakes. Not bad. The tofu pieces were nice and bite-sized. The tofu was smooth and silken. And the sauce... same as every other. But, not bad overall.

Agedashi Tofu - $5.50

There was also the deep fried chicken karrage ($6.90). Super deep-fried. Looks ugly no matter which angle the photo is taken but enjoyed thoroughly by G.

Chicken Karaage - $6.90

Then there was the deep fried Crumbed Cheese ($6.50). Sounds wierd. Tastes average. Apart from the lightly crisped coating, it tastes similar to me putting a small chunck of tasty cheese in the microwave.

Crumbed Cheese - $6.50

Pan fried Home-made gyouza was also ordered. Appealing-wise, it scored low. The fact that they were all stuck together also implied that the chefs were lazy and our little gyouza's were all cooked as one (again, not great). Taste-wise, again the same - very average.

Home-made Gyouza - $5.90

One of my friends really wanted to eat the salmon sashimi ($6.90), and hence, it was ordered. For $6.90, I guess I expected a bit more. AND it came out on a WARM plate! How can they do that??? What were they thinking bringing sashimi out on a warm plate >.<

Salmon Sashimi - $6.90

The dish that was in the cooking-process for longest was the dried squid ($13.50). But it was definately worth the wait! It reminds me of the Cooking-Mama game where you have to flip, re-flip, and flip flip flip again on the grill and whilst using the fans non-stop. And it tasted delicious!!! Mmm - juicy and tender and full of that "grilled" favour.

Grilled squid - $13.50

The pork-skewer with miso paste ($5.50) was the last order for the night. It wasn't bad. If I didn't read the menu, I swear it tastes like chicken (or maybe I was too tired to tell the difference LOL). Nonetheless, the miso was nice tasting.

Pork Skewer - $5.50

LCD menu

I think that the LCD ordering menu system is very efficient and in generaly, a good system. When the food is cooking, there is a cute little chef man next to the order, and when the food is done and able to be bought out soonest, there is a picture of a bowl of steaming noodles. Hence, the service here is not bad. The ambiance is also great for a chill or a catch-up with friends.

Ratings:
Food - 7/10
Service - 9/10
Ambiance - 8/10
Value for money - 7/10
Overall - 31/40

Wagaya
Lvl 1/ 78 Harbour St
Haymarket NSW 2000
Tel: 9212 6068