Wagaya, Fortitude Valley, Brisbane

February 06, 2012

An Izakaya style Japanese Restaurant finally opened in Brisbane's Chinatown last year in 2011 and I have to say, the interior was a fusion of traditional and modern. With the timbered private booths and the touch-screen ordering systems in each, dangling down lights and the combination of the timber and bamboo blinds seperating each of the booths.. Normal seatings and private bookings are accepted and with the self-touch-screen-ordering system in each of the booths allows everyone to order anytime, as much and at their own pace.
The front counter after you walk up the stairs to the restaurant after getting in from the main entrance. When you arrive either with or without a booking, you'll be greeted by the usual Japanese greeting "Irashaimasse" which literally means "Welcome".

The private booths in which customers would sit at after being escorted to one of your own.

You can see from the photo below that each of the private booths are accompanied with the touch-screen ordering system. The light hanging from the walls was not too bright, nor was it too dim either.

Each table had the touch-screen ordering system and a plate, chopstick and tissue already set out on the tables.

I like the idea of having hallway lights underneath the private booths. It gives that feeling of ambience and that..

Yes.. I took a photo of the touch-screen ordering system when it showed the Restaurant's name on it. Good timing right?

Menus.. The food menu and the drinks menu. Although they had more drinks list on the menu than the food menu, they had the essential Japanese dishes that a Japanese restaurant should have including Curry, Ramen, Udon, Rice, Sushi, Entrees etc. Most of the meals are set meals which would be, for example, the ramen would come with dumplings or maybe a bowl of their special rice.

The touch-screen ordering system has all of the dishes on seperate categories, although at first I was abit confused as some of the dishes were in more than one category. But basically, the way you do this was that you would find and pick the dish you would like to order then click on it where it will take you to how many you would like and whether you were ready to order it. And when you've hit the Order button, the order will be transmitted to their system and they would start preparing your order. Neat right?

First order brought out was the "Chicken Katsu" Obentou ($12.90). Portion was enough, maybe more than enough. Unless you were really hungry or you have a big appetite..

Comes with Miso Soup and consists of Rice, Agedashi Tofu, Fried Ebi, Cream Croquette, Salad, Japanese pickles, rice and your choice of main dish.

Chicken Katsu was the choice at the time and it came along with a fe vegetables around it as well.

The Cream Croquette and the Fried Ebi. Fried Ebi was normal I think, but I like and have always liked Croquette especially the Cream croquette ... <3 i prefer it than the vegetable croquette..

Second dish chosen was the "Unagi Tamago" ($13.80) literally meaning "Eel Egg". This is basically a combination of eel and egg and tofu as well. This is a set menu so it came with rice, miso soup and pickles. The egg I thought might've been a bit mushy but seeing that it was eel, kinda made it all good. Or maybe that's because I'm an Eel fan?

Can you see the mushed egg ....

yipppeee... try the sushi time.. it's sometimes hard to get sushi plated out with a decent price as well in Japanese restaurants, as it's either you have to go to those Sushi Trains or a fine-dining restaurant where you could've gotten half the amount of sushi..

The one that caught my eye from the menu was called "Lightly Grilled Salmon and Scallop Box Sushi" ($13.50).. Why did they call it box? Because the sushi was shaped like a box and not the usual round shape.. Topped up with caviar and mayonnaise .. and you can see that it was sightly grilled..

Sometimes, I don't tend to but I do self-praise myself for my own photography XP I really like this photo of the sushi.. You can see from the side how it has the rice at the bottom and has a slice of seaweed around the top where it then is topped with Salmon and Scallop.. Look at the texture and how they made it half-half.. This was interesting and it was really delicious.. Maybe it was because I am again another "Aburi" fan which means the lightly grilled sushis are a thumbs-up from me.. Usually they would taste nice anyway..

Tried one of their mocktails called "Turquoise" which bases itself as the birth stone of the month, December. And I was born in December, so I though I would give this a try... This is a non-alcoholic drink by the way ..

And now, Dessert time........ I don't remember the name of the dessert and when I tried looking for it in the menu I couldn't find it.. I'm pretty sure it was on the touch-screen ordering system though.. Anyway, they sell different varieties of desserts ranging from normal scoop of ice cream to a dessert mix platter and so on.

It was Green Tea ice cream in the middle of a puff bread served with cream and red bean.. The taste was not as wow as I thought it would be, but it was just a simple nice dessert to finish the lunch off.. Although, maybe I would've preferred finishing it off with the sushi again hahahh

Sat infront of one of the counters where the chef was out front making some sushi .. I liked how they decorated it with the Sake bottles and how they used spotlight lights on top and not really strong lights giving a softer feeling to the area. And again, their overall interior were supported by the combination of timber and bamboo.

Make sure you check out their Cherry Blossom Tree.. It is in the middle of the back area of the restaurant where on the left and right side are both the private rooms.