Wagamama

I’ve only had Wagamama in Boston, so I was so surprised to find it at the Gatwick Airport in London! This place is a great sit-​down spot when you’re looking to kill time like we were since our gate for our flight hadn’t yet been announced. I came with my family and everyone was completely satisfied with their meals (and beer). Would’ve been better if the waitstaff were a bit more attentive and the food didn’t take as long.

I had 4 hours to kill at London Gatwick Airport and after browsing every rack at Zara, trying on 5 brands of lip crayons at Boots, spraying a ton of perfumes on myself, and reading an article about Kylie Jenner at the bookstore, I still had a lot of time and I was starting to get hungry. There are a good number of dining choices at this airport, ranging from casual takeaway spots to sit down restaurants.
Based on the prior Unilocal reviews, I chose Wagamama. Let me be clear– as an airport restaurant, it’s 3 stars; if I ate at a Wagamama on the street, I’d rate it 2 stars.
There is a good range of «Asian-​inspired» items on the menu. I focused on the ramen section. The first «red flag» is the use of chicken broth in all of the ramen soups. And the second is the number of chicken (meat)-based ramen dishes. Unless this were a chicken ramen restaurant, I’d say those are signs of inauthenticity.
Anyway, I decided to go with the Shirodashi ramen, which was ramen noodles in chicken broth topped with pork belly, soft-​boiled tea-​infused egg, bamboo shoots, and pea sprouts. The stuff on top of the noodles were surprisingly tasty. The pork belly had a nice grilled texture and a lot of flavor. The egg was cooked very well and bamboo shoots are always welcome to join my noodle parties. The pea sprouts were a bit odd but as they wilted in the warm broth, they started to taste better.
That said, the noodles and the soup were a disaster. The noodles were not separated when cooked and I had a clump of noodles that were still stuck together. And as expected, the broth was too light and barely had any flavor. Usually, the broth is the key component to a bowl of ramen.
I was thirsty and I didn’t know if it’s customary to drink tap water at UK restaurants (since not all countries serve tap water) so I asked the server «what type of water do you have?» She pointed to the bottled water section of the menu and I got a bottle of sparkling. A few minutes later, I noticed that other tables had received free tap water. Even though I didn’t ask her directly if they have tap water, I think she should have told me about the option. Now I know.

Quick service and friendly staff.
Food is a okay to me… nothing really special.

I am surprised that there are no more than two reviews of this place. This is my second time here; I always make time to eat here when I fly from Gatwick. Their service is nice, and they have good food. The most important thing is that they are able to serve the food fast, as this is a must at an airport. The location and room itself is very nice, and spacious. I ordered the Pork Ramen and was a little bit disappointed about the amount of meat as it was so little compared to what I am used to when I order this dish. I also had a mushroom nigiri and a beer, I don’t recommend the mushroom nigiri, and it was ok. Next time I will definitely try out the chilli squid instead which was my second choice.

Gatwick has really pulled its socks up since it left BAA ownership. There’s a lot of building work and clear attempts to improve the passenger experience. I’m a supporter for the new runway to be built there
Early morning breakfast is rarely the most exciting meal in one’s bleary eyed state but there’s now a range of choices available
I happened upon Wagamama, which wasn’t here the last time I flew from North terminal a few months ago. They’ve taken over the corner location on the upper level — one of my favourites as you can watch the planes if you nab a seat in the corner
I ate here to have the kedgeree as the cooked breakfast was a bit cliched. I did enjoy it but could have done with a little more curry punch
I can see myself and a hot bowl of noodles here in the future

Wagamama opened its doors less than a week ago so everything is very new and super posh. The food is pretty fly too! (Ha, ‘fly’ because it’s in an airport! Anyway…)
We were greeted by smiles from every member of staff who asked where we were flying to. Now, granted they probably ask everyone and don’t really care what the answer is, but they did a very convincing job of pretending to be interested.
As we walked in, I could see into the hive of activity that was the exposed kitchen on the left, and with it being the first week you shouldn’t be surprised to learn it was spotless.
Our waitress sat us down and asked what flight number we had. She then popped it into her little order-​taking gizmo, is assume so that we wouldn’t miss our flight. Very handy.
I ordered the wagamama ramen, a ramen soup with a variety of meat — pretty damn tasty; Mrs D ordered a curry that was beautifully presented and tasted very good according to her; and we shared (I ate most of) some duck pancakes which were delicious!
The food and service were faultless, and I think this new Wagamama is a great addition to the airport.