Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Wagamama

A couple of weeks ago I ventured out to Chadstone Shopping Centre so I could take a look at the renovations. I arrived around lunch time and decided to head to Wagamama for lunch as I hadn't been there since the QV restaurant had closed. I was seated at a massive but lonely table down the back, as I was dining alone. Not long after, a lady came back to take my order. They always serve amazing fresh juices, so I ordered the special juice for the day - apple, rockmelon and passionfruit. I also ordered the vegetarian (yasai) cha han. Also known as, vegetarian fried rice.

Thankfully I brought a book to read because my food seemed to take a life time. My drink was brought out five minutes after I had ordered it. My food, although ordered at the same time as my drink, took 45 minutes. Yes, that's right. 45 minutes. If not more. I had one or two people ask if I had even ordered any food or was just there for a drink.

This, of course, really annoyed me and I wanted to tell them just to forget it, but then I would waste even more time trying to find some other food. They did redeem themselves later on, though. As I went up to pay the bill, the lady asked me if my food was late and then proceeded to put a comment into the register. She then only charged me for my drink. That definitely made me feel better. $4.50 for a fresh juice and massive bowl of rice? Hell yeah.

The rice was okay, but I could make it myself at home. I should have gone with my usual Wagamama Ramen. Maybe next time.

Wagamama
Chadstone Shopping Centre
Lower Ground Level
1341 Dandenong Road, Melbourne



Apple, rockmelon and passionfruit juice. An amazing combination.


Yasai Cha Han.
Vegetarian fried rice, including fried tofu, pumpkin, mushrooms and snowpeas. Good combination, but something I could quite easily make myself at home.


The included side dishes with my rice: Miso soup and pickled vegetables.

Kitchen Workshop

The day I visited MoVida was a massive foodie day for my friend Lisa and I. Luckily we didn't have breakfast that morning. After a big lunch at MoVida and a coffee and cupcake (mine, thankfully was eaten the next day), we ventured on to Kitchen Workshop at Crown Casino for some dinner. We couldn't decide on a place to eat, so we figured a buffet was a good idea so we could eat anything we wanted.

We weren't completely sold on the idea of a buffet until the friendly staff said we could go in and peruse the food before deciding what to do. The first thing you see when you walk in is the desserts fridge. It housed tonnes of little shot glasses full of tiny desserts. This was the main selling point. That and the chocolate fountain. We then proceeded to look around and there was a vast selection of hot and cold food, including a massive hot plate/barbeque where a chef prepares fresh stir-fry vegetables that you select yourself.

We tried quite a few of the dishes and they weren't terrible. Surprisingly, the cold food and salads were the low point. We tried many of the desserts and most of them were just so-so. The "coconut mousse" was just whipped cream with toasted coconut sprinkled on top. Very disappointing. Take note, we didn't eat all that's shown on the plate. We basically grabbed one of everything so we could try it all. We're greedy, but not pigs.

For ~21 dollars for dinner, it wasn't a bad meal. We got to try so many things that it was worth the money. We don't eat enough to really take advantage of the buffet situation though. But the prices weren't bad, the staff were very friendly and it was a relatively nice setting for a casino. We would probably go back.

Kitchen Workshop
Crown Casino
Ground Floor, Clarendon Street Entrance



Clockwise from left: Maple-roasted pumpkin, Barramundi, roast potatoes, saffron rice, mexican bean mix, cheese tortellini, steamed broccoli with slivered almonds.
The bean mixture was amazing. All the other components of this plate were also quite nice. The pasta was surprisingly good for something from a bain-marie.


Bean and corn salad, cucumber slices.
The bean and corn salad was pretty terrible. I'm not sure why. Maybe it had been sitting around too long.


Vegetable stir-fry with oyster sauce.
This was the stir-fry that Lisa chose. It was very nice. Unfortunately we tried this after the desserts so we were too full to appreciate it.


Clockwise from left: Trifle, "coconut mousse" (aka. whipped cream), chocolate mousse and lime jelly with fruit pieces.
All bar the coconut mousse were alright. They weren't anything special. The fruit was nice and fresh, though.


From left: Lamington, chocolate brownie, chocolate-covered marshmallow (from the chocolate fountain), strawberry jelly and strawberry mousse.
The lamington was my favourite part. The strawberry mousse was also a surprise hit with me.