Wagamama Bedford

While the boys were away, my friend posted a link to get tickets for the preview nights at Wagamama Bedford. It's always one of those restaurants that I want to visit however, I usually chicken out and go for somewhere I've been before. I went ahead and booked the tickets while I had the opportunity even though the boys were away. I added it to the calendar and waited for the day to roll around.

Having seen some pictures and stories appear on Instagram yesterday, I was excited for our slot in the evening.

We parked the car at the electric vehicle point at the College across the river from the restaurant and walked back to the restaurant. It was strange approaching the whole new Riverside North development from that side of the river. It's all new and shiny and almost feels like it shouldn't be in Bedford. It feels like it should be in a city or somewhere other than Bedford

We had to wait outside for a little bit while our table was being got ready but it was a short wait and we were able to look at the menu while waiting.

Drinks

My normal go to drink when I'm out to eat is a Diet Cola or similar but Chris and I both went for fruit juice instead. I had a Tropical Juice (mango, apple and orange) and he had a Blueberry Spice (blueberry, apple and carrot with a taste of ginger). We both tried each others drinks but I definitely preferred my choice over his. The spice kind of reminded me of mulled wine and also the head on his juice tasted funny so maybe avoid that bit too. Jaxon was on a Kids Apple Juice which was the most amazing green colour (the top picture of the three doesn't do justice!). He practically drained his first glass in one go so it was good he had the second drink (or we would have got him water instead).

Main Courses and Sides

Each of us had the choice of a main and side or main and dessert along with two drinks each. With some careful planning, we had two sides to share between us and then two desserts also to share.
Chris was able to choose from the gluten free menu so he chose the duck wraps (they come with lettuce instead of wraps. He offered to share it with us but we decided that he could have all the duck and we'd share the "glutened" starter that Our Sidekick and I had ordered. I did try a little bit and was surprised how nice it was. The only duck I've had in the pass has been from the Chinese Takeaway and I haven't liked it. Our Sidekick and I had chicken steamed gyoza. They are chicken dumplings – and very yummy! I offered one of mine to Jaxon but he didn't want to try it.

When I booked it, I was a bit nervous about whether Jaxon would like the choices at Wagamama given how picky he can be sometimes. However following his two weeks away he seems to have found a whole new range of foods he likes. He had the mini chicken katsu with amai sauce. I think he liked the chicken because it was like a giant chicken nugget! With help from Chris he even have chopsticks a go. He had these special "easy" chopsticks which were like a giant pair of tweezers. I guess it's one way to work on fine motor skills! He wasnt' really a fan of the sticky rice but he loved the chicken and tried everything on his plate which was great.

Chris had gluten free Seafood Ramen. Our Sidekick had Pad Thai and I had Chicken Ramen. I did struggle with chasing my noodles round the bowl through all the chicken broth but it was fine and I got plenty of the noodles in the end.

Desserts

Jaxon had seen the dessert on his paper place mat and had decided that was what he was having. He'd picked the White Chocolate and Ginger Cheesecake. I was so busy trying to get some before he ate it all that I didn't get a picture of the whole slice. It was a yummy dessert

My second drink was green tea, I known usual for me to drink tea but I didn't really feel like I had room for more fruit juice. The little cup it came in was strange as I normally have hot drinks in mugs but it worked and was a nice drink.

All in all it was a lovely meal and the staff are friendly. Some of the organisation as far as getting the meal out in the right order or together could have been done better. However this was the first preview night and so things were a little round around the edges so all is forgiven. We filled in a feedback card explaining this and hopefully the staff will sort it out for tonight's preview and then the official opening tomorrow. There seemed to be inconsistent information when it came to the gluten free menu and who needed to process it but in the end it was sorted and we had a plan. Chris's food was just as yummy I believe.

This is not a sponsored post. We were able to apply for preview tickets and attend that way. All images and opinions are my own barring the Wagamama logo which is theirs.