Nice and Noodley at Wagamama Boston

By: Finance Foodie

London: Two summers ago, when I was visiting London, my friends suggested we go to Wagamama (Wags) for a quick meal (she had read about this place in a guidebook). I prefer not to eat chain restaurants when I am on holiday (chains seem so....corporate) but I was desperately craving something (anything) other than the traditional "fish and chips" lunch (read: cheap Asian type food). My friends and I set off to find this pan-asian noodle house, but after searching for over 3 hours with no map and false directions given to us by (I suspect) equally lost tourists, we were unable to locate this place. Hungry and tired, we gave up and ended up at the local pub with......fish and chips, natch.

Fast forward two years: I had forgotten about this incident until my friend who was visiting from out of town suggested we go to the Boston Wags, as she was missing it from her days in London. I became very excited at this idea since I was not aware that Wags existed outside of the UK (note: there are only two locations in the US - one in Boston and one in Cambridge). Finally, I would be able to try the place that we searched for in vain a few years back!

We get to the restaurant, which is located in the touristy Faneuil Hall marketplace. We sit at one of the long wooden tables that we share with a few other parties (how Asian/picnic-like!). Our waitress, pierced and tattooed to the hilt (Wags apparently likes to have creative looking employees), was a bit intimidating at first sight, but was actually very friendly. Plus, she took our order on this cool PDA-type thing....how techie!
I ordered the yasai yaki soba, which was a dish of whole wheat noodles with egg and a bunch of veggies. It arrived steaming hot and smelled like a delicious mountain of carbs. The dish itself was pretty standard (basically noodles with vegetables), but it was sure tasty! The portions were very generous (almost enough for 2 lunches) and there was a good blend of plump shiitake mushrooms (my favorite mushroom), scrambled egg slivers, and firm and flavorful sauteed noodles.

Including tax and tip, my meal was only $10, so I definitely was not expecting a culinary masterpiece. I would say Wags is a great place for the price (very low), atmosphere (cute/modern), and food (satisfying /served quick and hot). I would recommend Wags as the best bet if you are looking for a place for a quick but yummy sit down lunch or if you are looking to satisfy a Westernized-Japanese food craving.

Wagamama

Faneuil Hall
Quincy Market Building
Boston, MA 02109