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2023-03-20
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When one thinks of Watami, one thinks ... we haven't been here in forever. At least that's what boyfriend and I thought. We haven't been here forever. Once a staple place for Japanese, it pithered off and became mainstream. A place that became not a first choice when we thought of a place to eat. Out of curiosity, we decided to have dinner here after a walk through the flower show nearby with his mother because it was family friendly.They offer a la carte and sets. It seemed everyone did the set
They offer a la carte and sets. It seemed everyone did the sets so we followed. Menu is in English and Chinese. Ordering is done by scanning a QR code and you pay on your way out. It's now a bit more casual. We decided on the Recommended Dinner Set for Two ($351) and added 2 a la carte items.
The dinner set for two includes a choice of side dish, main dish, a hotpot, a signature, 2 drinks, 2 appetizers, Caesar salad and three kinds of sashimi.
The appetizer was stewed lotus root, carrot and burdock. There was two as it's a two people set. It was ok. Carrot was soft and tender. Lightly flavoured.
Caesar Salad was a bit too salty. Plenty of cheese bits as well. The lettuce was crisp and fresh.
Grilled Japanese Scallop with Butter (extra $10) was the side dish we chose. Buttery but the scallops were a bit too chewy as they were over cooked. There was some shimeji mushrooms as well that was coated in butter. Those were really good.
The main we chose was the Pork Cutlet with Scrambled Tokachi Pork Rice Box. There was more rice than meat so that filled us up. The sauce was very sweet and savory. The pork was tender and moist.
Beef Sukiyaki Hotpot was the hot pot we choose as it was the only one that wasn't spicy. The beef was ok, not too fat. Plenty of vegetables and the soup was not too salty.
The signature we decided on was the Grilled Whole Chicken Thigh with Garlic Sauce. I liked it though boyfriend wasn't too thrilled over it. The garlic sauce was served on the side and it was very garlicky indeed. The chicken meat was moist and juicy.
We added two a la carte items. The first was the Grilled Chicken Mince with Soft Bone ($39). It came with two. Quite decent tasting. Bits of softbone were found and the meat was seasoned well.
Watami Original Fried Chicken ($19) was the other a la carte item. This was a far cry from the menu photo. It also wasn't very good. Not much seasoning. The meat was dry and over cooked.
The food was ok. Not terrible and not great. Valuewise, you do get a lot for what you pay for. I can see why it's still popular all these years as it's perfect for families.
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