Snapshots from the UK: Wagamama's Defunct #28 (Chili Mushroom Ramen)
"Is my ramen some third grader who's no good at dodgeball and gets picked last for the team?"
The now defunct Chili Mushroom Ramen.
Do you have that one thing, that favorite thing, on that one menu that you always order? You go back to that same restaurant for that same dish, year in and year out. But would you go back if that dish was brutally, surreptitiously stricken from the menu one dark night when no one is around to save it? This is the story of how I was separated, cruelly, from my Chili Mushroom Ramen: #28 at Wagamama.
Wagamama is a ubiquitous British noodle house chain, at which customers seat themselves up and down clean communal tables and clumsily scarf up huge strings of ramen noodles with chopsticks. No. 28 Chili Mushroom Ramen was a tortoise-size bowl of spicy vegetarian broth laced with whole wheat ramen noodles, doused with God knows what deliciousness, spiked with limes, spring onions, sliced fresh chilies, and bean sprouts, and crowned with sliced grilled Portobello mushrooms. I anointed it with chili oil. It was like vegan fire, and it was the light of my life.
Iconic Wagamama Chili Oil.
My history with #28 is an emotional one. I am not the kind of expat who turns her nose up at all things American and suddenly finds herself speaking with a continental accent. Um…no. I was on a waitlist in Oxford to buy nine-dollar Smuckers Goober and five-dollar Kraft mac and cheese. As Americans, we should know that you have to pay high prices to cure any disease, and homesickness is no exception.
Then one day, I went with a new English friend to Wagamama, and I ordered #28. It was a new dish—only on the Oxford menu. Just like me! We met, and we fell in love. When I was lonely, I sat at the noodle bar with #28. When I was writing my dissertation and couldn't see straight, my computer and I sat at the noodle bar with #28. When it was cold outside and I had cold, me and my box of tissues sat at the noodle bar with #28. You understand. In a world full of Branston pickle and tuna salad with corn in it, it was my life line. I didn't even have to order; I sat down, and #28 would appear.
Wagamama, Oxford.
I went home to the U.S. for six months. I've wondered if #28 missed me as much as I missed it.
And now I've returned. My boyfriend took my hand and said, "I know it's hard to be back, but I'm taking you to your favorite place." Wagamama! I was to be reunited not only with him, but with my dear, precious #28. And then I saw the menu in the window—it was different. My heart stopped. They had chili chicken ramen; chili beef ramen. No, no, no! It wasn't the same thing! I scanned frantically over the ramens—it must be here!
It was gone. Just like that, slain in the night, stricken from public memory. Murdered. I looked up at him, and cursed his Chicken Katsu Curry addiction to Hell. Why should Chicken Katsu Curry survive when Chili Mushroom Ramen was clearly the better person, clearly deserved more to live!?
"There's no point," I said. "There is no reason for me to come here ever again." And with that, as though from a grave, we walked silently away. Needless to say, I had lost my appetite.
I called Wagamama the next day, and was told that #28 had not made the cut because "it wasn't very popular." What is this? Is my ramen some third grader who's no good at dodgeball and gets picked last for the team? I felt like the blind mother of some ugly, uncoordinated child who impresses no one. How could my very favorite thing not be loved, admired, and adored by absolutely everyone?
I was surprised by the force of my reaction, by how much comfort really is involved in comfort food—especially when you are continents and oceans away from the comforts of home, like twenty-five-cent mac and cheese. It's a good thing profound grief and loss leave you anything but hungry, because now I have nothing to eat.
Has this ever happened to you? Have you been able to raise your dish from the dead? Does anyone have #28 at their Wagamama? And Mr. Wagamama, if you're out there, bring back my #28!
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18 Comments:
Are you based in London? If you are, then why not try Tampopo? (http://www.tampopo.co.uk) In my (humble) opinion, it's much better than Wagamama's and has a better range of tasty vegetarian specialities. And it serves Kimchi!
misscay at 5:20PM on 06/28/09
I think it's not just #28, it's with any restaurant who lost their touch on certain dishes. For example, I used to be a hummus fanatic at this particular place. I would rather sacrifice my paycheck to take a longer lunch break, so I could travel from Midtown to downtown. Yes, just for 'my #28" hummus in a pita. It may seem like a simple sandwich, but one bite into it when I'm hungry, it satisfied all my worries. But at last, the price has raised and now the hummus just seems a bit 'off' not. Maybe too much tahini?? I don't know, but the moment is gone and I haven't been back for over 2 years. I wanted the good memories to live on so I won't be disappointed. I'm too afraid to go back now...
gargupie at 5:22PM on 06/28/09
The Chili's restaurant chain used to serve a chili burger that was actually their "Old Timer" served open face with a quarter cup or so of chile con carne and cheddar cheese. They stopped serving it so I stopped visiting Chili's restaurants. This will not make any difference to them and I know it, but that was the only thing on their menu that I liked.
Grumpy Old Man at 5:29PM on 06/28/09
Everyone knows that the Chicken Katsu Curry is *that* dish at Wagamama.
Spielo at 5:36PM on 06/28/09
A current perusal of the wagamama website says it's available. At Harrogate • High Wycombe • Mermaid Key, Cardiff • Oxford • Salisbury • Sheffield • Silverburn • Heathrow Terminal 5 • and Walton-on-Thames.
But lucky you all the same: we didn't even have Wagamama when I was at Oxford. We had to make do with Red Star and Noodlebar. I do love becoming a regular someplace though. The guy at Hassan's on Broad Street stopped asking me what I wanted some time into my first year. When I came back from the States, dragging my suitcase behind me, I wouldn't even go to my apartment without going for a kebab first.
shoneyjoe at 6:16PM on 06/28/09
@shoneyjoe: See, I looked through that list as well, but I'll have you know I wrote a whole paragraph about it's disappearance from the Terminal 5 menu months ago, which left me somewhat disconcerted about how long it would remain in Oxford (I edited that part out). And of course, it's off the Oxford menu now. So I can't trust that list. If anyone is in the other locations, update us! But I don't know how you made it through Oxford without it. I do love my kebab van, but at the same time, I like knowing that there's a place I can go that won't give me a heart attack.
@Grumpy Old Man: That is exactly what frustrates me! That feeling that Chili's just doesn't care that you only went there for that one dish. That's how I feel. I mean, I've asked about it every time I've gone into Wagamama; I feel like good business means they'll listen. After all is said and done, I've started going back, ordering the chicken chili ramen with no chicken and substituting in whole wheat noodles. But now I'm paying a pound or two extra, and actually getting less. It's quite frustrating. But they are sort of winning, aren't they?
@misscay: Thanks! I'm going to try that!
@Spielo: Yeah, yeah, I know EVERYONE loves it! I like it fine; but it's not #28.
Kerry Saretsky at 6:24PM on 06/28/09
The British do some things so, so right when it comes to chain/snack food--Sainsbury's supermarket, Marks and Spencer's, Cranks, the satisfying burp of the plastic sandwich containers of Pret-a-Manger. And the delightful jacket potatoes from carts. And chip shops.
And then, they put sweetcorn on pizza (and in one eggroll I consumed there).
Some things are just impossible to understand. Perhaps the disappearance of 28 is another mystery. Drown yourself in some saag aloo or other Indian food!
HeartofGlass at 7:15PM on 06/28/09
At first I was happy when the Wagamama settled down in my hometown in the Netherlands and I was all the more happy with the fantastic broth that my noodles were served in. However, on subsequent returns the broth turned out to be different every time and not as fantastic any more :(
I also didn't like the service actually on these returns. I mean, I know that it's basically a fastfood place, but putting a sign at the entrance stating that you have to wait to be seated and not actually paying attention to incoming customers who wait to be seated is kind of annoying.
I think the service and the different broths are the main reasons for me not frequenting that place anymore, although I would recommend it to people who'd like a different eating experience, I guess.
kurgerbing at 7:18PM on 06/28/09
I used to visit one of the original Wagamamas back in the early '90s, in London. The wait was forever, but the food was cheap and really good. They used to have all-you-can eat soba, and all you can drink Carlsberg, for about £10.
We have one in Cambridge, but we almost never go. The food isn't as good anymore, and the prices are high. We have a local Japanese place that is cheaper and better. Were polygamy not illegal, I would marry their fried vegetable dumplings. Their udon noodles could be best man.
NotAmerican at 8:13PM on 06/28/09
Maybe it's in one of the Wagamama cookbooks- there are 3 versions available on amazon....
jennysettle at 9:11PM on 06/28/09
Wagamamas is so bad. It's so far removed from the Ramen you get in Japan it's ridiculous. This so called Ramen further illustrates that point (it looks more like a bizarre tom yum gong than anything Japanese).
Samwhich at 6:17AM on 06/29/09
The Thai sauce at Buffalo Wild Wings disappeared one day and I haven't been back since.
cebonney at 10:01AM on 06/29/09
Another fan, cooking from their book:
mushroom chilli ramen (from wagamama recipe book!)
almostalwayshungry at 10:16AM on 06/29/09
I have this happen to me all the time. Apparently I have odd tastes, because my favourite at any chain seems to disappear off the menu sooner or later, while others' faves remain. This is probably why I don't go to chains much anymore. When you finally find something worth eating, they remove the option to eat it!! I hope you find some relief with the cookbooks!
psychsarah at 1:04PM on 06/29/09
lovely story kerry
"It was a new dish—only on the Oxford menu. Just like me! We met, and we fell in love."
Your ramen romance inspired me to whip up a similar recipe :)
hungrychristel at 1:53PM on 06/29/09
Kerry, try this page. It claims to have the recipe.
http://my.opera.com/kirstycat/blog/chilli-mushroom-ramen-from-wagamama-recipe-book
Good luck!
jrambonnet at 3:25PM on 06/29/09
I also read that it's still available at various locations:
http://www.wagamama.com/food/item/chilli+mushroom+ramen/297
jrambonnet at 3:28PM on 06/29/09
I too have know this particular form of heartbreak--specifically with the Peking duck pizza at California Pizza Kitchen. I've been back since, but it's always such a hollow meal without my beloved Peking duck.
licoricewhip at 10:17AM on 07/01/09