Wagaya - Westside — Restaurant in Atlanta

Update: Back in Georgia for the day and made it back to Wagaya by 9:00 to get some ramen before heading home... placed our orders immediately along with drinks and all the food except mine came out. I told one lady that cleaned the now empty dishes of the other meals that I was still waiting on my ramen, but I don't think she understood what I meant. 30 minutes later at close we see our server again to have us pay and I mention my food never came so I'd like it just packed up to go, but when he went to check, the kitchen was already closed and not making any more orders including the one I placed that waa never made... We did get our order discounted prior to paying, but I had been holding off my meal for the day waiting on this ramen... It isn't like I live nearby so just ended up crying in my car afterwards. At this point, what else is open for me to eat since what I ordered never got made?

I would like to still say thatWagaya is absolutely the BEST Japanese, potentially best Asian, restaurant I've ever been to, but I didn't even get to eat it to be sure. Still giving the food 4 stars from what I remember. However, I may just stop somewhere else that I'm certain will make my food next time I'm in the state.

Most of the Japanese restaurants I've come to enjoy in my area are Chinese owned. Surprisingly enough, this was the first time I had found a Japanese owned Japanese restaurant. The description we read about it got us super excited to visit while we were visiting Georgia during a monthly Sweet Hut and Great Wall Supermarket trip.

It 230% lived up to our expectations and imaginations. Odd number, I know. My entire party loves Japanese culture and cuisine so to find an authentic Japanese restaurant was a huge deal. We read the menu items and had expectations of how they would be, it was even better. The ONLY downsides to this restaurant was (1) they were currently out of the Matcha IPA - we were most excited to try this and (2) the location is kind sketchy at night. Being from such a small town, it was hard to navigate and feel comfortable leaving my vehicle in a place I couldn't hear or see it and it wasn't the most exquisite end to an almost perfect experience as we passed a man going down the steps to our car who stopped two stairs behind us to start urinating on the stairway.

Regardless, we cannot resist going back (though we may plan to stop during daylight hours). Next time I will also bring a fully charged phone for more photos.

We tried the Choya Plum Wine, Hitachino Ginger Ale and Anbai Ale, a Kyoko beer, Salmon Onigiri, and a dinner set that included White Rice, Gyoza, Karaage, and Tonkatsu Ramen. I'm not much of a drinker so I only tried sips of the "suds" and am unable review them. The food though... The Salmon Onigiri was absolutely perfect and I was unaware I liked pickled radish until last night. It was also my first time trying Karaage - it was so shockingly juicy yet crisp! The Gyoza and Rice were also hot and delicious! The pork in the Ramen was cooked so wonderfully - it was tender and flavorful and paired perfectly with the creamy broth! I wish I could have eaten more.

I cannot stress enough how excited yet upset I am over this establishment. Excited to go back and try more menu items, but upset that this restaurant is so far away from me. If it wasn't a 5 hour drive, Wagaya would be a staple...

I really wish I could give them NO STARS. I went on to lunch here yesterday, May 10, 2018. While there, I wanted to order ramen but my boss explained that it is traditionally prepared in a pork broth. I do not eat pork. It makes me extremely ill.

I specifically asked my server which types of ramen were prepared in/with pork broth. She explained which ones were pork based and which ones were fish based. I asked for a fish based broth and requested that no pork be added to my ramen. Of course, my ramen comes with pork belly floating all through it.

I politely showed my waitress and she took the bowl away. I watched another waiter then take my bowl to the back of the kitchen, get a fork, and remove the pork belly from my ramen. This waiter then RETURNED the bowl to the plate and proceeded to give me the bowl again. I told him, "I literally just watched you removed the pork from that bowl with a spoon in the back, and pretend like this is a new bowl of ramen. I do not want it."

He took the bowl away again, said something to a man that I assume was the manager. AT NO POINT DID ANY MANAGER apologize for what occurred. Then they attempted to give me another bowl of ramen. Which, at this point, I no longer wanted because I couldn't trust that it was prepared as I had requested. I restated that I no longer wanted the dish. They took ALL of my food (the ramen came with two sushi rolls) as if I didn't want the sushi either. The man that I assume was the manager, and the waiter that I watched remove the pork looked as if they had an attitude because I no longer wanted the ramen. Then I had to explain that I still wanted my sushi rolls. They told me that I had to purchase the sushi a la cart and offered no apology or anything for ruining my original order.

Needless to say, I will not be a patron at this establishment EVER AGAIN. There are tons of great sushi places in Atlanta and West Midtown. The staff made very light of a situation that could have made me ill. I hope no one with severe food allergies patrons...

My wife and I decided to give Wagaya a shot last Friday, having the takoyaki, salmon trinity sushi, katsudon and tonkatsu, all of which were served with enormous portions - you definitely get your money's worth here. We also enjoyed the peach sour and choya wine to accompany our meal. The restaurant is tiny, but it lends to its heavily Japanese-influenced style and vibe with its intimate and cozy seating arrangements. Despite waiting a good while longer than what we were told when we first walked in, the servers were pleasant albeit absent for most of our meal, which could be chalked up to a busy Friday night. As for the food...

Takoyaki: the takoyaki was by far some of the best that we've had in Atlanta, which is surprising considering all the Japanese restaurants around. Each of them had a perfectly crisp exterior with a hearty chew of delectable octopus.

Salmon Trinity: we weren't too into this sushi. Something about it - my wife thinks the rice - just tasted a little off, as in either lacking quality or cook. Also, we asked the waiter to give us whatever sushi he recommended that was RAW, but the salmon trinity was anything but.

Katsudon: the pork was very flavorful, but the fried exterior wasn't nearly as crispy as you'd expect a typical katsu dish to be - probably steamed by the bed of rice it sat on. Same as the sushi, I wasn't big on the rice itself.

Tonkatsu: my wife had the ramen, and while she enjoyed it, we both felt as though there are other Japanese restaurants not too far away that serve ramen with more punchy flavors.

Overall, we had a decent experience at Wagaya. It was fun to finally give it a try after it had been on our radar for so long. The food was fine overall, with some of the (personal) shortcomings I could only believe to be due to a crazy night for the staff - the restaurant was completely slammed from when we got in to when we left, with parties waiting...