Wudon Noodle Bar, Great Western Road Glasgow
Mr Eats loves sushi, so after a
lovely day shopping down the iconic Byres
Road, we walked to short distance Great Western Road,
home of Wudon Noodle Bar. We had previously heard that this was one of the best
places in the city to eat some great sushi, so we decided to try it for
ourselves! Instead of going for a main each, we sampled 8 dishes in a sort of
do-it ourselves tapas style. This meant we got to try more at the one time. We
ordered Californi Rolls (crabstick, avocado, Japanese omelette rolled in fish
roe), Dragon Maki (king prawn tempura, raw salmon, sesame seeds), Sake Nigiri
(raw salmon over sushi rice), Sake Maki (raw salmon in sushi rice and seaweed),
Tori Katsu (chicken in breadcrumbs with mild curry sauce), Warteeps (soft
dumplings of pork, king prawns and shitake mushrooms), Tze Jup Salmon (salmon
fillet with blackbean sauce) and Hotate (grilled scallop).
Mr Eats: I never like walking into a
restaurant and it being empty, I don’t think anyone does. There was one other
table and as like in most restaurants we were seated on the table next to them. I
ordered myself a glass of Merlot and the waitress asked if we wanted some prawn
crackers to start. I’ve never had prawn crackers from a Japanese restaurant
before, they weren’t like your typical crackers from a Chinese restaurant - they were
larger, thicker and a golden brown. I have to say that I prefer those to
the Chinese ones! It felt more like I was actually eating a starter instead of
eating some prawn flavoured polystyrene. On the table we had some chilli oil
and that added a bit of a kick to them. On with the sushi!
I ordered the Califonia Rolls,
Dragon Maki, Sake Nigiri and Hotate, but I managed to try abit of everything.
California rolls are probably my favourite
type of sushi. I’ve never been a huge fan of avocado but in sushi it seems to
work. These California
rolls probably had the strongest taste of avocado which I ended up liking and
I’ve never had fish roe but it added an extra subtle flavour. The only bad
thing I would have to say about these is that the rice fell apart when I used
the chopsticks.
California Roll
The dragon maki is the best of
both worlds – a mix of nigiri and maki. Really good flavours and you could tell
the fish was really fresh. The sushi held it’s shape – no faults for this one!
Sake Nigiri (Left) Dragon Maki (Right)
The Sake Nigiri and the Sake Maki
are the two most typical types of sushi, it was good quality and enjoyed a bit
of simple sushi whilst being adventurous and trying new flavours.
I’ve only had scallops once before
so I’m still learning to be able to taste the quality of the cooked scallops.
The Hotate had a really nice texture, nice caramelisation on the outside. Not
something that I would think to put on sushi, but it worked well.
Sake Maki (Top) Hotate (Bottom)
Mrs Eats ordered the Tori Katsu
and this was probably my least favourite out of everything. I do like Chicken
Katsu but it just didn’t work in sushi form. The chicken was cold and a little
bit dry, but the rice and sauce were cooked well. I just didn’t think it worked
aswell as others.
I’ve never had a Japenese
dumpling before, but the Warteeps had a very strange texture. It was somewhere in between
undercooked pasta and gluey mashed potatoes. As horrible as I’ve just
described, once you got used to the texture, it was actually really nice. Pork,
prawns and mushrooms – I can’t fault it, they all blended together nicely.
Mrs Eats also ordered the Tze Jup
Salmon, although when it came out she thought she wouldn’t like it so I dived in to try
it instead. It was quite hard to eat using chop sticks, as it just flaked away. The
blackbean sauce went really nice with the salmon, it had a chicken taste to it,
as if it had been cooked in a chicken stock – but it was really nice and I
liked it.
In terms of price, sushi is
always expensive. It came to roughly £30.00 not including drinks, which does
seem a lot for a mix of something so small, but because it’s rice you get
pretty filled fast. It’s a healthy alternative to a takeaway or fast food
restaurant, so for a full meal for two, I was happy to pay it.
Wudon is a great little
restaurant with good service and even better food. I would definitely come back
to this Great Western road gem!
My 5 point sum up:
-
Great food
-
Good service
-
Wide selection
-
Fresh fish
-
Definitely would go again
Mrs Eats: I’m not as big of a fan of sushi
as Mr Eats, but I enjoy the simpler types. I was looking forward to going to
Wudon as it has been rated highly on other review sites. It was really easy to
find after a short walk from Byres
Road although for the number one spot for sushi,
it was surprisingly empty for a Saturday afternoon.
Sweetened Iced Lemon Tea (Left) Merlot (Right)
I really enjoyed the Japanese style
prawn crackers, they didn’t have an overly fishy taste like some, it was a
subtle hint of prawn. When dipped in the chilli oil at the table, it was a
really nice combination and it was a great wee starter. I also had a sweetened
iced lemon tea, the waitress was very nice in trying to match the amount of
sweetness I liked in it and I thought that was a nice personal touch. It was
cool and refreshing, and was needed on a hot September day.
Chilli Oil
My choice of sushi were the Sake
Maki, Tori Katsu, Warteeps and the Tze Jup Salmon. The Sake Maki is my
favourite type of sushi, plain and simple raw salmon and rice. Dipped into a
little soya sauce – perfect! You could really tell the difference between this
authentic sushi, over store bought or even something along the lines of Yo!
Sushi. The fish was lovely and fresh, and the rice had just the right amount of
stickiness to it, which is key to perfect sushi.
I got the Tori Katsu because I
adore Chicken Katsu curry, but I didn’t want a big main when I could try lots
of different things. It was a strange concept to me, having chicken in sushi,
and I’m afraid for me it just didn’t work. I don’t know what I was expecting,
but the chicken and curry sauce being cold just didn’t taste right to me, the
curry sauce went a bit grainy and it just wasn’t enjoyable at all. I love
Chicken Katsu, but unfortunately, it should be left in a curry and not rolled
in rice and seaweed!
Tori Katsu
The next thing were the Warteeps,
which is a soft dumpling with pork, king prawns and shitake mushrooms. When I
first tried them, it was hard to get used to the texture (a sort of uncooked
pasta), but once used to them, they were absolutely delicious. The mushrooms
added a good consistency to the inside, and the pork added a nice saltiness to
the blander dumpling. I wasn’t sure that I could taste the king prawn to be
honest, but I loved the dumplings and craved more once I’d finished.
Warteeps
My last choice was the Tze Jup
Salmon, and when it first came out it wasn’t what I expected and it didn’t
appeal to me at all. Mr Eats started chowing it down, and I had to try it for
myself, and I was pleasantly surprised. The salmon was lovely and tender,
flaking off into the caramelized sauce. It tasted to me like a sweeter, BBQ
sauce and it really was pleasant.
Tze Jup Salmon
The only one of Mr Eats sushi
that I tried was the Sake Nigiri, which is one that I have when I’m ordering
myself as take away. The salmon was so fresh, it really complimented the sushi
rice underneath. Again, a clear favourite for me.
Overall, I did enjoy Wudon. I
wouldn’t necessarily be in a rush to go again, but that’s because my preference
isn’t Japanese cuisine. If I were to go again, I would maybe opt for a full
Chicken Katsu curry with a side of the Warteeps, as they were just delicious! I
would definitely recommend them to anyone that wants to try something
different. The price was quite reasonable, working out at around £15.00 per
person, this is great considering how full we were by the end of the meal. I
feel that because the sushi was rather cheap and it came in between 1 and 3
pieces, it was easy to try a lot and really experience Japanese cuisine.
My 5 point sum up:
-
Fresh food
-
Great customer service
-
Value for money
-
Wide range of options
-
Would go again if Mr Eats wanted to
Thanks for reading, and remember... Enjoy your meal
Mister and Missus Eats x
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