After a few months, I wanted to see if they have worked the kinks since the first time I was here. My initial visit was pretty good. Had a good feeling about the place. So, it's about that time for a revisit and see what's new. They were pretty hopping but their front of the house service is still lacking. There's no attention to details when customers walk in. You just kinda stand there until they finally look at you, but even then you still stand there with your dick in your hand waiting for them to acknowledge you verbally. All that is forgivable since they're pretty much FOBs. This visit I was aiming for the dinner sets/specials... This way you can try a bunch of little bites. Let's go eat some shit.
Chawanmushi. Looks great on initial inspection. Custard is tight yet silky. It has the right amount of jiggle to it. Top layer was pretty good until it got to the middle and below... It was just a liquidity mess. It seemed like they poured the broth on the bottom, then the custard mix on top and then steamed it. Once you start mixing it the custard breaks apart and it just floats around in the liquid. It wasn't bad but it was a half-assed executed chawanmushi. The mushrooms and chicken bits inside were really tasty, though.
Chuka - Tonkotsu, gyoza, karaage, rice. This is nice little sampler. The gyoza were pretty much standard issued dumps. The chicken karaage were acceptable but needed a crispier and more texturous crust, it was too thin. The tonkotsu looked a lot better than the first time I had it. The pork bone broth is still watered down with chicken stock but not as much, still don't get the lip smacking stickiness, though. The noodles were spot on toothy, the pork was melt in your mouth tender and the egg yolk was a bit overcooked but hey, shit happens to soft boil eggs when sitting in the hot broth for too long. It's a totally acceptable tonkotsu and to have a decent one in town is another plus. I would send people here for the tonkotsu if they were intown.
Sashimi & Udon - Udon soup, tempura, inari, sashimi. Another pretty decent dinner set up. You got every thing you want right there... Savory, crispy, soft, velvety and slurpy. If your mouth could get a boner, this could start the blood flow. The udon was simple but satisfying, the tempura was crunchy and made to order, no frozen crap here. The sashimi and inari were your standard assortment but they were fresh and tasty. Can't complain too much about this set, nice, simple and clean.
Green Typhoon “Midori no Taifu” - Soft shell crab, cream cheese, shrimp, eel, kabayaki tare, spicy aioli, aonori, crispy karaage onion. This signature roll is a fucking mess. The entire thing is indistinguishable under that fried onion toupee. Every flavor is mixed together and totally tasteless except for the goddamn cream cheese... That fucking cream cheese haunts me. Don't even bother with any of their signature rolls, it's all the same. Even their traditional rolls are suspect except maybe the spider roll which I'm a total fucking idiot sucker for. There is no reason to waste your time, money and pouch space for these jacked up rolls. Stick with the regular sushi, sashimi and ramen here.
I still like this place, they will be on my radar for awhile. For the location and demographics around here, they serve pretty decent realish Japanese grub. The staff still needs more training and hopefully the menu will get more consistent. Seems like they're trying to do too much on the menu. The pouch says, don't try to do a lot of things well because it will never happen... Do a few things really well and you will have a hit. If you have that one awesome dish you're known for (tonkotsu...wink wink), everything else will fall into place with time. Keep it up, motherfuckers.
339 14th St NW
Atlanta, GA 30318
404-390-3798
http://wagaya.us/
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