i was hoping to take liesl, tonite, to one of my favorite restaurants in the world — belgo, a few blocks from covent garden. but we weren’t going to be in that area after all. instead, we got off the tube at westminster, and walked across the thames to the london eye. we had reservations for an 8pm “flight”. so we got our tix, and walked north a bit, knowing there were restaurants along the south bank in that area. what we stumbled into was wagamama. and it will be one of the highights of my trip here. everything about this place blows me away — from the decor, to the style of the servers, to the hi-tech way orders are placed, to the speed of the food, to the website and values. and… especially the food. it’s a hip noodle bar, really. a thai-influenced, hip noodle bar.

we both ordered side-dishes (thinking of them as appetizers): i had duck dumplings (they looked like little empenadas), and liesl had an amazing bowl of edamame with garlic salt. omg, so amazing. i brought the extras with us back to the hotel and am just about to break them open and suck the little soy-life out of ‘em. we also both ordered fresh juices (clearly made when we ordered them) — liesl got a fruit combo, and i got one that was apple, celery, mint and lime. so good. our main dishes were both noodle bowls — liesl’s the most beautiful (and freakin’ huge!) bowl of chicken ramen i’ve ever seen, and mine, a coconut-broth mildly spicy chicken thing that tasted somewhat like ‘tom ka soup’ at thai restaurants, but with way more veggies and noodles. it was about four times as much food as we needed.

i see from the website that wagamama is all over britain, and quite a few other countries. someone would make a killing with these in the u.s. someone — please open one in san diego, preferably in east county. here’s liesl with her big-ol’ bowl o’ noodles:

and, as a little bonus, since a few of you have been nice enough to tell me you’re enjoying my cheesy little travelogue, here’s me in the london eye (which i’d never been on, always thought it was too “touristy” - but really enjoyed!) hovering over big ben and parliament (as in “house of…”, not as in the funk band from the 70s, in case there was any confusion).