Wagamama on King Street, Toronto

[alleycat81]

I am hardly down in the King Street West area but happened to drive by Wagamama yesterday. I believe I was around the King and Bathurst area. I was a bit excited as I am familiar with the Wagamama chain in the UK for ramen noodles and other Japanese-esque fast food and take-out cuisine. However, when searing on the Wagamama.com site, didn't see a Toronto location listed. A search on Chowhound is indicating to me that this King St. Wagamama is a place for muffins and lemon tarts!

Can someone please clarify? And does anyone out there know if the 2 Wagamamas are somehow related?

Thanks!

[kweenshaker]

I was SO excited to read the title of this post...I wish it was the same wagamama as in the e.u.!! They actually have a boston location as well, which i happily found out last year when I was there. If only they'd open a Toronto location...I'd be in japanese fusion heaven!

[Googs]

I was SO excited to find out it wasn't a chain, but rather an independent trying to carve out it's own, made in-house niche. Sounds like a good find. In these hard times I'll be spending all of my disposable locally.

[Gary]

Sanko, the Japanese grocery on Queen West, sells some of their products. A few times when we've been in there they've sold us warm loafs that just arrived from Wagamama, and they were very delicious, a slightly denser take on the typical "wonderbread" style.

Google tells me that the word "wagamama" means "selfish" or "wilful" in Japanese, which has rebellious overtones in a culture where the pressure to conform is very high.

[dxs]

Wagamama on King is no relation to the UK chain. It's just a simple cafe - sandwiches, soups, pastries, decent coffee. Good stuff though, all freshly made in-house. Their hot-out-of-the-oven cheese scones are fabulous on a cold winter morning...

[pinstripeprincess]

they do have a japanese influence though as can be seen in their breads and usually the people working there. they actually supply loaves of japanese style bread to sanko up on queen west. last i recall, they actually made a pretty decent croissant.

[lilith]

The ownder, Miwa Yamada, is a second generation Japanese Canadian.
Hence the Japanese influence

[fonz]

Had the croissant this morning and it was excellent. Small but flaky and soft on the inside.

[deabot]

Good soups and sandwiches-soups are fresh each day and very tasty. A cozy cafe for coffee, lunch or something sweet as they have good croissants, cookies and cakes.

[pinstripeprincess]

good to hear! i should drop by again sometime soon. they're usually shut when i'm in the area.