Tried and Tested: Wagamama New Vegan Suika Tuna Steak (watermelon) #Veganuary #SurreyVegans #SurreyVegansEvent

Photo: Wagamama.com

 
Here at Vegan Prose, we were super excited to be invited to a Veganuary event to celeberate the launch of Wagamama's New Vegan Tuna steak, which is made from seared, sliced dehydrated watermelon - served hot. 

You may remember last year Wagamama, in collaboration with amazing Vegan Chef, Gaz Oakley, brought out the first vegan egg in January, this year, they said they wanted to launch another 'iconic vegan offering'.

The Suika (meaning watermelon in Japanese) Vegan Tuna Steak, priced at £12.95, is served with sticky white rice, as well as miso sesame, kale, tender stem brocolli, tofu guacamole, shallots and more, meaning the fresh tastes shine through while filling you up. 

We were lucky enough to attend an event hosted by Wagamama and Surrey Vegan Events, and we were proud to be a part of it. We got to experience the dish with fresh eyes as we had never stepped in a Wagamamas before! There is an extensive vegan menu and we both said we would go back without delay, it was a wonderful exprience all round.

 The night also featured a workshop hosted by Coco Sato, renowned origami artist. 
You can see above some of our handywork as we made prawn chopstick rests. It was great to be taught by Coco, and she showed us some her extensive work - which can be seen on her Instagram page!

Part of Coco Sato's Origami Workshop

Coco was doing the Veganuary challenge and was pleasantly surprised by the tastes 
she can experience on a plant based diet- check out her stories for what she is cooking and eating while doing the challenge.

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As our first visit to Wagamama we were unsure of what exactly to expect.
Having heard their unique radio adverts in the past we had an idea it
wasn't to be any average experience!  We barely got in the door before
our expectations were instantly superseded. A vibrant, friendly welcome
and stunning restaurant.
Wagamama's boast an impressive portfolio of Veganuary specials, seeing
the launch of their first all Vegan menu, all lovingly prepared by their
skilled chef's.

First to arrive was the 'Vegetable tempura'. A colourful array of fried
veggies, in a wonderfully light batter with a separate soy sauce to dunk
at leisure. We also had the steamed buns, we'd never seen or tasted
anything like it! A mesmerising offering, so carefully assembled. The
textures of the mushroom, soft buns and vegan mayo recipe worked
amazing together.




For our main, we experienced the 'Vegan Suika Tuna' dish. It looked divine and we knew we were in for yet another fascinating meal! What ingenuity to
use the delicious watermelon, combined with some fantastic Wagamama flavours
and classic vegan ingredients to make the 'steak'. Everything in the dish looked so
appetising and tasted really fresh. Even the tofu guacamole is made every
morning at their restaurant. The watermelon 'steak' itself did look
convincingly like the real thing for a brief second, it's a good job we were sitting down! It quickly became obvious they were trying to appeal
to seafood eaters by using a relatable image, but they have swept away
all that fishy taste in place for some stunning plant based flavours.
Their renowned, perfectly cooked white rice went down a treat too!

Finally we tasted the mango and matcha cream cake for desert. - Oh
boy... - How they can create something that tastes so naughty but looks
like it fell off a fruit tree!? Wagamama certainly know their flavours.
My fork dropped through the several layers of fluffy, delicate goodness,
a touch of compote on the side to really set the taste buds alight!

Overall the food was all so lovingly presented and enthusiastically
served up. I just loved the fact it's so adventurous and such good
quality! I really endorse the idea of using familiar naming with their
dishes, but changing the taste. Top marks for imagination as hopefully
this alone will open up the menu not only to fellow vegans, but plant
based-eaters and all other diets alike!

Wagamama obviously has a passion for creating tasty vegan dishes, with many restaurants featuring vegan specific areas of the kitchen. For those trying the Veganuary challenge, the limited edition meals is a huge draw, but, as full time vegans, we'd love the opportunity to have such an extensive menu any time of the year! Here's hoping the Watermelon Tuna Steak makes it on to their full time menu, as it is delicious and satisfying.

Wagamama have done perfect job of living up to
their new menu's description "designed around the idea that meat free
shouldn't mean taste free". Compliments to the chef, our first
experience at Wagamama's will not be the last! 

 A huge thank you to Rob, Fran and the amazing team at Horsham Wagamama who looked after us all night, we'll be seeing you again soon!

Share your vegan eats at wagamama with the hashtag #wagamamavegan  

💯🌱💚

 

VeganProse

Thanks for reading! 

This evening was thanks to Wagamama UK and Surrey Vegans and was gifted to us. All opinions are our own.