Nine Square is Huaqiangbei’s newest landmark and home to all the glitzy and gleaming stores one has come to expect from a freshly opened shopping mall, including a fair few restaurants.
Wagas might be old news to Shanghai hands, but its entrance to the Shenzhen market is so recent the location is yet to be listed on its official website, which claims there are already dozens of mainland outlets. So what has Shenzhen been missing?
The second-floor location offers both outdoor and indoor seating, with the indoor area a tight fit as dozens of chairs and tables compete for floor space.
In true Shenzhen fashion, Wagas allows you to sit at a table and order your meal through WeChat – a not entirely painless process because one must first set up an account.
After going through the registration rigmarole, we order the spaghetti with ground black pepper and chicken (RMB60). It’s a light dish and a bit on the plain side despite a healthy sprinkling of Parmesan cheese.
For people who dislike cumin, we suggest you avoid the roasted Australian beef, coleslaw and curried pickle aioli sandwich (RMB58), which comes smothered in the herb despite no mention of it on the menu. If you enjoy your food warm, you’ll also want to avoid this dish – it arrives at our table in desperate need of a reheating.
Desiring something a bit warmer, we go for the teas. Despite being labeled as a best seller on the menu, the ginger, lemon, honey tea (RMB35) is disappointingly plain, while the fruit tea (RMB25) is actually just fruit in a tea bag.
But all is not lost. Wagas shines brighter than a Broadway spotlight when it comes to dessert. The delectable chocolate cake (RMB28) comes with a more than fair amount of sweet cream, which perfectly complements the bitter chocolate.
Founded in 1999 and now with 50 outlets on the Chinese mainland, the Wagas brand is clearly doing something right somewhere – we just hope that ‘something’ begins happening in Shenzhen so we can see what all the fuss is about.
Price: RMB100
Who’s going: expats, weary shoppers
Good for: a break from buying winter clothes, chatting with friends, dessert
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