Wagamama Chicken Thigh Teriyaki Donburi

Wagamama chicken thigh teriyaki donburi costs £15.90 and carries 807 kcal, the value spine of the donburi page. Glazed chicken thigh over sticky rice with carrots, pea shoots, edamame, spring onion, sesame and kimchee, the same build as the brisket bowl above it at a friendlier figure.

Thigh is the right cut and the menu deserves credit for saying so. Breast dries under a glaze; thigh chars at the edges, stays juicy inside and carries teriyaki the way the sauce wants to be carried. The kimchee corner does its sour work, the edamame and carrot freshen, and the sticky rice binds it into the kind of bowl that gets eaten in silence.

The numbers quietly beat the beef: 807 kcal is lighter, the protein at nearly 40 g is higher, the salt lower, the sugar a touch less. Add the price gap and this bowl is the best value protein on the entire donburi page, a fact the gym crowd worked out long ago. The price is published by wagamama.

As a first donburi it teaches the format perfectly: zones to mix at the table, glaze against pickle, rice doing the carrying. As a regular order it survives repetition better than richer bowls, which is why it shows up in so many people's default rotation. The grilled duck above it is the occasion bowl; this is the Tuesday bowl, meant kindly.

How much is the chicken teriyaki donburi: £15.90, higher in the usual postcodes. Chicken gyoza open the meal without stealing from it, and a peach iced tea sits easily beside the glaze.