Wagamama Gochujang Tamarind Corn Ribs

Wagamama gochujang tamarind corn ribs cost £7.90 and carry 467 kcal, the vegan half of the menu's rib double act. Corn cobs quartered lengthways so they curl like ribs in the fryer, under the same sticky gochujang tamarind sauce, crispy onions and coriander cress as the pork plate beside them.

Corn ribs earned their place on menus honestly: cut along the cob, the pieces bow in the heat into rib shaped curves, the kernels char at their tips, and the core softens enough to bite from the cob like the rib bone it imitates. Under this particular glaze the corn's own sweetness joins in, so the plate runs sweeter than the pork version while the tamarind keeps pulling it back from the edge.

The numbers tell that story: sugar at nearly 30 g actually beats the pork plate, corn plus glaze both contributing, while the calories at 467 kcal come in a fair way under. Protein lands a respectable 13 g for a vegetable plate. It is marked vegan, glaze and all, and the crispy onions survive the marking.

At £7.90 published, two pounds under the pork, the answer to how much are the corn ribs makes them the cheapest route to the menu's best glaze, a fact worth more than the saving: plenty of mixed tables order both plates and let the glazes argue their two proteins.

They open a vegan order that continues into the tofu firecracker or pulled shiitake donburi with the theme intact, and they hold up beside meat plates without apology. Sweet drinks double the sugar story, so the ginger kombucha is the smarter glass.