Wagamama Katsu Udon

Wagamama katsu udon costs £13.90 and carries 848 kcal, and it is the cheapest main on the teppanyaki page as well as its only vegan plate with a published price. Thick udon noodles in katsu sauce with red pepper, cabbage, broccoli, carrots, beansprouts, baby corn and edamame, topped with crispy sweet potato.

The idea is simple and slightly brilliant: take the katsu curry sauce everyone comes to wagamama for and put it on noodles instead of rice. The udon do what udon do, blister outside and chew inside, the seven vegetables give the plate more variety than anything else on the noodle pages, and the crispy sweet potato on top stands in for the fried cutlet crunch that katsu flavour seems to demand. It is comfort food shaped for a weeknight.

The value case is the loudest thing about it. At £13.90 it undercuts every other main on the page while the calories at 848 kcal sit mid table, and the salt is among the lowest of the teppanyaki mains. The protein at 21 g is the plate's one modest figure; the edamame help, and a side of yasai gyoza closes the gap for hungrier orders. The sugar runs to about 21 g, mostly the katsu sauce's doing.

For anyone asking how much is the katsu udon, £13.90 published makes it arguably the best value big plate wagamama serves, vegan or otherwise. It suits the same appetite the yasai katsu curry does at a lower price and a lighter landing. Pair it with the bang bang cauliflower for heat the plate itself declines to bring, and a cloudy lemonade rounds off the comfort order.