Style Points: 2/5
Price: ££
Overall: 1/5

As a vegetarian, the dishes at Japanese restaurants have been mixed in my experience. For instance, Sake No Hanain Mayfair was an absolute treat and I found food to enjoy and who can say no to Blue Mondays at Yo Sushi with their scrummy Tofu Katsu Curry. I therefore approached my dinner at Muga with some hope yet hesitation.

The décor inside the central London restaurant is quite minimalist and the seating consists of benches and stools only. Many of these stools are around the kitchen so you can watch your meal being made in front of your eyes which can be a pro or con considering how much you are enjoying their creations.

Would I Want Seconds?

Unfortunately the menu was not varied in terms of vegetarian dishes. I saw the Deep-fried Agedashi Tofu and was keen to try it although after asking the waiter about the tempura sauce we discovered that it contained fish. At this point I hoped that the waiter would offer a different sauce for what is normally a vegetarian option however he simply pointed us towards the only other two vegetarian starters which were Padron Peppers and Edamame Beans.

Just because I am a veggie, it doesn’t mean that all I want to eat is vegetables. The starters arrived and were exactly what they said on the tin and sprinkled with rock salt. I have eaten edamame beans before in salads but had never been given them in their pods. Stupidly I popped one in my mouth only to be chewing it still five minutes later. It turns out that you are absolutely meant to tease the beans out of the pod so I would not recommend  munching on the shell! Whilst the peppers and beans might be nice as a healthy snack, the starters did not ease my hunger whatsoever.

For the main course, my veggie companion and myself chose the one ramen dish that was non-meat and the Tofu Teriyaki with rice.  The Yasia ramen was a mix of vegetables and noodles in a thin soup and was quite standard in taste. I was eager to experience different spices or something that would make the dish more flavoursome however ultimately I felt I was simply eating vegetable stock and noodles with not much else. The tofu was presented very well, however we had great trouble in eating it with the chopsticks as it was the silken variety and fell apart whenever we tried picking it up. The sauce on closer inspection had congealed on top very quickly so when we actually balanced the tofu on the chopsticks the sauce was nowhere to be seen. It didn’t seem well thought out and was disappointing to say the least.

For dessert we both opted for dishes we had never tried before. I tried the Mochi Ice Cream which is a rice cake stuffed with vanilla ice cream, soybean powder and molasses sugar syrup. It was an interesting dish and I enjoyed trying something different although it didn’t blow me away. This was also felt by my companion who had the Dorayaki (pancakes with sweet red bean paste) with ice cream.

Could I Afford Seconds?

The prices at Muga are very reasonable with starters less that £5 and Ramen being around the £10 mark depending on if you would like to add toppings.

Overall?

In conclusion, Muga has not thought about vegetarians enough when designing their menu and when cooking the food. The vegetarian selection is simply not exciting and the seasoning is lacking in the dishes. I am not an expert in Japanese cuisine however I feel that I can judge what I am tasting and unfortunately it didn’t live up to my hopeful expectations. I do not doubt that meat or fish-eaters will find dishes that they enjoy and this showed as the restaurant was filling up with hungry guests as we left. In this case, perhaps it is just the veggies who have drawn the short straw with Muga.

Reviewed by Guest Writer Veggie Eats Lnd

Website: www.facebook.com/Ramen-Dining-Bar-MUGA
Address: 5 Panton St, London SW1Y 4DL
Closest tube: Piccadilly Circus