Wagas Now Open in Sanlitun Village

Wagas, a popular deli chain from Shanghai, soft-opened its first Beijing branch at Sanlitun Village over the weekend. Look for it to round out the other excellent options in the mall with its healthy, fresh, fast and reasonably-priced food.

I'm told this isn't Wagas' first venture into the Beijing market. They apparently tried out a location in Xidan a few years ago, but it was short-lived. I'm selfishly hoping the Village has the foot traffic and clientele for Wagas to gain a proper foothold here.

Judging by the crowd on opening day, that shouldn't be a problem. When we dropped by in the afternoon they were comfortably busy.

Wagas' prices are around RMB 50 for most sandwiches, salads and pasta. Coffee ranges from RMB 18 for an espresso or macchiato to RMB 33 for a large latte. They're running a generous opening special from now until July 31 where coffee is half-price. It's going to be a very caffeinated month for me.

We tried a daily special salad with chicken, avocado and chickpeas and a lemon yoghurt dressing (RMB 48) and a roast pumpkin Turkish panini (RMB 48). We were very enthusiastic about both, though we did have a couple very minor quibbles. The salad's chicken was slightly too chewy and the dish overall was mildly under-seasoned. Meanwhile, the cilantro and spinach in the panini worked well with the sweetness of the roast pumpkin, but we found ourselves wishing for more of the Gouda taste to come through.

We shared a zucchini carrot cake with lemon icing (RMB 15) for dessert. It was a touch dry on the edges, but still quite delicious.

Wagas will naturally draw comparisons to next-door neighbor Element Fresh, also originally from Shanghai. Sure, you'll probably get better food and service at Element Fresh, but you're definitely going to pay extra for it. A lot extra.

As for me, I frequently find myself wandering around the Village looking for a quick, cheap bite on my way to somewhere else, so I'm happy to welcome Wagas to the neighborhood.

Wagas
Daily 8am-10pm. S8-33, 3F Building 8, 19 Sanlitun Lu, Chaoyang District (in the Sanlitun Village
朝阳区三里屯路19号院8号楼3层S8－33

Photos: Josh Ong, Marilyn Mai