Katsu curry wars! Wagamama vs. Yo! Sushi

Yasai katsu curry at Wagamama

Wagamama recently added new vegan options to their menu - including two katsu curry dishes. This makes them a competitor to Yo! Sushi, who won a PETA award in 2017 for their tofu katsu curry. I'm a big fan of Japanese food so was excited to try both and compare the two restaurants' offerings. But which does it better?

Wagamama's options

Wagamama have added a brand new dish which they call "vegatsu", which is seitan covered in panko breadcrumbs. They have also veganised their yasai katsu curry, which is breaded vegetable slices. Both of these come with curry sauce, white rice and salad.

I opted for the yasai option (see above). To be completely honest, it looks a lot better than it tastes! The topping is literally just large slices of vegetables with panko breadcrumbs on them; some were better than others. The squash slices were okay, but the aubergine slices were watery and had no taste. The curry sauce was also quite bland. We had previously tried the curry ramen which is quite spicy, but the sauce was nowhere near as seasoned.

On the plus side, the portion size was exactly right. I also ordered some sides, but I think you could eat just these and be comfortably full. The side salad had a soy sauce dressing which was surprisingly delicious, and there was a decent amount of rice.

Wagamama's seitan "vegatsu"

Overall, I'd give Wagamama's options a rating of 6/10. We found their options bland, but the portion sizes were about right and the salad was a nice addition. To be honest, I had expected a lot more from them.

Yo! Sushi's options

Tofu katsu curry "sumo bowl"

Yo! Sushi offer a tofu katsu curry and a pumpkin katsu curry, which can either be a standard small plate or an extra large "sumo" bowl. These are plain breaded tofu or a breaded pumpkin slice, with curry sauce and white rice. Compared to Wagamama, the curry sauce is a lot more flavoursome with the spiciness and saltiness you'd expect. They also give you a lot more curry sauce, so you can taste it alongside the rice and katsu.

Personally, I preferred tofu as a filling over Wagamama's vegetables, but I think that's because I love tofu. The downside was that the extra sauce made the breading soggy, so it instantly fell off. I don't think I managed to get breading and tofu in the same bite! The pumpkin had a lot more flavour than Wagamama's vegetable option and held the breadcrumbs better, but I still preferred the tofu choice.

We attempted sumo bowls, and to be honest that was a bad idea. They are not lying when they say it's extra-large; the picture above does not do it justice! I can finish most portions that are thrown at me, but this bowl was an exception. About half way through I felt like crying because I had been tasting the same thing for every bite. I think the sumo bowl would be a lot easier to eat if you add another topping, such as the kaiso seaweed.

Overall, the sauce was very good and the toppings had more flavour, but the breading fell off too easily. I'd give it a rating of 8/10.


Yo! Sushi wins for me, but what do you think of these katsu curries? I'd love to know in the comments below!