My childhood is coloured with memories of Sunday lunches at Beach Wadiya. Playing in the sand in the sweltering sun, crab juice running down to our elbows, shipwreck in the distance and massive scoops of Elephant House chocolate ice cream.
The restaurant has been in function for over 25 years now and my parents and family have been going there for just as long. Now with more glamorous upscale seafood restaurants like The Lagoon in Cinnamon Grand and Ministry of Crab in existence - we seldom go. But when we do - it's like coming home.
The food is always the same, the gorgeously over sauced crabs. The grilled to perfection prawns and the perfectly soya sauce soaked KangKun. Combine that with the fried rice and dripping in butter garlic toast - you can never go wrong. And it is always packed. A famed haunt of international cricketers, they have even served royalty when Princess Anne visited in the 80's.
A restaurant like Wadiya will never lose its market share to fancier places, for one simple reason. They don't compete on the same playing field. After all when you eat out - the quality of the food is a large factor of course, but it is not the only factor. You also look at the ambiance. That plays a massive role.
Wadiya to me, doesn't have enough variety to keep me coming back very often. One visit lasts me months. But it is a place which is home. When mum is out of town and Dad wants to treat us - Wadiya is the place to go. When its midweek and we randomly feel like heading out, but no one wants to dress up - its the place to go.
It's like an old pair of pyjamas. It gets raggedy, you cant really venture too far in them, but it feels like a second skin when you slip it on. You complain about the holes, but you will never throw them away.
Also it's an excellent place to stalk cricketers who always seem much more relaxed when eating here, than they do in the lobby of Cinnamon Grand.
The restaurant has been in function for over 25 years now and my parents and family have been going there for just as long. Now with more glamorous upscale seafood restaurants like The Lagoon in Cinnamon Grand and Ministry of Crab in existence - we seldom go. But when we do - it's like coming home.
The food is always the same, the gorgeously over sauced crabs. The grilled to perfection prawns and the perfectly soya sauce soaked KangKun. Combine that with the fried rice and dripping in butter garlic toast - you can never go wrong. And it is always packed. A famed haunt of international cricketers, they have even served royalty when Princess Anne visited in the 80's.
A restaurant like Wadiya will never lose its market share to fancier places, for one simple reason. They don't compete on the same playing field. After all when you eat out - the quality of the food is a large factor of course, but it is not the only factor. You also look at the ambiance. That plays a massive role.
Wadiya to me, doesn't have enough variety to keep me coming back very often. One visit lasts me months. But it is a place which is home. When mum is out of town and Dad wants to treat us - Wadiya is the place to go. When its midweek and we randomly feel like heading out, but no one wants to dress up - its the place to go.
It's like an old pair of pyjamas. It gets raggedy, you cant really venture too far in them, but it feels like a second skin when you slip it on. You complain about the holes, but you will never throw them away.
Also it's an excellent place to stalk cricketers who always seem much more relaxed when eating here, than they do in the lobby of Cinnamon Grand.
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