Tasty, quick and reliable (Wagamama)

Member Name: leetemplar

Product:	Wagamama
Date:	08/04/09 (42 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good food, reasonably priced, quick service

Disadvantages: Yet another chain restaurant, sitting next to strangers

This review is based on my experiences in the branches in Sheffield, and on the South Bank in London.

I'm not a massive fan of chain restaurants, but you sometimes end up using them because they take the mystery and risk out of finding somewhere to eat in unfamiliar cities. Wagamama is one of these, and is a restaurant which specialises in quick, tasty, no-nonsense Pan-Asian food, such as curries and noodles.

The first thing you notice about Wagamama is the long, pew-style seating arrangements. I've never been to the Sheffield branch when it's been heaving, but the London restaurant I visited was very busy indeed, and you can end up rather close and personal with strangers sat on either side of you when you dine. Not a massive problem, but it would be unfortunate if you had the misfortune to sit among a noisy or obnoxious group.

The menu isn't huge, and has a small variety of soups, noodles, salads and rice dishes, along with side dishes such as dumplings stuffed with poultry known as gyoza (the duck ones are delicious). The meals I have tried here are chicken ramen, which is described as "noodles in a pork and chicken soup topped with a marinated and grilled chicken breast, seasonal greens, menma and spring onions", which is a fairly tasty dish but not one I'm desperate to try again, and chicken katsu curry ("chicken fillet deep-fried in panko breadcrumbs, served with a lightly spiced curry sauce and sticky white rice. garnished with a combination of mixed leaves and red pickles"). The latter is very nice indeed, and I've plumped for this option on a number of occasions.

Meals are quite reasonably priced, averaging about £6-10 for a main, and while drinks are on the slightly expensive side, you can opt from the complimentary green tea at no charge.

Service is quite unusual in that dishes fly out of the kitchen when they're ready, which means sometimes one diner may get their food at a different time to their companion(s), but this has never been a big problem during any of my visits. This has even been the case at the London restaurant I visited, which was heaving. Service has always been cheerful and prompt, even though the London branch had customers queueing out of the door, the tables were turned around so no-one was waiting too long (although the experience would have been a lot more depressing if had been raining!).

If you want somewhere with branches around the country, where you can have a reasonably-priced, quick and tasty meal, then Wagamama is well worth a visit.

Summary: Well worth a visit