Wagamama

Great location, Basement and canteen style sitting. Pleasant staff. Only 1 drawback, if busy the queue can stretch back to upstairs with the minimum of a 20 minute wait for a seat, which always puts me off to leave.
Other than that, when you do get seating, great service, great food. Top class.

Asian fusion at its most dependable, Wagamama is all over Manchester but this is the one at the heart of Manchester. Part of the Printworks and a hop from Victoria Station, get here for your ramen fix.
My favourite is the beef ramen but seasonal specials keep me coming back for more. I’ve just seen that they now have take-​out and delivery options (delivery in central Manchester) so you could have Wagamama anywhere. There’s no excuse to not try the range of Asian noodle and rice dishes, or just splurge on side dishes for a tapas-​style moreish meal.

Professional
Located underneath the printworks is a large restaurant with a multitude of oriental dishes. The place is a large open plan full of rows of solid wood tables and benches in which theres a friendly sit next to each other theme. Its odd at first but the more you settle in the more you realise how natural it is to eat close to your fellow man. You can also see directly into the stainless steel kitchen as the chefs impress you with there flash frying and other skills.
What other restaurant has an entire binder with all listed allergens and what not, not many and as a vegan its incredible to be able to make an informed decision. Even if you don’t have any dietary requirements the fact that they offer this service speaks towards the brands confidence via its transparency of service. The staff is often fit, charming and attentive which is incredible given how busy this place gets.
Overall this is a great place to spend an evening and enjoy exploring different cultures via your dinner plate. It shows that you don’t need gimics to impress when you nail down all the foundations that make restauranting an enjoyable experience. I hope to have more experiences here and that they continue to expand there interesting menu.

Do not go here if you are Asian, lived in Asia, or know what proper Asian cooking tastes like. This is very much corporate chain imitation stamped with nice branding. Inauthentic.

Well I do love the Wag of the Mamma! I took my muscly man pet as he was a Waggammas Virgin. What I neglected to realise was how I felt on my first visit 15 years ago. Sharing a table. With strangers. Wtf! Ha. You soon get used to it until someone reminds you of it as I was reminded in the visit. Ha. After a tiger beer he soon chilled and even gave a smile to the poor girl next to him he if he flexed his biceps may have knocked her off the bench. We went here simply for ease before cinema but as always never disappoints if you go in with the right expectations. Those being. It’s quick. Food comes when ready. Sometimes out of the sequence you ordered in. You need to share your table and you like noodles or curry. If you go in with all the above you’re onto a winner. I do like the food here. The dumplings are to die for. The Raman is delicious. But my all Tim favourite is the Katsu Chicken Curry. Get in.

Exceeded my Asian cuisine expectations! 5 stars! :) Had the Yakisoba and it tastes superb. I just wish they serve sushi as well. Will have to try their rice dishes and ramen next time. Great service, great overall experience

Can’t say I’ve ever had a bad meal here. I like that the food comes as soon as its cooked. It’s really communal, there’s plenty of space. Favourite thing has got to be the apple and lime juice drink. Nice to try something I’ve never had before and it not cost the earth to do so. Everything has been tasty and when out with friends were always telling each other to try something we had last time. Desserts could be a let down if you’re expecting a slab of cake but it’s lovely just to end the meal with some coconut ice cream sometimes.

What a rip off. £50 for two bowls of curry a couple of sides and a bottle of beer. The cheek of them asking for a tip at the end.

I don’t understand the hype of this place. The interior was nice, and the service was very friendly. I ordered the chicken chili ramen on a friend’s suggestion and it sounded awesome on a very cold day.
The ramen came out and I found it very interesting. It was definitely an interpretation of ramen. My biggest complaint was the consistency of the noodles. They just didn’t absorb the soup well enough but then again the soup itself was very mediocre itself.
I’m willing to try the place again and order something else, but I did not have a very good first impression.

Like most other Asian/​Eastern-​inspired restaurants I’ve eaten at in Manchester, Wagamama’s is pretty typical: disappointing and not worth the money.
Usually at a pan-​Asian restaurant, you shouldn’t have to reach for any condiments too often — the flavor should be built in. At Wagamama’s, no condiment is enough to make the meal somewhat enjoyable. When I went, I ordered chicken katsu curry and it was pretty revolting. When you think curry, you never think boring or bland, but that’s exactly what they’re serving up at Wagamama’s. There were several people around me ordering the same thing and I genuinely wanted to warn them against it, that’s how bad it was.
Look elsewhere if you want a great pan-​Asian meal for a decent price, because you won’t get either at Wagamama’s. My search for a great restaurant will continue, and my only hope is that I won’t get any worse than what I got here.

Very open dining, long rows of tables, no tables of 2 etc.
The food service is quick and food of good standard. They offer a good range of soft drinks. The staff tend to know the menu very well.
Not a favourite of mine because it feels a bit rushed. But if im looking for somewhere to eat before the cinema or mid-​shopping trip it’s very handy.

I like Wagamama. Like this type of food. However today the dish I had the rice was a bit undercooked. Chicken was a bit dry but that can be the case with chicken breast. Normally Wagamama would get a 4 out of 5 but this rating is based on this visit.

The first time I went to Wagamama’s, I was a humble student in London. I remember thinking that it was cool and fun and exotic, and that when I had a decent job with a decent salary I’d eat here as often as I could.
Now that I’m a (sort of) grown up with a (sort of) decent salary, I find that I tend to pass Wagamama’s over when I’m looking for a quick South East Asian inspired bite to eat. Perhaps it’s just because there are so many better places in Manchester serving up that kind of cuisine (like the consistently excellent Tampopo situated just across the road from Wagamamas), or maybe it’s just because I’ve always found this branch of the chain to be particularly devoid of atmosphere.
This isn’t to say that it’s necessarily bad — the food I’ve eaten here has always been perfectly adequate (I’m a particularly big fan of their Cha Han), and the staff have always been perfectly lovely and never raise an eyebrow if I chose to dine alone. But whenever I’ve eaten in this windowless basement, I always feel as though I’m in a huge dining hall on a pirate ship, and if I don’t gobble down all of my noodles in the allotted time, I’ll get whipped by some slave driver. But that could just be me.
If you want to buy into the whole Wagamama way of life, you can even buy one of their t-​shirts, a cookbook or other forms of merchandise. I’ve always found this a bit odd — are you really telling me that people love chain bar noodles so much that they’re willing to wear a t-​shirt pretending they work for the establishment? If so, that’s a new one to me.
But regardless of all of that — Wagamama is nice, but that’s just it. Nice. Go here if you’re dying of hunger and can’t be arsed looking any further afield. But take it from me, this is not the best that pan Asian cuisine has to offer. Not by a long shot.

Wagamama’s first introduced Japanese food to the mainstream and has never looked back. In every one I’ve eaten at, in every city I’ve visited, the same vibrant atmosphere and delicious food has been served. What’s great about Wagamama’s it that it’s really just a no fuss canteen style eatery with great food, apparently in the style of a real Ramen bar in Japan.
The portions are always good and the service swift. I’ve even been a few times on my lunch break and didn’t feel the slightest bit weird at being on my own slurping away at my miso soup. Becasue the food is served so quickly you can be in and out in half an hour and in my opinion it beats a stale supermarket sandwich and a bag of crisps anyday.
You’re not coming here for a gourmet dining experience, you’re coming for fast and clean food and if you like Japanese, although it’s not 100% authentic it’s a pretty close 2^nd. Plus I love being allowed to drink from my soup bowl. The prices are low for the variety of ingredients in the dishes and if you’ve ever tried to make something yourself from the Wagamama’s Cookbook you’ll know that this stuff doesn’t come cheap, nor is it easy to find. So I say let Waga’s do the hard work and just come, enjoy and leave the pretentions at home. if you don’t like it here then I think maybe you just don’t quite get it. maybe Café Rouge around the corner would be more your thing.

Wagamama is just SO average. I am sorry, but it just doesn’t hit the spot for me.
I think my Father summed it up perfectly once when I foolishly took him there, as we walked through the door he exclaimed «Christ Ceire, why have you taken me to a soup kitchen!?» And he was so right.
You pay through the nose (Approx £10 a main) for, granted tasty, but very bog-​standard food in awkward picnic-​bench surroundings, and they are usually so busy that not only is the whole experience a massive hassle but the service is bad too.
There is a particularly grumpy waitress at this Wagamama that seems to be unable to look you in the eye when she is taking your order. I find this intensely irritating and often make it my personal mission to get her attention. I have failed miserably– she is dead behind the eyes.
This Wagamama always seems to be freezing cold too, adding to the «soup kitchen» ambience. Sort it out guys!

Look here. I go to Wagamuma’s with Ceire T (whose review is below) every now and then, and she doesnt complain when I pay!
Having said that, I have to agree with the general points of her reivew. The food is good, but a little too expensive for the experience of the restaurant. What i mean by that is that if the food they serve was moved to a restuarant with a better atmosphere, it would be well worth it. As it stands, its not.
The food is lovely, from the chilli chicken ramen right through to the gorgoues rare steak in a noodle soup.
But it does feel like a soup kitchen. Not because of the long sharing benches, which i like, but because of the cold airy feel.
Free green tea though, which you can’t deny is a nice touch. You can’t deny it, theres no hope. So dont do it.

Wagamama was my place for a long time, and then I met Tampopo and my loyalities switched in a jiffy!
But that’s me and that does not make Wagamama any worse, just that Tampopo used some secret Asian ingredients to make my attraction to it turn into attatchment! This Wagamama at the famous Printworks, has got great food! It’s got a great feel to itself and the place always looks lovely! The rows of benches and white high décor, gives it a classy Asian food look. You can always see the chefs work their way through your plate before it arrives just in front of you. This kind of thing makes a restaurant really popular!
Waga’s are great, but I prefer Tampopo’s!

I used to be totally Team Waga, but have recently switched my allegiance to Tampopo. There’s nothing *wrong* with Wagas, it’s just not as good as Tampopo.
This Wagas is a good one, big and white and shiny, with a fantastically high ceiling. Plus, it’s a good place to go if you want to eat in the Printworks but you don’t want to be beset by the screaming hordes. The service is very laid back here, to the point that there’s one very annoying waiter who Sits Down Next To You as he takes your order. This pisses me off to the point where I once threatened to leave if the boyf didn’t put his coat on our ‘spare’ seat. He did, the waiter didn’t sit down. Disaster averted.
The food is god, I won’t bore you. But I will say one thing: the Cha Han is the best dish. It is pretty much the cheapest main course; a massive bowl of fried rice with chicken and prawns and all that, and a bowl of miso on the side. Lushness, and if you haven’t had it, do.

Wagamama! Can’t fault it. Walk in down the stairs and your into a big long room with lots of bench seating. The menu is pretty infallible but when they say chilli you better god dam well take heed.
Wagamama do a big range of soups and noodle things, my missus swears by the ginger udon noodle thing they do. My highlights are the coconut milk based soups which are rich and creamy but when it a red colour I know I about to destroy my taste buds for the next few days with spiciness. Green tea is free which is a nice add on and wagamamas always has some variety of 2 for 1 or some discount.

The original Manchester branch of the pan-​asian eaterie, Wagamama is located in the bowels of the Print Works. Like most of the branches, it’s long and thin with dozens of chunky wooden tables and benches. In the daytime it’s fairly quiet but at weekends and early evenings it’s usually jam-​packed with locals catching up over a plate of ramen noodles.
I love the lively atmosphere but the high ceiling and strange acoustics can make it incredibly noisy at times — making it a terrible place for a first date or intimate conversation with friends! Luckily, the food is consistently fab and the customer service here is excellent. In fact, I have one or two friends who visit with the sole purpose of checking out some of the cute waiters!