I visited Wagamama in Richmond yesterday at around 6:15 pm with my 17-year-old son. We were both really hungry and looking forward to a nice meal, as we've always enjoyed Wagamama in the past.
I asked our waitress to recommend a saucy noodle dish, and she suggested two options. My son chose the one she said was the sauciest.
Unfortunately, when the food arrived, the noodles were really disappointing. They had very little flavour, weren't particularly saucy, and the portion size was surprisingly small for what is supposed to be a main meal. It just wasn't satisfying.
I ordered the chicken gyozas, which I've enjoyed before at other Wagamama branches, but these also lacked flavour and didn't taste particularly fresh. To be honest, the frozen Itsu gyozas I make at home are tastier.
A waiter came over to ask if everything was okay, and I explained that we weren't enjoying the noodles. Shortly afterwards, the manager came over. While I appreciated her coming to speak to us, I felt she was quite dismissive of my feedback. Every point I raised was met with "No, that's how they're supposed to taste" or "This is our sauciest noodle dish." I mentioned that we'd had much tastier noodles at the Hammersmith branch, but she insisted all branches use exactly the same recipes. Whether that's the case or not, our experience certainly wasn't the same.
In the end, I asked for some sweet chilli sauce because I found the dipping sauce with the gyozas far too salty. I also added sweet chilli sauce and chilli oil to my son's noodles just to give them some flavour, which helped a little.
The biggest disappointment was the value for money. For two mains, a peach tea and a ginger beer, the bill came to just under £30. For that price, I expected fresh, flavourful food and decent portion sizes, but sadly it didn't deliver.
As we were leaving, I briefly watched the food being prepared. From what I observed, it looked as though the noodles were being reheated rather than freshly cooked, although I appreciate I only saw a brief moment in the kitchen. It made me wonder whether that could explain why the food lacked the freshness and flavour we've experienced at other Wagamama restaurants, particularly Hammersmith.
Perhaps there are other dishes on the menu that are much better, and in hindsight I wish we'd been recommended something different. Based on this visit, however, I wouldn't recommend the chicken gyozas or the teppanyaki noodles at the Richmond branch.
Overall, it was a very disappointing experience. Wagamama has always been somewhere I looked forward to eating, but this visit fell well below expectations, and I left feeling that the meal simply wasn't worth the money.