Marugame Udon - Japanese Noodles & Tempura - Canary Wharf — Restaurant in London

Extremely disappointed having visited this chain many times in Japan. It should be a quick service (like a canteen/production line) however we queued for over half an hour for only 4 people to be served in front of us from what is a very limited menu. See pics - they introduced a 30min wait notice even though there was no-one being served. We were told the delay was due to being short staffed however there were 14 people behind the counter! We were also told whilst queueing that the soft drinks machine was "out of fizz" so don't bother ordering a refillable soft drink (nice way to make customers pay a premium for bottled/canned drinks!). When we were being served the lady behind the counter clearly did not have any care for customers. Service was slow with half the staff touching food without gloves or not wearing face masks (wearing it on your chin counts as not wearing it at all!) - deeply concerning given recent Omicron infection rates. Also bizarre method for cooking noodles - they're cooked, then weighed, set aside and reheated!! Portion control should just be the amount you fit in a bowl as they are all standard size - same as most other restaurants! Food itself was disappointing - tempura was undercooked (raw batter), katsu was overcooked (extremely dry as was not cooked fresh but precooked and left in heater drawers - this only works if you are sending food out at a fast rate else it ends up overdone as was the case here). The tempura chicken actually turned out to be squid which is deeply concerning for those of us with seafood allergies (luckily only my partner ordered that!). Poor service, poor quality and unhygienic practices (incl. unnecessary risks to those with food allergies). Wouldn't go back at all - strongly recommend Ippudo in Crossrail Place instead which serves much higher quality of the same dishes plus more!

EDIT: We tried again after the company thanked us for feedback and offered a £10 goodwill voucher. Still no better: Service was slower than before, with one woman waiting about 20mins for a piece of tempura (they had plenty of staff behind the counter so don't know what the delay was) Some guy in front asked for 4 prawns which seemed to completely throw them into confusion Food was still mediocre On top of all that, the £10 goodwill voucher "didn't work" so a somewhat meaningless gesture.

Again, if you want to enjoy Japanese cuisine in Canary Wharf, highly recommend Ippudo in Crossrail place instead!!

EDIT: A month after posting the above reviews, Marugame have asked me to contact them to tell them about my experience. Apparently they're not interested in reading the...

I was purely by chance the first person in there on the day they opened with a trial shift for the staff. It was 50% off, the manager asked that we just gave some feedback and were patient with new staff. It also meant I got to try loads without worrying about price. I leave a lot of reviews on Google anyway so would have done regardless.

I had a pork tonkotsu ramen, gyozas, tempura prawns, chicken, and courgette, and a piece of fried chicken. Maybe I had some mochi balls too, but who's counting?

Food-wise, I'm really happy, and this is my new favourite lunch in the wharf. The ramen was really tasty and the tempura was really really excellent. The noddle are rolled in front of you as you're going to order, and they have the baths for the noodles in front of you too - it's a really authentic Japanese layout. Portions are good and they aren't skimping on any garnishes or meats etc (although it's all about the broth in a ramen anyway). My friend had a curry - the classic Japanese one - and it looked great and a really good size.

Prices are on the better side of acceptable for the wharf - my ramen was about £8, which I am OK with given the noodles are rolled in front of you and you won't find a cheaper ramen within 3miles.

The obvious competition is Ippudo, and I prefer this based on the better value, comparable taste, and better interior.

5* because I think they really fit the concept right here. Ippudo is like £15 for a lunch deal and it takes you about 30 odd mins to be done (if there's no queue, but there always is). Here you can have a steaming hot bowl of noodles, and some tempura, in front of you in 3 minutes and it'll cost you around a tenner - this is much more the experience I...

I used to enjoy having Marugame Udon, especially on cold days, but my recent visit to the Canary Wharf branch was quite disappointing.

First, when I went to pick up a tray, it was really hard to find a completely clean one. Almost every tray either had sticky sauce residue or visible dirt on it, which was quite off-putting.

Second, I had recommended this place to my friend, but the service let us down. The staff told me my meal would take five minutes and asked me to wait at my table, promising to bring it over. However, after waiting for a long time, no one brought my order. When I finally went back to the counter to check, I saw that the same dish had already been given to another customer who just ordered in the queue. This was really poor service, and by then, my friend's food was already getting cold.

I've visited other Marugame Udon locations, including Liverpool Street, Waterloo branch, Charing Cross, and the one near Selfridges. But this Canary Wharf branch was by far the worst experience.

Marugame Udon used to stand for convenience and good taste, but this visit really changed my perception. I don't think I'll be coming back to this location anytime soon—hopefully, they can make improvements.

I didn’t give one star because two staff members later apologised to me and, even though I didn’t ask for any free compensation, they insisted on giving me a small can of Coke. I appreciated their attitude and effort, which is why I gave three stars. However, what I truly hope to see is consistently high-quality service, including proper cleanliness standards, so that customers can keep coming back and enjoying their meals without...