wagamama finchley great north leisure park — Restaurant in London

One of my fav restaurants in the UK. Why? Open kitchen so I can see what is happening with my food. Fresh produce, good variety and the chain has excellent service. The food is also healthier than most places. They also update the menu occasionally. During the lock down, the chefs also wear masks (admittedly you'll always get that person that does not want to cover their nose for only reasons they can understand) but they are also very clean. hygiene is essential and they go as far as cleaning the menus and bottled oil and vinegar etc on the table daily in some places. I use to sit and wait and watch them just before closing.

Wagamama is a restaurant that is run by people that know what they are doing. The staff are also well trained. The environment is also great although occasionally I struggle to read the menu with the dim lights but that perfectly fine. It creates a more relaxed atmosphere

Nice to see a dedicated menu just for vegetarians as well. Well done guys! They've had it for ages but I still like the fact they think about this and don't alienate people. They even thought of a vegetarian option for chicken katsu. Personally I don't order chicken katsu) even though it is one of the most popular meals on their menu and it is great but I tend to go for variety. I think I have now tried everything on their menu so far. One thing I would like is more variety when it comes to smoothies and maybe with almond or coconut milk rather than apple juice. Having said that, nothing is from the carton. Some of their drinks could be better. A home made lemonade would be wonderful, instead the opt for cordial and water. Disgusting.

The North Finchley Wagamama ha the worse service. I spoke to them twice. You sit down and don’t get served which is fine as I understand they’re busy but then they start serving customers that sit down after you. I hope they improve this and become more customer aware. Management don’t seem to get it when I discuss it with them. Shame. Happened to me today so I walked out and went elsewhere. I could sit there for more than 40 mins and no one would know, watching stuff walk past without even asking have I been served yet. Had to reduce my rating. Was better before. Changed. Not as good so I avoid it now. It is my local. Does not happen to any other place I visit including Covent Garden, Brent x shopping center, etc. Service has always been excellent. I dont even mind if they serve other customers before me but cant tolerate it when no one serves me at all when I sit down.

I see a film every two weeks and this is next to the cinema so I’m annoyed. Neither bye next door, the North Finchley establishment should be the best run in my opinion.

Today I visited the Wagamama in Covent Garden Ona Saturday. Exceptionally service. Very busy and queue yet I got served in under ten minutes. Exceptional guys. The table next to me had a party of six. Similar. They were asked under ten mins if they wanted drinks. Perhaps manager here can train the one in North Finchley and let them know how good service is done? I realise it is staff and management. If the staff sent motivated then....

Haven’t been to the Lakeside Wagamamas before! This is the first time I’ve been out since March to actually eat out. I’m so happy that Wagamama - great job with social distance! Hand sanitizer on entry and sitting space was great, I didn’t one feel uncomfortable during my visit. Staff were wearing their face (screen) mask which is even better!

The food! Highly rate it! Went with my friends, they had the meat dishes (I had the seafood as meats are not halal). My friends are foodies just like me and they were “oh so happy” lol. They gave it 8/10 real fast!

I got prawns and chilli squid! Loved the prawns but the squid was super dry and not really feeling the chilli oil it came with - too sweet. I got 2 potions of the prawns thoooough! Banging!10/10 easy! Ebi katsu - prawns in crispy panko breadcrumbs. coriander. fresh lime. chilli + garlic dipping sauce! Levels!

We ordered:

Firecracker Chicken 7/10 Not enough sauce. Chicken and spiced leave was decent but the chicken was just not coated in the sauce enough, I had to literally get the chicken and scrape the plate for more sauce lol. Not spicy enough, but sauce did have a nice flavour, just not enough of it :(

Prawns (ebi katsu) 10/10! Amazing! Sauce was lovely! Really nice, very flavoursome! This is coming from someone who is very picky when it comes to seas food! Get this!

Squid 5/10 Argh man, this was dry, needed another condiment. Not seasoned much :(

Teriyaki sirloin steak soba 6/10 Noodles did not have much flavour, steak was decent but not much taste. Needed some chilli oils with this for sure!

Yakitori chicken skewers 10/10! All that! Grilled teriyaki! Amazing! Get this! Confort food! Worth getting 2 potions of this! Lol

Korean beef Bao 10/10 Oh my days! Get 2 orders or these because they are tiny but soooo nice!!! Beef cooked beautifully, tastes of Mauritian beef, very comforting and the mayo was a nice touch. Super soft bao buns! Ps, didn’t really taste any coriander...

2nd time at this location, and on both occasions the service has been shocking. The staff just seem so unorganised and it looks as no one is managing them. 1st visit around 6 months ago was very busy, so the lack of attention slightly understood, and it's been 6 months so we thought we'll give benefit of doubt and try this location again. On this occasion the capacity was around 50% full, so assumed all will be ok. All started off well, staff took order and food arrived fairly swiftly, but when we asked for forks staff member went off to get for us, but never returned. After a few minutes, we couldn't spot her, so decided to ask a 2nd member of staff. This member went off and brought just 1 fork, forgetting there is 2 of us here. We assumed she went off to get a 2nd one, but she went off to serve someone else! Annoyed I decided to get up go to front register area to another member of staff, hoping forks will be sorted here and I can grab one of her, but they were not, so told her shes the third person I've asked but can she get one for me, and once again got told they'll bring one over. After a few minutes, she came out behind the register to walk pass us and then serve another table!!! This was becoming a joke, I didn't know if I should be angry or laugh at the incompetence of it all. Finally, we spotted the first member of staff that we originally asked, got her attention and asked for fork again and this time she managed to grab one. So all it took us was asking 3 staff 4 times and 20 minutes to obtain forks. Seriously is it bad luck that I have been here twice and experienced bad service or this location team are just poorly managed?! Don't need to know the awnser, as we won't be back to this location ever!

The food and wagamama always decent, although the gyozas were dry and rubbery this time. The 2 stars are...