wagamama southampton westquay — Restaurant in Southampton

I am not usually one to complain or write a negative review, as I am a student who has worked in hospitality for many years, but I feel as though this is necessary.

I went to the Wagamama restaurant in West Quay on a Sunday afternoon for lunch with my mum, and got sat by a waiter who seemed very enthusiastic, so much so that it felt like we were being bombarded and forced to buy items we didn’t really want. I understand that waiters want to give good customer service, but it felt all too much, the guy was lovely, but just made us feel quite uncomfortable. While this was happening we got served with a drink we didn’t order, as we had just sat down, so we had to turn it away, which was not a pleasant welcome. We then later ordered our meals and some water, and our server was Georgia, who was lovely and I cannot fault her at all. The first glasses of water arrived in good time, as well as my meal, however it took at least 20 minutes for my mums meal to then arrive. I understand that Wagamama dishes come out at separate times, but I felt that this was rather too long. When my mum’s dish arrived, the firecracker curry, it had little to no sauce, so she asked for some more sauce, as well as some more water. The water then took very long to arrive and the manager brought over some more sauce for the curry, to which my mum asked if she could order a different dish, because the amount of sauce she brought over was not adequate at all. She then ordered a different curry, which then took at least another 15 minutes to arrive, and the manager seemed to have no urgency at all at getting this dish to us, as we could just see her walking around doing in nothing, instead of urging the chefs to make this dish in good time. We then eventually got the new curry, and I had unfortunately finished my meal already by this point. When I asked for the bill, I said that I understand that the staff are busy but is there any way that we could have my mum’s dish taken off the bill, due to the wait time, to which she refused. I then said that she should take it off the bill out of good will and that should be one of her traits as the manager, and she reluctantly did this and huffed and puffed, so we said that we will be contacting head office. The manager then came charging back and tried to intimidate us by saying that our complaint will be going to her anyway, to which we said that is fine. All the waiters and waitresses were lovely and seemed to be doing their job well, as I know how stressful working in a restaurant can be, but I feel as though the manger should have more urgency and be more compassionate to customers who were being nothing but polite when...

The service that my girlfriend and I received (or llack thereof) really let down our experience. We are usually big fans of wagamama even though it is very basic Japanese food that you could make yourself for super cheap but I understand most people don't have the confidence to cook Asian dishes as they often look difficult but believe me they are not. Wagamama's pricing could really do with an update. Usually when you spend extra money like you would with a company like wagamama you could consider that you will be served upon in a better way than most fast food places but our experience told us otherwise. It took about 25 minutes just to bring us the bill from when we asked for even though we were sat at the table for at least 15 minutes beforehand with empty plates. I asked the member of staff that took my payment if they have any way of leaving feedback and she just looked at me with a face that seemed perplexed as to why I would want to leave any feedback at all. I would usually rather voice my displeasure to a member of management instead of resorting to leaving a review on the internet as I do believe everyone deserves a chance to give a reason as to why the service wasn't up to scratch before I publicly write a review on the internet.

The issues that we faced seemed to be stemming from problems that were occurring in the kitchen so it would not be fair for me to blame everything upon the servers if they were required to work with errors coming out of the kitchen as I noticed the table next to me had to ask for a refund due to two of their dishes being stone cold and another dish containing viewable hairs.

I did think that I would attempt to try and speak to a member of management or at least someone more senior than the servers at the front of house but felt like I really didn't want to bother the person who had dealt with the refund of the table next to as as in my opinion the way they dealt with the tables issues was completely unprofessional and that made me feel like I would just be told that all the issues were a problem coming from the kitchen and it was something that they couldn't fix.

The last thing I feel like I should recommend is potentially finding a way to block the view between customers waiting in line and customers who are sat down and eating as when it seems to get even a bit busy a line forms and you feel like you are being watched make an animal at the zoo getting your feed.

Overall for a restaurant that is one of the cornerstones of the West Quay Dining Floor a lot of improvements that could be made even in the basics.

Food...

Absolutely Disgraceful Service

I am appalled by the service I’ve received from Wagamama’s over the past two months. They charged me FIVE EXTRA TIMES the cost of my meal, and getting that money back has been an absolute nightmare. Despite it being their mistake, I had to chase them repeatedly to get refunds, only for them to pay me back an incorrect amount. I’m still missing one of the overcharges, which I’ve had to fight tooth and nail to recover.

To make matters worse, when I spoke to the manager, Jess, on the phone, she was unbelievably rude. She laughed at my enquiry, belittled my concerns, and arrogantly insisted I was wrong—even though I had proof and was clearly correct. Her condescending and dismissive attitude was unprofessional and insulting. It’s shocking that someone with such a lack of basic customer service skills is managing a branch.

After finally admitting their mistake, they sent me an email promising to pay the remaining amount back on the 27th of November. It’s now January, and I’m still waiting. I’ve sent multiple emails, repeatedly explained how urgent this is as a university student, and received no help or urgency from their branch.

This entire experience has been exhausting, frustrating, and deeply disappointing. Wagamama’s has shown a complete lack of accountability, respect, and customer care. I will not be returning, and I strongly recommend others avoid this chain unless they want to be treated like an...