Never been to Wagamama, but Noodlebar (or Noodle City as it's being renamed) can be bloody lovely. Unfortunately it varies from branch to branch.
Restaurants
Evidently it also depends on what dish you choose. 
Wagamama is way pretensious.
I like small cafe type places run by foreign types who don't relaise they're massively undercharging.
There was an ace Vietnamese cafe near where I lived in Newcross.
Did jelly fish, frogs legs, rare goat in hot soup.
Totally ace.
Tried Wagamama for the first time recently. No redeeming features that I can see.
I dunno there's something about it, it's just got an attitude about it. You know bamboo spoons and bench tables?
About the only proper restaurant I like is Belgo's.
Great food, cheap and I once got very drunk there.
Quote: Griff @ November 17 2008, 11:50 PM GMTThe food was OK (nothing to shout about) but the service was crap. They even tried to shortchange us by about eight quid until it was obvious they were about to have a bloody massive row on their hands when they mysteriously found it. Also the waiter thought he was a comedian but was just annoying and not remotely funny.
Really? I've found that they can be a bit slow sometimes, but have never had any problems anything like that! There's a lovely woman who works there - or perhaps worked, I've not been in a while - who is very friendly and helpful. AND she's an American, which makes it all the more surprising.
Was it Andrew Sachs?
There's an ace Pakistani restuarant in Norbury I used to go to where it was open licence and all the staff were chefs.
So it was full of drunks, and hairy men scurrying around with currys before running back to the kitchen.
Quote: sootyj @ November 17 2008, 11:53 PM GMTWas it Andrew Sachs?
There's an ace Pakistani restuarant in Norbury I used to go to where it was open licence and all the staff were chefs.
So it was full of drunks, and hairy men scurrying around with currys before running back to the kitchen.
This explains a lot.
They have a killer 1.5 litre 13.5% killer weisbeer.
That was the one that did for me.
Quote: Griff @ November 17 2008, 11:55 PM GMTMostly Indian places (which is fine, who doesn't like curry?)
Quote: Aaron @ November 17 2008, 11:53 PM GMTThis explains a lot.
How so? The curry was superlative and created to order as were the bewliderring array of breads.
It had real atmosphere and pissed off duty police officers ordering 2 nans and demolishing bottles of vodka.
Quote: sootyj @ November 17 2008, 11:56 PM GMTHow so? The curry was superlative and created to order as were the bewliderring array of breads.
It had real atmosphere and pissed off duty police officers ordering 2 nans and demolishing bottles of vodka.
Hairy men scurrying around? :/
Good curry mind, my local one made the mistake of leaving the trade mags out for people to read.
Premixes and hyrdogenated fat filled pseudo creams, yeuch.
Quote: Aaron @ November 17 2008, 11:57 PM GMTHairy men scurrying around? :/
Yuh it was like a failed Sadam Hussein cloning project and they decided to open a restaurant rather than take over the world.
>_<
Quote: Griff @ November 17 2008, 11:55 PM GMTTimbo what was your complaint with Wagamama?
To be honest I suspect it had something to do with not being keen on noodle dishes, so I have only myself to blame, but the ridiculous spoons did not help any. I also found the atmosphere not so much informal as rushed and noisy; and, yes, my date had finished her dish by the time mine turned up, so she then had nothing to divert her attention while I struggled with a soup of noodles and whole vegetable leaves armed with chopsticks and a bamboo ladle slightly wider than my mouth.