The chain restaurant Wagamama has been a favourite in Britain for three decades. For years it has hosted a range of different people, from hungry secondary school children to people in need of respite from an overwhelming day of shopping. I have been going to this popular restaurant since I was young, now associating it with finishing exams as my friends and I have made it a tradition to always eat there having just finished our last exam. At all times of the day, you can see a handful of people enjoying a Katsu Curry in Wagamamas, it is never empty. But why is it so successful, what makes Wagamamas so special?

            The restaurant was first opened by the Chinese restauranteur Alan Yau, OBE, in 1992. On its opening day people were seen to be queuing outside of this new pan-Asian style restaurant and its success spread quickly. There are now 149 restaurants across the UK and it is most famous for its Katsu Curry dish, a piece of fried chicken laid on top of a mound of sticky rice complete with curry sauce. Its innovative way of incorporating technology into the restaurant business was seen as revolutionary when it first debuted, perhaps accounting for some of its success. The senior lifestyle editor at trend forecasters WGS stated that ‘It played an important role in normalising the use of advanced tech in dining, such as augmented or virtual reality and projection mapping’. In other words, the use of technology helped create very quick service at Wagamamas, adding to its appeal. For anyone who has not been to the restaurant, each dish is assigned a number, when the waiter serves you, they quickly jot down the number of the meal you want and type it into a system on their given tablet. The wait times are always low, making it a great place to go to when you need to eat quickly but still want to have a satisfying meal.

            The breadth of the menu also must be credited for its popularity. The menu has range of different food to suit all tastes. It offers dishes for less experienced eaters and dishes for the more seasoned or advanced. Having dishes that don’t ‘scare people’ is crucial to their success says Steve Manglehshot, the executive chef. However, over time, as people in the UK have begun to be introduced to more and more Asian food, their palates have become more sophisticated. In fact as their palates have developed so has the Wagamama menu. For example, ssambap and miso glazed yakitori was recently introduced – a Korean lettuce wrap. My order differs each time I go, underlining the greatness of their menu.

            Lastly their sleek but warm interiors create a welcoming atmosphere, while not taking away from their quick and practical service.

            Overall Wagamama has harnessed a variety of different techniques to ensure the success they have today. Their food is delicious and their service brilliant – they are one of life’s constants. I’m already looking forward to going there after my last GCSE this summer, a celebratory hot bowl of Pad Thai waiting for me.