Wagamama - Exeter in Exeter

When arrived for lunch today 20/10/24, it was busy & had to queue for around 10 mins. When seated, had Raisukaree which is a mild coconut & lime curry served with chicken, mangetout, spring onions, red/green paper, red chilli & rice. Relatives had chicken Katsu curry & salad bowl. Staff very pleasant & hardworking. Had ginger beer which had cheeky kick to it. Finished meal off with Wagamana's green tea. Highly recommend.

There was a queue for lunch but just took 10 minutes to arrive, Friendly staff, advised to download the app so a free dish with our food. Great food as usual

Absolutely outstanding meal. Interesting menu, brilliant food, well prepared and superb service from Ashton. Highly recommended.

Love wagas. Service is always great. Get what you expect.

Good fast service. Menu as you'd expect from the chain.

We had a waitress called DIPA who was amazing and the best !

Love Wagas Little noisy but the food makes up for it...

Food delicious as always. Big thanks to the wonderful Mary who went above and beyond to serve us and make us feel very well-looked after. She is an absolute star 😍

First time there, had Katsu curry, so bland and boring. Not sure if I will return to try something different

1st time and I was very impressed

An entirely underwhelming, disappointing experience. Our drinks turned up after 3 of the 5 meals we ordered had already arrived. We then waited 10 minutes for the 4th meal and another 10 minutes for the 5th, with the 2 sides arriving 5 minutes after that. When I asked the manager (or at least the lady who was dressed in red/differently to the main waiting staff) mid way through the waiting when we could expect the other meals and drinks to arrive, the lady said "it's wagamamas, the food doesn't arrive at the same time" and that "all the chefs work to the queue of food on the screens." To which I said that all meals had been ordered at the same time. She replied that "we are really busy with takeaway orders". I pointed out that that shouldn't take priority over guests who were sitting waiting for their food. She said she'd look into it and that was the last time I saw her. Rude, unhelpful and patronising is the most accurate way I can describe her style of service... The whole narrative of "food not arriving at the same time" seems to be a great way to fob people off. But 25 minutes from first to last dish when all were ordered at the same time is taking the mickey wagamamas. Especially as you're charging a lot of money per dish. Needles to say we'll be going to other eateries where they care about guests and don't treat them as an annoyance.

Ordered via deliveroo. Food turned up an hour late and stone cold. Called the restaurant and the guy who answered clearly wasn’t bothered, nor could he be bothered to resolve our issue. Told we had to get our refund via deliveroo. Terrible food. Terrible service. Never again.

Mixed experience. They ran out of Katsu curry on a Sunday!

The food itself was OK, but the 3 plates we ordered were brought with a 10 minute wait between each which obviously isn't ideal for a groups meal. The starter actually came out last. We were served by 5 different waiters/waitress during the meal. Only 1 seemed to have any customer service about them. It was extremely busy, loud and very very hot. The restaurant itself was dirty. Cobwebs everywhere and loads of muck flicked all over the ceilings above. Very cramped tables. £51 for 3 plates and 2 cokes. Overall I wouldn't come back.

The food itself was OK, but the 3 plates we ordered were brought with a 10 minute wait between each which obviously isn't ideal for a groups meal. The starter actually came out last. We were served by 5 different waiters/waitress during the meal. Only 1 seemed to have any customer service about them. It was extremely busy, loud and very very hot. The restaurant itself was dirty. Cobwebs everywhere and loads of muck flicked all over the ceilings above. Very cramped tables. £51 for 3 plates and 2 cokes. Overall I wouldn't come back.

All staff except for one were extremely rude and very unhelpful. The food was poor with several dishes being forgotten off the order, other dishes were cold upon arrival, having to ask staff where our food was met by a sigh as if we had inconvenienced them. The actual standard of food once we had received it all was mediocre at best.

Great service, think she was called Heidi. Food is as good as ever. Nice relaxed atmosphere.

We really love Wagamamas but this was probably the best Wagamamas meal we have ever had!! Well done all at Exeter!!

We’ve been customers of Wagamama ever since the early nineties and have been visiting the Exeter restaurant since it opened over 15 years ago. Sadly, the quality of food and speed of serving it has declined and we’ve been disappointed with the meal over the last few occasions. We really want it back to how it used to be which was great! Hopefully Wagamama will read these reviews and do something to improve again, otherwise I fear it will disappear if customers like us stop going.

Dipa served my partner and I, and she was incredible. Very friendly and polite, brilliant customer service, and we will definitely be back!! :)

Really tasty food. Lovely staff. But I was served hot coke ! Really busy place ,perhaps too busy Could also do with a deep clean. It's clean in there but areas not done every day need doing. Would go back.

Recently had a visit for some dinner and had a lovely experience. We were served by Rue, who was very friendly and helpful with explaining different dishes to us and how Wagamamas works. Food was also to a very high standard and much better than other Wagamamas we’ve been to. Will defo come back!

Noodles tastes nice but we asked to remove the spices and coriander as my daughter doesn't like it. They haven't removed it and we ended up with a bowl full of spicy noodles! Expensive lunch!

Such an excellent experience. Our waiter Dylan was really helpful when ordering and attentive. Delicious food! Best chain experience ever - we definitely didn't expect to enjoy the food and atmosphere so much. We will definitely return! A well placed location- near the Princess Hay Shopping centre and the car park plus within yards of the beautiful Exeter Cathedral.

The only place we're we spend time when we want to dinning outside. Our number 1 restaurant in Exeter. We tried all already, but Hotpot is my TOP one. In terms of kids' food, we're looking forward to more options to try.

Food was really tasty. Generous, attractively plated food. This was our first time at a Wagamama. We were not offered a choice of table and were seated in an unfortunate spot with my back right next to the main entrance. It was a tad too awkward a table for our liking. The timing of food brought to our table was problematic. My bowl arrived. Then 10 or so minutes later my husband's food arrived. And 20 minutes later our daughter's food arrived. No explanation or apology was forthcoming. We were not entirely sure if this is common practice. It would have been preferable to have had an explanation. Having said that, we will still return as the food was really good!

My partner and I dined at the Exeter branch in July, and our experience was a bit of a mixed bag. The young man who initially took our order was great—friendly and efficient. The food arrived promptly, starting with my order, which was appreciated. My partner did mention it was odd that the drinks hadn’t come first, but it wasn’t a big deal. A few minutes later, a blonde lady approached us to let us know that our drinks were on the way, explaining that there was an issue with the keg, which delayed the beer. She kindly offered a bottle of beer on the house to make up for it, which was a nice gesture. However, what followed felt a bit off. As we were eating, she kept looking over at us, which made us uncomfortable. She later came over and asked us to let her know when we were ready to pay. I usually pay using the QR code to track my visits, and it seemed like she was worried I might fill out a survey. She took over from our original server and started acting passive-aggressively, which really soured the experience. There was no issue with the food, drinks, or the rest of the team, but her behavior came across as overcompensating and condescending. It wasn’t until I left that I realized how much it bothered me. I hate to complain, but in this case, it feels justified. I don’t want her to get into trouble, but she definitely needs to chill out and stop being so passive-aggressive. It was totally unnecessary and put a damper on what could have been an otherwise pleasant meal.

Very busy. We went on a Sunday evening and it was still very busy. They had no juices or lemonades. Food was good. Having been at other times when it is even busier this likely was a good time to go.

What started as a negative experience turned into a very positive one. We visit this branch reasonably often and never have anything negative to say about it. However, the most recent time we went it took roughly 40 minutes to have our order taken before we were served. However, the chap who eventually served us (Rue) was an absolute delight when he did take our order. The food itself was, as always, lovely. Would definitely recommend.

firstly everyone loves waga’s food but don’t even get me started- there service here is fantastic. every member of staff that we interacted with was lovely and their customer service was impeccable. we were primarily served by dipa who was amazing and very attentive, give that girl a raise!

Tables sat very close felt claustrophobic

After waiting 15 minutes at the table to be offered any drinks, we were disappointed when told that the fryer was not working, so therefore they could not make any of the options that we were hoping to order, and that they didn’t know when this would be fixed. We completely understand that these things happen, but it would have been nice to have been told about the lack of availability before we were seated and had waited 15 minutes, so we could organise going elsewhere, which proved challenging on a busy Saturday evening.

Excellent food as always. Good service but there was a queue until they opened the garden.

I've always appreciated food doesn't always come out at the same time at Waga's, but 10 mins between when people can eat is unacceptable. On top of that, the place is absolutely filthy, windows, on top of lights etc, literally massive clumps of dust and spider webs just waiting to fall on your food. Can't say they can't see it as the lights hang at head height so the grime is right in their eyeline. I've paid plenty less and got plenty more elsewhere.

The staff & food was outstanding! Not only did what I think was one of the supervisors clean a table for us that we wanted to sit on, they also told us about the soul app but the WiFi was so bad that a sever called Natalia gave us her hotspot to connect, I thought that was above and beyond customer service and just pure kindness! She was absolutely amazing. All the staff are warm and welcoming. The food came within a reasonable amount of time and the new drink “Asahi” I highly recommend.

Really terrible !! Very average food and truly terrible service by young people that seemed oblivious and chatting amongst themselves . Extortionate and awful 😞

Ruel was amazing!! Lovely service from a lovely team, incredible food thoroughly enjoyed everything, thanks again to Ruel x

Food that makes you want to cry , it's soo good. I had the chicken katsu salad. Staff are always lovely, friendly, and efficient.

Can’t comment on the atmosphere as we did click and collect. We get wagamamas every road trip and this was sadly the first time they’ve really let the name down. The food was nowhere near the standard it usually is in other locations. The noodles were like flour, the veg was undercooked, the cheesecake was rancid. So many elements that were disappointing when you’re spending quite a bit of money which I’m happy to do for the regular food as it’s worth it. But this was just terrible. Will definitely be back to wagamamas but never this location again.

The food is incredible. I had a katsu curry which is always delicious. I'd recommend getting the green tea as it's free. We had Dipa as our server and she was very friendly. Would recommend.

We finally went to Wagamama. There is usually a queue outside so we don't bother and we go somewhere else. This time, we waited, and it was fairly worth it. The person who was serving us was really nice. We sat by the table where, with small space, join is another couple, which was a bit weird. We would prefer to sit by a separate table. We've been given menu when we were waiting outside so we made our minds . The food was presented and tasted really nice. I had main , cocktail and dessert. My partner had additionally bao buns as a starter, which he unfortunately didn't like . We were happy without our mains and drinks. One of the cheesecakes was unavailable at the time, so we needed to choose different. It was quite busy that day so it shouldn't come as a surprise. The food is not the cheapest once, but portions should be sufficient. Main was about 14 - 18 £ . Prices of drinks vary. My one was 9£ and my partners 7£. Desserts had similar prices, so about 6 to 8£. We definitely will go there again as there is plenty of choice on the menu, but it will be for a special occasion.

Always great! Amazing food and great for coeliacs!

ordered an extra sauce and did not arrive until after we left. Asked the waitress twice for the sauce and still didn’t get it. I’d be more understanding if it was busy but staff were stood there on there phones

Air bnb booking gone wrong turned into our best wagamama experience yet! We arrived to Wagamamas this evening expecting the usual service, tasty food and so on. We were welcomed in by a lovely male member of staff, looked after by andrew and the duty manager a huge credit to wagamamas! Brooke was personable, friendly and after asking if we had any further plans this evening my partner explained we were here by accident so making the most of it, she sent us off with bottles of cold water and some fantastic breakfast recommendations for the morning after asking her where was best! Thank you Brooke for some outstanding old fashioned customer service and to Andrew for lovely service during our meal!

To our surprise, Wagamamas did not meet our expectations from previous visits. First of all, there was a large queue outside of the building, even though many seats could be seen available. Secondly, the server which greeted us was passive aggressive towards our simple question about paying with a gift card. Thankfully, though, our main server, Ruben, was very welcoming and enthusiastic. However, this added no value to the quality of our food; despite the aesthetically pleasing presentation, the flavours did not work well and the appalling stench of one the ingredients put us off from the rest of our food, leaving us dissatisfied and feeling unwell. The cherry blossom lemonade was light and sweet which was nice but the same cannot be said for the tropical juice- which was seventy percent pulp. To add to all of this, the seating is slightly uncomfortable due to the cramped atmosphere created by the closeness of the tables, which mostly consist of benches where you are seated with other guests. Respectfully, we will not be returning.

The food was great, and the service was alright, although they took a long time to prepare my meal. Also, the prices are a bit high.

Rue made this visit. He was welcoming, friendly and attentive. We sat outside, as we had our dog with us. Lovely setting in the center of Exeter. Good food as always

40 minutes wait, food variously cold, overcooked, or undercooked. No apology or discount given. No one checked if the - finally - delivered food was actually satisfactory. Starters completely forgotten about. Kimchi so not exactly hard to get right! Normally love the place but really, really disappointed on this occasion. Not even that busy so not sure what the excuse would be. Would not recommend; you might have more luck at another branch, but management seems to have really dropped the ball the last couple of times.

Great experience and quick service and nanda was great

Great food, great service from a young man called Ben very welcoming and helped us decide what food we wanted.

Good food, srrvice wasnt bad but not as good as expected.

Great service and a fantastic menu!

Worst Wagama’s experience I’ve had unfortunately. Food came out at the most bizarre time despite an empty restaurant, most food cold and completely overpriced. Won’t be returning sadly.

Waited ages for a drink. Apparently, had run out of glasses. Asked for no prawns but told would be charged more for extra chicken, but not less for no prawns. Not sure how that works.

Amazing staff great food great location first time here definitely going back

First time in Wagamama. Great good. Will be back

There were 10 of us for evening food and told a table would be free in 15mins. It took a lot longer to find a table. It was also then challenging to get served food and for the drinks to come out which was after the food. Clearly understaffed for a busy restaurant. The food and drinks were good when we got it.

Everyone was so nice, our server Max was very kinda and helpful. Other members of staff that later helped us were also very friendly. The only downside I would say is how loud it is, with the acoustics of the building and the music it makes it very hard to hear if you are hearing impaired my grandmother did struggle a wee bit but I do not blame the staff at all dor that one

Very slow to be seated with plenty of space in restaurant. No meet or greet to warn of any delays and next to no one in front.

This place was amazing the food is just so delicious and it's a nice atmosphere im defenetly going hear again

Always reliable - lovely staff and delicious food.

really great vibe and good food. had lush service from sophie…she SLAYED! i had the steak soba and it was delish! can’t wait to come again

Great atmosphere, service and food

Food & staff great, look up to the ceiling and its filthy 😢

So i was expecting a lovely meal with my friend who has just come out from life changing surgery on her spinal column. However what we recived was atrocious service, our order was 1 hour late and we never recived the side dishes. it took 30 mins for us to recive our tap water and the cherry on the top was the long white hair we recived as topping on our main course. absolutley stunning

This place used to be excellent. I dont know what has changed but the last few times I have been, someone has finished their entire meal before the other person's is even bought out. I understand the staff say that food comes out at different times (and that has always been the case), but not 30 minutes between each dish. It is impossible to enjoy a meal with a friend here because you just end up watching each other eat meals- you never eat at the same time. It is just getting worse its disappointing. When food does eventually come it's nice but not hot enough.

Normally, we love a wagamama date night. But the last few times we have been, we have been disappointed with the food. The staff are lovely friendly and helpful and the restaurant is clean. But the food has become bland, and tasteless, we were very surprised this time to have the yaki soba which was dry, overcooked and very bland and the chicken kastu curry and rice was quite tastless, the rice was overcooked and stodgy and the sauce was bland. By the time i had nearly eaten my meal by partners food hadn't even come out yet. The drinks were lovely but overpriced. It's a shame, but we will be eating elsewhere from now on. I'd they can't bring two different meals out at the same time then they need a new chef or a better kitchen. We may try again in a few months' time to see if anything has changed, but if not, then that's us done with wagamamas in Exeter now.

I had the worst experience today, the food was cold and it hadn't been cooked at all? I have had the worst experience as I've said before!

Food is always cooked perfectly here and tastes amazing. Food heaven.

1st ever vist,food was very nice but takes awhile to get it. Worth the wait,def go back again.

Excellent food great service and great value

I love Wagamamas. The food is excellent, menu always fresh. Staff always attentive, if not always on the ball. However, who came up with the idea to serve the food as it comes? 3 people dining, 3 starters, 3 mains simples. Our server did remind us that, as it was cooked on different stations, it would come out at different times - OK. What I wasn’t expecting was one of the mains to be delivered before the starters. Each of the starters came out individually with 10 minutes between each plate. Another wait before one of the other mains turned up, first one going cold so half eaten at this point. According to our server, it was the dumplings fault, but they would be ready in 2 minutes. So the third main turned up as the first one was being finished - so we all sat until that plate was finished. Not sure where the saving is in time. Very frustrating and not particularly social dining. But the restaurant is full, so why would they care?

It’s really loud in there so nothing you can do about that, but the food is shocking. Sides come in the same dishes as dipping sauces you barely get any kimchi. I got bao buns were so bad, barely got any meat in the brisket and then for the pork belly had to send it back because I got more apple that the pork. The fried prawn was so bland I can’t put it into words. Don’t recommended the place, waiters rarely come to your table had to wait 15 mins before ordering and when I tried to send back the bao bun there was no one who came for another 10 mins.

What happened Wagamama? You used to be a staple in Exeter but now I can honestly say I’ll never return. No Asahi on top or in bottles today, which is fine as I just had a soft drink, but the 40min wait for food is just not acceptable, especially when there was no pre-warning of any delay. Fiancé had her meal and had eaten it all before any sign of my order, eventually got bored of waiting so asked for the bill and left. Staff all very pleasant but can’t help but feel there should have been a pre-warning regarding delays. Seems if you order anything other than a Katsu Curry you’re in for a long wait!

I’ve dined in many Wagamamas and not any were as busy as this one, yet the food got served hot and quickly. I also want to point out that the service was very friendly. I have never tried their spicy margarita before but I was pleasantly surprised! I’d recommend it if you fancy an alcoholic drink.

We visited the Exeter restaurant on 2nd March. It was busy, but we had to remind staff for drinks and when they arrived me tea was not hot. In my opinion, the drinks had been sat on the side. My young daughter's meal (child) arrived significantly later than the other adult meals, and my meal still had not arrived when three of the adults had finished. I asked for the food to be cancelled, shortly after which the food appeared. In my opinion, just like the drinks, the food had been sat on the side. Overall, the kitchen, bar and table staff were not communicating.

Spent 25£ for delivery for pork ramen with extra pork, got 3 tiny pork pieces and it was cold, and I was waiting for 2 hours :( .

Went for lunch with a friend around 15:30 on a sunday, almost full house. We got seated and only 20min after did someone asked us what we would like to order, this is after the waitress in our section took orders from 4 different tables that arrived after us and decided to bluntly ignore us… our orders were taken by the waitress in the section next to ours after we tried to get her attention the first time. Honestly pretty disappointed with the overall service. The tap water arrived after the main dishes and a lot of helpless begging for the staffs attention, when we finally got it we were answered back with attitude. The cherry on top of the cake tho was how the starters came at the same time as dessert should. Review on some of the dishes ordered: gochujang rice bowl: 1/5 no gochujang found in said dish katsu curry: 3.5/5 lacks a bit of overall flavour pulled pork gyosas: 3/5 more like pork pâté Felt like this restaurant is whitewashed asian inspired food, just lacks any type of authenticity. In this whole experience only grateful for the lovely waitress from the section next to us. Thank you:)

Even with a big que we were only outside for 5 minutes. Maddy was very helpfull as I didn't have a clue what what I was looking at. Very good very nice.

I've not been for years food was awesome and I thought the menu was really well thought out! Dillon the guy who looked after us deserves a mention the place was rammed on a Wednesday and he smashed it and still had time to for the niceties! What a great chap! We will defo not leave it so long next time!

food as always top,customer service awesome chilli squid rocks

You can’t go wrong with wagamama. Food arrived fast and it was delicious ❤️

Like the food. Friendly helpful waiter guy from Liverpool. Drinks are a bit expensive. Lots of choice.

One of our go to places for Exeter. This time had an issue with one of our meals and ran out of time. Our lovely server and manager really accommodating and made it a take out for me and knocked something off the bill. Super service 👌 👏 Thanks and see you again soon 😊

Delicious food, nice service, I recommend it to everyone

Went late and had a bloody gorgeous meal, and the service was impeccable! thanks again :)

A genuine Japanese/Asian cuisine restaurant with a wide variety of dishes, excluding sushi.

Great food as always and friendly staff. Been a couple times now and the only complaint would be that the drinks are always slow to come out, apart from that, class as always :)

Delicious Food!!! :) Great to all get together!!! :) Great Service Too!!! :)

Always great food and lovely service from the very friendly staff. Thank you

We went with 2 fussy children but was so surprised with the menu and they loved it! Not too long a wait on a busy Saturday evening.

I had my first dining experience at Wagamama's last night with friends and it was thoroughly impressive. The food quality stood out remarkably. The flavours in each dish were vibrant and well-balanced, making it an ideal spot for both aficionados and newcomers to Japanese cuisine. I tried the chicken, which was cooked to perfection, and a side dish that complemented the main course beautifully. The highlight, however, was the katsu curry. Not only was it delicious, but the portions were also generously sized – a trend I noticed across all our orders. Wagamama's also caters well to different spice tolerances. The regular curry was flavourful without being overly spicy, and they offer options to add extra heat for those who prefer it. The service was unique in that the dishes were served as soon as they were ready, resulting in staggered arrivals at our table. This might be unusual for some, but it certainly didn't detract from our overall experience. The restaurant's cleanliness was evident, though an oddly slippery floor was a notable exception. It seemed more like a consequence of some cleaning agent rather than a lack of hygiene. Despite this minor hiccup, the dining experience was fantastic. I would definitely recommend Wagamama's for anyone looking for great quality Japanese food with ample portions in a clean and welcoming environment.

Benny Boy was a Fantastic server was so lovely

Нормальная еда, большое порции. Ожидание долгое, шумно и некуда повесить куртки

Very good food and very good service we enjoyed it 😊🍲

Excellent service from all who made it happen. Really tasty food and drinks, very busy. We had a really nice lunch

Disappointed that half the meal ordered was missing but as it came from deliveroo I can’t request replacement items . Ramen was dry as a consequence as two soups/ sauces missing. Refund is ‘ok’ but not to replace it is disappointing, Wagamama is not cheap and this was a treat after an extremely hard few days. People packing for delivery drivers need to be more careful. It’s not fair to disrespect customers because they know we can’t come back to the restaurant to complain and have to do it via the delivery company

Ramen is good but the duck rice is too sweet for me. Service is fine too. I would go on Sunday night rather than Saturday because Saturday would be crowded.

Overall really great experience, was loud and bit cramped waiting to be seated.

food is amazing but Mary is the rudest server I have ever encountered - she yelled at me for a simple request to take the chilli oil off a dish. put me off exeter wagamamas