I used my free voucher for the preview meal at Wagamama this lunchtime.

My friend and i reallly enjoyed the meal.
We had the three skewers of grilled chicken and spring onion coated in yakitori sauce.
deep-fried chicken pieces prepared with soy sauce,

And for mains:ebi raisukaree (tiger prawns with coconut and lime curry)
yaki udon
teppan-fried udon noodles prawns, chicken,

We also had the house wine each and a bottle of tiger beer each.

The Staff were very attentive and friendly. And food was fresh and lovely.

We couldn't believe how many people didn't leave a tip at all!! shocking, to recieve around £40 pounds of food/drink for nothing and not even give the staff a few quid when they were clearly working very hard. You should be ashamed!!

is it quite similar to east one noodle bar?

I went this afternoon, and I thought it was very good. I had the noodles wiith steak (can't remember the proper name) and the tiger prawns for the side dish, washed down with a black beer and a fruit drink (and green tea).

Our main meal didn't really take long but the manager (I think it was the manager) personally apologied and said it wouldn't be long due to the dish being very popular, and offered us another drink.

I've been to Wagamama's in London and Amsterdam and always enjoyed the freshly cooked food. The Sheffield branch hasn't disappointed. Hope this isn't just a flash in the pan and it's like this when it's open to the paying public.

Food - excellent. Service - excellent. Place - V.good.

We left a tip which was no problem for a meal worth at least £40 for two. I just hope others tipped too for the hard working workers.

is it quite similar to east one noodle bar?

A little simular to east one noodle bar, as you choose if you want rice dish, noodle dish or soup based dish. I get the feeling that wagamama is more japanese based food. Where as east one is chinese/thai-although i am not an expert on these dishes.

The set up of wagamama is simular to east one-bench for seating and may have to share table with others. More of a place to get a quick, yet tasty meal.

We went Tuesday lunch. The service was really efficient and friendly. However, I had the teryaki steak with soba noodles and deep fried prawns (my partner the soup with steak and prawn dumplings) and we found most of the food really underseasoned and lacking any distinct taste as you would expect with this food (ginger, garlic, etc). My steak was cooked nicely at medium rare and actually tasted of beef (!), but had no teryiaki taste whatsoever.

My side dish came after my main too. They then brought my partners side dish again. Then they brough mine again as we were leaving! This became quite funny and is not a complaint - they said it was a training day and you could see it was. The bottom line is that Sheffield centre has so few decent places to eat I probably would go back, especially if the food improves a little and gains a little more "punch". But I don't think it was anywhere near as good as Noodle Inn.

SNIP
The Staff were very attentive and friendly. And food was fresh and lovely.

We couldn't believe how many people didn't leave a tip at all!! shocking, to recieve around £40 pounds of food/drink for nothing and not even give the staff a few quid when they were clearly working very hard. You should be ashamed!!

Bit of a sanctimonious attitude that. I didn't tip. I had to send my beef back as it was undercooked. We also had at least 4 different people bring us food/drinks - so who do you suggest we tipped?

Tips are supposed to be at the discretion of the customer, and usually a reflection of good service which adds to your dining experience. Service was adequate, not exceptional in any way. The fact these people worked hard doesn't qualify them for an automatic tip.

You are the one who should be ashamed for trying to embarrass others who didn't tip because a tip wasn't warranted.

Bit of a sanctimonious attitude that. I didn't tip. I had to send my beef back as it was undercooked. We also had at least 4 different people bring us food/drinks - so who do you suggest we tipped?



I've yet to see undercooked beef in a Japanese/Asian restaurant. If you order beef, expect it to arrive rare, simple. So sending it back as undercooked is hardly a complaint. If I received beef that was pink I'd be sending it back as overcooked; and that would be a legitimate complaint. I'd still tip though, particularly if it was free. It does wonders to motivate and engage the staff. After all, there's no such thing as a free lunch!

how do you get these free vouchers?

Is it now open properly does anyone know? I was at All Bar One and saw a sign in a window but had to leave without time to go over and investigate.
Thanks

It opens properly today.

Thank you.

Service was adequate, not exceptional in any way.

Surely it was 'adequate' service by the standards of a PAYING customer, but the fact you were being treated as a guest, dining for free surely qualified you to lower your service standards?

Also:
they said it was a training day and you could see it was.

Poor buggers were probably nervous as hell!

I'm kinda against tipping in general (this isn't the USA; waiters etc get paid a normal wage and aren't hella reliant on tips like they are over there, so I don't always feel that people need more of my (limited) money when they're just doing what they're paid to do, though I'll leave a bit if I feel they've substantially enhanced my dining experience), BUT if I'd been given an entire expensive meal for totally free, I'd always tip those who served it me, out of courtesy. I'd feel like an ass otherwise.

As the meal was free I felt tipping %40 was fair on this occassion.

Went yesterday to free meal preview.

It's just like the other waggas in London, decent service, standard food. You can get a chicken katsu in any wagga and will always taste the same. The bench style seating is a model that dosn't encourage a long stay so if you're looking to be in and out it's fine.

For a free meal it was great, would I go back and pay £40, I doubt it as there are lots of places doing similar stuff in sheff.

It's up to you if you tip or don't. Me personally, as did some of the others on this thread, were appreciative of the FREE meal which cost around £20 a head. It's not often a restaurant does something like that but it's a good idea to get things sorted before the 'live' date. It was also a training day so they were trying as best they could to get things right. Sometimes tips are entered into a 'pot' and as such, divided between the workers at the end of the day so being served or attended by a few people didn't stop me from tipping.

We were invited as guests for a FREE meal on a training day so would have expected the odd hiccup or issue. I hope the tips encouraged them on there first few days at work. It made me feel good anyway.

We went for our free meal yesterday evening and it was gorgeous! They apologised for sitting us so "intimately" as it was so busy - but the way everyone was sat was just normal was a noodle bar! (or it'd be normal abroad anyway....)

I had ducky gyoza with cherry hoi sin sauce (which was AMAZING - I want it again!!!) as my side, with breaded chicken curry and rice as my main - I wasn't stuck on that, but it was nice.

Will probably go again, although am really glad we got the chance to try it.