Fast forward to today, and Wagamama has over 150 UK locations, plus a few in the US where they confuse Americans by serving ramen with a fork. (Relax, America—you can also use chopsticks if you want to look cool.) The restaurant has survived the 2008 recession, Brexit, and a global pandemic. Even Covid-19 couldn’t kill the Katsu Curry—they just served it in a cardboard box through a window.
So why did Wagamama open in the UK in 1992? Because Britain was hungry for something new. We were tired of chip butties and ready for a bowl of steaming, fragrant, slightly-hipster soup. And 32 years later, the queue is still there. If you go to the original Bloomsbury location, you might still see a dad trying to convince his toddler that the Ramen is “just like spaghetti, but with flavour.” It never works. The kid always steals the edamame.
Long live the noodle. And long live 1992—the year Britain learned to eat like a civilized, yet slightly selfish, nation.
