There’s a recession on but the staff at Wagamama don’t know this.

Our family turned up there last night around 6.15pm for a quick meal. The place was buzzing and there were empty tables.

Excellent – no waiting.

Wrong – we were turned away.

A young woman told us, and the others waiting at the door, that their systems were down and (shock, horror) they were having to write everything down by hand. This meant they couldn’t serve us, or even seat us, or even take an order by hand and deliver it to the kitchen.

What is it with this reliance on electronic systems? If the maitre de had been 32 instead of 22, and had been able to add figures with a pencil and paper instead of needing to rely on a calculator then they might have been prepared to take our money instead of turning us away and leaving us with a bad taste in our mouth.

The kitchen was full of staff – are we to believe that they wouldn’t be able to cook a meal because the order was handwritten? Was management prepared to close the whole restaurant because their computer “said – No!”.

It was pathetic. We spoke to other potential diners who had also been turned away – they were from out of town. What sort of an impression did this leave them with? Being good Wellington citizens we made recommendations to them and found ourselves apologising for their bad experience.

As a result of our experience we headed to Cuba Street. I can highly recommend Rasa (next to Roger’s Tattoo Art) – an Indian and Malaysian restaurant. Small, filled with happy people, great staff (with the ability to count) and the most beautiful succulent fragrant food at very reasonable prices. And can I say how proud I am of our two seven year old boys – gobbling down butter chicken and lamb biryani like there was no tomorrow.

Rasa
200 Cuba St
Wellington
Phone: 04 384 7088

2 thoughts on “Wagamama turns us away”

  1. That’s such a shame, that they weren’t smart enough to be able to run a restaurant in the absence of their electronic system.

    You’d think surely they had a plan they could implement or some backup to be able to continue serving food without a computer. That just goes to show how dumb the staff must have become, to be subservient to the technology rather than the other way round.

  2. Skinny, you should be glad they didn’t take you in. I was there the night you were turned away from 5.30, ordered at 5.40 and watched while tables filled, oredered, ate and emptied around us. At 6.20, after inquiry, we were told that our order was lsot when their systems crashed. It finally came and, to their credit, we weren’t charged. They wildly and extravagantly scrawl your order on the tablemat but can’t do the same once they reach the kitchen were everything is (un)automated. They can’t have received their electronic prompts to attend upon us because we had a hell of a time getting their attention. This was the third time we’ve eaten at Wagamama and the food has been decidedly average. There is far better Asian to be had ten minutes south. This is the closest restaurant to where we live but is the last one we’d choose to go to. Wagamama, I’m a’gaga…

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