Wagamama opens first Cyprus noodle bar

Wagamama, the British chain of noodle bars, opened its first franchise restaurant in Nicosia, making it the 80^th worldwide.

Operated by Dafera Ltd., a subsidiary of PHC Franchised Restaurants, there will be “up to three new openings in Cyprus,” according to PHC Chairman Lyssandros Ioannou.

He explained that Dafera owns the master franchise for Cyprus, but that discussions are also underway to develop the franchise in other countries.

The 230-seat location on the corner of Them. Dervi and Menandrou streets in the heart of the capital’s financial area, borders on the ‘franchise triangle’ that has the likes of TGIF’s, Burger King, Costa, Starbuck’s and Gloria Jean’s coffees, the La Pasteria, Pizza Mia, Marzano and Pizza Hut Down Town, as well as the cafes on Makarios and Stassicratous streets.

The simple menu offers a delightful variety of quality food prepared fresh for quick business lunches or relaxed stops after a hectic shopping spree, with bills ranging from well under CYP 10 (EUR 17) for a simple selection to about CYP 15 (EUR 26) for a full meal, including drink and dessert.

The restaurant seats a further 40 outside (preferably during the warmer months) and has its own parking, as well as disabled access.

Manager Zacharias Procopiou said that a take-away service will be operational by the end of January.

Wagamama owns and operates 28 restaurants in the Greater London area and a further 24 in the rest of the UK, as well as the U.S., with franchise locations in Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Dubai, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand and Turkey. New openings in 2008 include Cairo, Egypt and Winterthur, Switzerland.

Translated from Japanese, Wagamama means “wilful / naughty child”. The restaurant has won the Zagat award of ‘London‘s most popular restaurant’ for the third year in a row.

The first Wagamama was opened by Alan Yau in Bloomsbury in 1992. Alan left the company five years later and has since founded other London restaurants such as Hakkasan and Yauatcha. But the philosophy is still the same as it was 15 years ago: “to combine fresh and nutritious food in an elegant yet simple setting with helpful, friendly service and value for money.”

The whole concept is modelled on the Ramen shops popular in Japan for over 200 years. Ramen are Chinese-style thread noodles, served in soups with toppings or griddle-cooked (teppan-fried). Noodles are also the ideal fast food offering a nutritionally complete meal in a bowl, in addition to the rice dishes and a range of fresh juices, while for the hungry, the restaurant offers a variety of side dishes including meat and vegetable dumplings, skewered chicken, deep-fried prawns and raw salads.

Wagamama is a non-destinational restaurant which means they don’t take bookings. However, for larger parties it is worth letting the restaurant know in advance.

Wagamama also plans to start a brand culture in Cyprus with merchandising goods that will eventually be for sale, including the popular T-shirts and cookbooks (written by acclaimed food writer Hugo Arnold), bowls, trays, ladels and gift vouchers. The second cookbook, ‘Ways with noodles’ also written by Hugo Arnold is now available from wagamama.com, all good bookshops and amazon.com .