Wagamama confirms opening date for new Clarks Village restaurant

A new Wagamama at Clarks Village is set to open later this Summer. The pan-Asian restaurant chain will combine units 29 and 30, once occupied by Samsonite and Jaeger, into the new restaurant.

Work is well underway on the new restaurant in the heart of the factory outlet village in Street, with the restaurant set to open on July 22. The large restaurant will cater for 172 covers including 40 external covers.

The new Clarks Village restaurant will serve up classic guest favourites, amongst them the chicken katsu, ramens and iconic side dishes on their 50% plant-based menu. The restaurant will also feature Wagamama’s new summer menu including, saku saku soba, with a choice of crispy shredded duck or crispy pulled shiitake.

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Guests can expect to see new unique drinks, from sangrias to shiso mojitos, including a ‘pad thai sour’ cocktail – inspired by the flavour of the Thai stir-fried favourite, pad Thai. Open seven days a week, the new restaurant will create 60 new jobs, and will be Wagamama’s 167th restaurant to open in the UK.

Confirming the news, Chris Davis, centre director of Clarks Village, said "We can reveal Wagamama will be opening at Clarks Village, bringing its incredibly popular Asian-inspired cuisine to our guests.

"The hoarding has gone up on the exterior of the store and work is underway behind the scenes to get everything ready for this exciting new addition.

"Wagamama will not only be a welcome treat for guests enjoying a day out at Clarks Village, it will also help attract new visitors into the outlet and to Street. As just one of several new brands joining our stellar line-up at Clarks Village, there."

Sita Wood, Head of Regional Marketing at Wagamama said: "We are so excited to open the doors to our brand-new restaurant in Clarks Village. Our benches will soon be welcoming the local community and visitors of the outlet shopping destination, and we can't wait to serve up some of our newest dishes and fresh favourites!

"Our fantastic new team have been working hard to ensure we'll bring our much-loved Wagamama experience to our guests and they're so excited to land in their beautiful new restaurant once work is complete."

Wagamama has already started to look for new staff on its careers website, with front-of-house manager, junior front-of-house manager, sous chef and junior sous chef roles all available. Workers will undergo a dedicated four-week training programme, internal progression opportunities, £14 to £25 of free food allowance on every shift and enjoy a 50 per cent discount at Wagamama.

When open, Wagamama will compete with Gourmet Burger Kitchen, Pizza Express and Prezzo for hungry customers' attention. Wagamama specialises in "Asian fusion" cuisine and serves up dishes including ramen bowls, katsu curries and gyoza dumplings.

The new restaurant in Street would be the first Wagamama in Somerset outside of Bath. Other nearby Wagamama locations include Bristol, Trowbridge, Dorchester and Exeter.