Last year Wagamamas was bought by the people who also own Frankie and Benny’s and Chiquito – and they’ve just revealed what they plan to do with it.

The good news for Waga fans is the new owners are impressed and the main thing they seem to be looking for is "more".

"We have made significant progress in 2018, acquiring a differentiated, high growth business in Wagamama," said Andy McCue, chief executive of The Restaurant Group.

Debbie Hewitt, chairman of the new owners, added that they planned to "accelerate Wagamama’s UK roll-out".

This is what they have in store for everyone’s favourite pan-Asian UK chain.

New Wagamamas coming

The first good news is entirely new restaurants are coming.

"We expect to open between three to four new restaurants this year in the UK," the firm said.

On top of that, they’re converting eight sites they already own into Wagamamas.

There are also plans to open a Wagas in Heathrow Terminal 3 later this year and another in Manchester airport in the first half of 2020.

There are plans in the works for more airport locations too – although they’ve not been formalised yet.

Six existing restaurants will also be refurbished – adding 300 extra seats in total.

Wagamama on your phone

Wagas fans in south London have been able to order from a dedicated delivery kitchen in Battersea for a while.

It was a trial by the firm to see what would happen if they boosted capacity for people to order on the likes of Deliveroo.

It worked, with the same great menu being delivered to homes in specially designed tubs to – for example – keep the katsu sauce off the crispy chicken until you want to eat it.

And that service is set to come to more an more people tis year too.

"The delivery kitchen in Battersea has been successfully trialled and we will be rolling out further delivery kitchens in the year," The Restaurant Group said.

New food and drink

There are also plans for new drinks at the restaurants to go with the already excellent juices, teas, original soft drinks and saki.

The next developments plans include and expansion of the vegan range – including new collaboration hero dish "Avant Gard’n" – featuring a vegan ‘egg’ – set to be launched in partnership with vegan chef Gaz Oakley.

Then there’s the plan to move beyond dine-in dishes, with a pan-Asian cuisine ‘food-to-go’ offerings for you to pick up and eat anywhere you fancy.

Lunchtimes might never be the same.

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