Naughty & nice

In a world where cookie-cutter eateries are growing discouragingly fast, you might think that the pan-Asian noodle house wagamama is KFC with a ginger-soy twist. In other words, nothing to write home about. But that would mean you've never been to a wagamama, to any of its 50 United Kingdom locations, or others in cities such as Istanbul, Copenhagen, and Dubai.

Wagamama has so many devotees in Boston that the London group that owns this wildly popular chain decided to open its first US outpost here, in Faneuil Hall. Based on Japan's ramen houses, this organization of more than 70 restaurants was awarded one of England's "CoolBrands" -- keeping company with H&M, Pink, Campari, and Alfa Romeo -- and was twice named Zagat's most popular London restaurant, beating out Nobu and Gordon Ramsay's establishments.

Boston's wagamama, which opened on Monday, bears the trademarks of the other spots: sleek, streamlined design with long tables and backless picnic benches positioned in perpendicular rows to an open kitchen, waiters sending orders from hand-held computers directly to the kitchen, food arriving with remarkable speed. During a "dummy run" last week, big plates of steaming noodles, bowls of ramen, and little dishes holding asparagus and edamame were moving quickly through the room. The dishes, while not Mom-and-Pop authentic, are a celebration of tastes everyone loves: sweet, salty, and spicy. The company's no-reservations policy is in place, which will invariably mean lines out the door. And while the restaurant motto is "positive eating + positive living," there is a fry station, which is plenty popular in all the locations, says Barnaby Godden, a British chef overseeing the opening.

Here, too, are distinctive wait staff. Boston has two servers sporting mohawks. All manner of hair color and tattoos are acceptable. "It allows us to have a much wider talent pool. A lot of customers quite like edgy staff," says the company's head of marketing, Glyn House. This affable Brit, with tousled hair and a friendly smile, is straight out of central casting. The staff also attracts younger diners, he says. But the waiters must follow all the company rules, which include, "Don't put your wagamama face on when you come to work," says House. (Wagamama means naughty.)

The Boston spot has been a year in the making. Behind the hip and fun concept lies endless market research, training, and recipe testing. What seems upbeat and casual is the result of a well-honed dining and serving formula that works so well, no one wants to mess with it, except to make small adjustments for local ingredients and tastes. "When we go around the world," says House, "wagamama works best when we leave it alone." Working best means serving 1,000 meals a day in restaurants that seat 250 diners.

In the rectangular 130-seat Quincy Market space once occupied by Rustic Kitchen, the new Asian restaurant is all angles. Large white ceiling panels keep the sun out by day, one long wall holds the kitchen area; opposite it is an outside wall of glass doors that face the marketplace's south building. In the kitchen, behind a glass panel, cooks are at four stations: frying, steaming, stir-frying, or teppan cooking, which is dry-frying on a hot griddle.

On the teppan menu is yaki soba, one of the most popular dishes in London. It has a pad-Thai quality, with thin ramen noodles flecked with egg, chicken, tiny shrimp, scallions, and sprouts, garnished with pickled red ginger and black and white sesame seeds. Also on the teppan grill is teriyaki steak soba, a dish invented for Boston diners. At $13.75, it's the highest -priced entree on the menu, made with strips of grilled sliced sirloin on vegetable-studded soba noodles.

House, the British marketing head, notices a piece of meat left on my plate. It was impossibly tough. He excuses himself from the table and another dish appears in an instant, with thinner slices of steak that are in fact, more tender. This team, by its own admission, keeps an eye on everything. In London, House tells me, where there are 23 wagamamas, "We say you get what you inspect, not what you expect."

The noodle bars were started 15 years ago by Alan Yau, a Hong Kong-Chinese restaurateur who lives in London. He sold the company when it had only two locations; at that point, it started to expand. Yau now owns fine dining establishments such as Hakkasan. The majority owner of wagamama is London-based Lion Capital, which also owns Weetabix, Orangina, Jimmy Choo, and other consumer-based products.

Management plays to its audience, a huge percentage of which is families. Long lines form outside every restaurant and though the adults enjoy meeting others in line, kids can get impatient. Once seated, waiters use their hand-held devices, made by Symbol Technologies, to send children's orders into the kitchen at the same time parents' drinks go in, so the younger set is fed early.

Elaine Fox, of Arlington, mother of Stephanie, 12, and Alexandra, 10, may not have noticed this when she took her daughters to a wagamama in London's Covent Garden three years ago. But they were all won over.

"The girls weren't very fond of the food in London," says Fox. The family was staying for six weeks, while her husband, Patrick, was on business. After the first visit to the noodle house, they returned often, sampling fare at many London locations.

When they were back home in Arlington, the girls e - mailed the company encouraging it to come to Boston. "We thought Faneuil Hall and Harvard Square would be a perfect place," says their mother. When it was time to present location ideas to Lion Capital, says House, wagamama officials read aloud the girls' e - mail. As it happens, the Quincy Market location will be followed by another next summer on JFK Street in Cambridge.

Last week, when the Foxes went in to Boston to sample food in a dummy run, they were greeted like stars by the management. "My girls think the whole reason [the restaurant is] here is because of them," says their mother.

The managers didn't exactly disagree.

Dummy runs were intended to get staff up to speed, House explains, so there wouldn't be anyone apologizing for not handling the ordering devices efficiently. When we sit down to lunch last week, the enthusiastic waitress immediately apologizes for hesitating as she uses the end of a pen to press the correct buttons. House is wincing behind his smile.

She recoups quickly, and by the time she takes the last order, a dish of salted edamame is already on its way to our table.

Another well-oiled machine is up and running.

Wagamama, Quincy Market, Faneuil Hall Marketplace, 617-742-9242 or go to wagamama.com.