“You want noodles?” said the waiter at Rice. “Ok, no problem.”

A few moments passed and the waiter returned. “We have no rice stick noodles. Would you like vermicelli or udon noodles?” Our choice was made.

It was rather annoying, then, that those noodles never did arrive.

Rice is one of the umpteen restaurants which reside in the Trafford Centre’s food section, offering a variety of Thai, Japanese, North Indian and Chinese meals that have, in our past experience, always been wonderfully prepared.

But if you want a restaurant that is reliable, comfortable and easy, then it won’t top your must-eat list.

There was an occasion last summer at this franchise’s Deansgate eaterie in Manchester when, following a couple of hours exploring the tunnels beneath our neighbouring city, we emerged famished and yet had to wait an eternity for our food to arrive.

It seems the Trafford Centre’s Rice — which follows the same décor, hard seats around cramped tables and all — is not that different, which is rather ironic given that it bills itself as a faster food outlet.

With a couple of draft beers in hand (£3.98 for the pair), we scanned the menu with myself instantly homing in on the Japanese Chicken Katsu and my girlfriend deciding to try two starters rather than grab a main.

Given she’s a vegetarian, she tried the Japanese tempura vegetables (£4.99), a selection of vegetables in a light Japanese batter, served with a sweet chilli dipping sauce. She also decided on Thai sweetcorn cakes (again £4.99) together with some noodles. Yes, those noodles.

“Would you like prawn crackers,” the waiter asked. We thought we would. They turned up and we rather wished they hadn’t given they cost £3.99, a rather high price we felt, but it was our fault for not asking the cost.

We had asked for everything to come together but they didn’t. The vegetables and sweetcorn cakes were wonderful, however.

The chicken katsu curry was a different matter. It looked rather disappointing, with little sauce and that was rather strange, we felt, given that this is one of the most fundamental aspects of the dish.

It was enough for us to decide not, on this occasion, to try a dessert. But it has to be said that Rice’s food has, in the past, tended to be really rather excellent. The Thai fish cakes and Chinese spring rolls go down well and the seafood and meat platters are amazing.

I wish I had tried my usual favourite, the Jamaican jerk chicken — hot as hell but beautifully tender — or the Spanish paella which is also a delight, as is the Indian Chicken Biryani.

Still, it was a reasonably inexpensive jaunt. When the bill finally arrived, it was for £27.94. The noodles had, on our request, been removed from the bill without fuss with the receipt saying “Too long” on it. We didn’t tip.