I’d been wanting to go to Nandos for ages. In a bit of Ciao searching I discovered that Nandos was the top rated fast food restaurant and I’d never heard of it in my entire life. What was this place, why was it so good, were there any that weren’t situated in London? I ... Read review
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Advantages: The Food, Speedy Service Disadvantages: Not Many oop North!
I’d been wanting to go to Nandos for ages. In a bit of Ciao searching I discovered that Nandos was the top rated fast food restaurant and I’d never heard of it in my entire life. What was this place, why was it so good, were there any that weren’t situated in London? I decided my best bet was Birmingham and to be precise, Star City in Birmingham. So for my Birthday treat off we trekked to Star City to see Moulin Rouge followed by ... ...is a chain of restaurants which sell fantastically spicy chicken complete with their infamous Peri-Peri sauce which is hot enough to take the skin off the inside of your mouth! Thankfully if you’re a chicken (pun not intended) like me, you can pick a wild herb or garlic version instead of the hotter versions – or you can stick to plain old ketchup!
When we first walked in we were greeted by a bloke who explained the idea ... more
I’d been wanting to go to Nandos for ages. In a bit of Ciao searching I discovered that Nandos was the top rated fast food restaurant and I’d never heard of it in my entire life. What was this place, why was it so good, were there any that weren’t situated in London? I decided my best bet was Birmingham and to be precise, Star City in Birmingham. So for my Birthday treat off we trekked to Star City to see Moulin Rouge followed by a slap up meal at Nandos.
Nandos is a chain of restaurants which sell fantastically spicy chicken complete with their infamous Peri-Peri sauce which is hot enough to take the skin off the inside of your mouth! Thankfully if you’re a chicken (pun not intended) like me, you can pick a wild herb or garlic version instead of the hotter versions – or you can stick to plain old ketchup!
When we first walked in we were greeted by a bloke who explained the idea to us. First you are given a numbered cockerel which has your table number on it and a menu so you can decide what takes your fancy. You then go up to the counter and place your order while another one of your group can fetch sauces, plates, knives, forks and other stuff from one of the many gorgeous wooden dressers around the restaurant. We decided on the Meal Platter which is a whole chicken, large old style chips (or spicy rice if you prefer) and 2 soft drinks, and we also had some pitta bread (because as I’m a northerner, no meal is complete without bread! We make everything into sarnies!).
After ordering, our food took a maximum of 10 minutes to arrive, and although it was not a particularly busy night, the staff seemed very organised and helpful, so I’m sure it would not take much longer on busier nights. Also we were given our glasses before our food arrived, so we were happily deciding which sauces to pick, and which drink to have. One of the really nice thing about Nandos is that soft drinks are bottomless so you can have as many refills as you like – and unlike at Pizza Hut you get the drinks yourself, so you don’t have to try and attract the attention of a busy waitress for your refill!
When the food arrived it smelt delicious! For those of you worried about the logistics of eating a whole chicken, the bird comes in quarters so it’s easy to divide between you. We had the medium spicy chicken, and that was plenty hot enough for me, as unlike in some chain restaurants, when they say something is hot, it really is hot! The chips were fantastic proper chip shop style chips (none of those wimpy fries that masquerade as chips in some restaurants) and the pitta was also nice. The whole meal was under £15.00 for the two of us and was excellent value for money (especially as my gorgeous boyfriend was paying for me as part of my birthday treat!).
If you aren’t a big chicken fan, Nandos probably isn’t the best choice for you. They do sell a range of food suitable for veggies (such as Veggie Burgers and Organic Beanie Pitta) but if you just don’t like chicken your only other option is the Prego Steak Roll with chips for £6.95. Extras you can choose with your meal include the afore mentioned spicy rice, coleslaw and corn on the cob and you can have meal combinations which allow you to pick one or two of the extras (called Sidelines) as part of the deal. If soft drinks aren’t your kind of thing, you can also try wine (4 different whites, 4 different reds – not all of these can be bought by the glass though) sangria, beer and cider.
The layout and style of the restaurant was really nice. The whole ethos behind Nandos is bringing families together and not being worried about eating with your fingers, so there was a real family atmosphere inside. The interior was very rustic, with wooden beams, dressers, study wooden tables and gorgeous orange earthy colours. The whole experience was a bit like eating in a very nicely decorated farmhouse in Portugal with Mexican salsa music in the background. I suppose if you hate ‘themed’ restaurants this might be enough to put you off, but don’t be put off because the food is fantastic.
I would definitely recommend Nandos to anyone, especially if you love chicken like me. While some of the food is very spicy you can get mild versions and veggies are also well catered for. The staff asked us if everything was ok, but I never felt like we were being pressured, and the speed at which they cleaned the empty tables was quite fantastic! The only downside as far as I can see is that the closest Nandos to me is in Nottingham. Nandos really do need to expand a little further out of London so us Northerners can get some nice food!
If you fancy trying out Nandos sauces before making the trek to a restaurant, their cooking sauces, salad dressing and peri-peri sauces can be found in most big supermarkets or if you want a look at the menu go to www.nandos.co.uk
BTW – read the quotes on the menus – some classic pieces of advice!
Advantages: The Food concept is great Disadvantages: Badly behaved staff, undercooked food
You have got to do something with this joke of a food place that is run by complete fools who know nothing about customer service. As time goes by it gets worse. The food is under cooked even after requested it well cooked (skin left soggy and chewy on the chicken). We waited in a queue to give our order, and we could hear the waitresses (one of them called sasha) chatting amongst themselves, swearing at each other loudly! Laughing at some joke, ... ...not repeat the vile language they were using in a public place where there are children present. There's no consideration for the customers who they know can hear them. One waitress was carrying a pile of dirty plates from a table just shoves her way past the queue - actually rudely bumping into people and not an 'excuse me' in sight. She had the nerve to look at the ‘offending’ customer in her way with so much resent like she was really angry at ...
Layla_z 09.04.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Nandos, Star City, Birmingham
