Peri Peri Perfect (Nandos)

Member Name: jac22

Product:	Nandos
Date:	03/02/08 (147 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: relaxed atmosphere, tasty, cheap, fast

Disadvantages: annoying music

If you like chicken, you will love Nandos. Chicken is the staple indgredient at all of the nando branches, with 'Piri Piri Chicken' being the speciality. This dish dates back centuries to when the Portugese travelled to areas of africa (angola, mozambique) and began to colonise there. After meeting with the locals the portugese men soon learnt of there special cooking styles, and began to adapt them into their cuisines. A couple of centuries later, and I'm eating some of it in Manchester and writing this review.

Like all the Nandos restaurants the Manchester branch follows the unique theme of wooden chairs and tables, writing on the walls and chicken paitings everywhere. All in all it creates a very rustic, relaxed feel, perfect after a days shopping at the Arndale. One annoying thing about this Nandos is the music. If you stay for more than 20 minutes you will notice (if you listen carefully) that the music is on a complete loop. Sounds like a portugese Dido too me.

As soon as I entered the restaurant me and my friends were greeted immediately at the door, asked if we knew the process of eating at Nandos (which we did), and guided to our seats. Now comes the important stuff. What to choose from the menu. Chicken Burger or Half Chicken? Diffifcult choice in anyones book, personally I stumped for the half chicken. On top, I asked for chips and coleslaw, with my chicken medium (level of hotness), and a coke refill. All of this added up to around £7.50, well worth it.

To order we simply walk up to counter (there was and never is a queue) and tell them our table number. We can then tell them our orders in a group, or individually, before paying there and then. What makes this even more enticing are the barbecue grills behind the till where all the chicken is cooked. All the smoke from the cooking chickens manages to drift towards us, which as you can imagine wets your appetite quite considerably.

After waiting for 10-15 minutes your meals are usually ready, although this time in Manchester we only had to wait 5 minutes. Once our food has been given to us it is then our duty to get knives, forks, sauces and so on from the side table near the counter. Personally I find this way of eating creates a much more relaxed atmosphere than if you were to be served by a waiter/waitress. Independent service is the way forward!

The food itself was, and always is fantastic. My half chicken and piri piri chips were drizzled in the famous sauce but for that ultimate kick, I added some more (you can get the piri piri sauce range from the side table. They go from light all the way up to EXTRA hot). The chicken was tender to the core, incredibly juciy with that added barbecue grilled taste. Fantastic!

Even though ive been to nandos 5 or 6 times now, every time their food makes me feel great. I don't know if its true or not but ive heard that the spices found in nandos chicken release similar chemicals to those you get when having sex. So if your looking for a suitable replacement for your partner, this could be the place. It really is that good.

(also on ciao as carneypingu)

Summary: a restaurant chain like no other