If you like chicken you'll love Nando's (Nandos)

Member Name: aylawarner

Product:	Nandos
Date:	01/05/09 (139 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great if you love chicken, good quality food and cooked well, cheap

Disadvantages: Not big enough portions

Nando's is a restaurant that has been in the UK since 1992. It has only just become really popular in the last 10 years or so and is famous for its Portuguese flame-grilled spicy peri-peri chicken.

My husband has always had lads nights out which has included a trip to Nando's but I'd never been before. He's always raved about how great it is and so, seeing as I love chicken so much, we decided to try it out together one evening.

Our most local Nando's is in Crayford, Kent, and it was newly built only about a year ago. It looks fabulous from the outside and really inviting so I don't know why I'd never been actually. Inside, there was the order counter and bar and on the other side were all the tables were we sat down to have a look at the menus and our waitress asked us if we had been there before and if we knew what to do. Having never been there before I wasn't sure how it worked but basically you choose what you want from the menu and then go and order it yourself at the counter where you give your table number and then pay upfront. There is a small metal chicken statue on each table and you turn this upside once you have ordered so that the waiters know you have placed your order and they can come and take your menus away.

Once you've ordered, if you have purchased soft drinks, you are given glasses and you can fill these up yourself at the drinks machine. Nando's gives free refills so you can keep topping up all night for no extra charge - which is great as you'll probably need lots to drink if you've ordered something hot and spicy!

The menu really does only consist of chicken meals so don't go to Nando's if you don't like chicken! You can choose from chicken burgers, pittas or wraps, chicken wings, or 1/4, 1/2 or a whole chicken. There are set prices for either just the chicken on its own or a combination where you can add 1 or 2 sides to the meal. A regular chicken breast fillet burger with 1 regular side is £5.95 which is good value, and half a chicken with 2 extra sides is £8.60. For vegetarians they do a range of salads or a veggie burger. The Nandinos (children's) menu is great with a choice of different chicken with a side and a basic dessert for only £3.95. Once you've chosen your meal you chose how spicy you want your chicken to be from the peri-ometer - lemon and herb, mango and lime (the two lowest spice choices), medium, hot or extra hot. We both chose lemon and herb and even that was a little spicy so I can't even imagine how spicy the extra hot must be!

If you want to order any extras, i.e. drinks or desserts, you don't need to queue again you can just ask a waiter and they will do you another bill at the end.

You can tell that the chicken is very good quality and it was cooked to perfection and was sitting in the middle of a soft fresh bun. The side of chips were yummy and the garlic bread was also really tasty. But I was a bit disappointed with the food to be honest. Because my husband and all his friends always rave about it and because it has a slightly American feel to it, I was expecting some huge portion to come out that I'd never be able to finish. But I easily finished my small burger and tiny portion of chips easily and I was actually still hungry after! For the value though, I suppose I can't complain but I really wasn't too happy - I left feeling disappointed and still a little hungry which I shouldn't do when leaving a restaurant. I actually preferred the Nando's we visited in Malaysia where the waiters took your orders at your tables and the portions were huge.

If I ever go back there, I'll definitely have to order more food, maybe a couple more sides, but I'm in no rush to visit again. Don't get me wrong, the food was delicious, really appetising, and the restaurant was lovely, but it just didn't do it for me. I'd much prefer to go somewhere like TGI's or Frankie and Benny's and pay a bit more for a much bigger and more satisfying burger.

Summary: Great restaurant just not satisfying enough for me