Who cares about the chicken? I crossed the road to get to Nando's! (Nandos)

Member Name: malteser1987

Product:	Nandos
Date:	23/05/09 (46 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Price, reward card, quality, consistency, service

Disadvantages: Not being able to have Nando's all the time

Nando's Nando's Nando's - there came a time when I hadn't heard of you, and now you're all I think of...

I like Nando's - everything from the food, to the atmosphere and the service. The price is also great and it is such a pleasant place; I find myself wielding the slightly dog-eared rewards card which has served my boyfriend and I well over the past 7 months since I was first introduced to Nando's. I am also now a pro at strumming off my order - well I do pretty much order the same thing every time!

Unlike some seasoned pro's - I've never been one for the hot and spicy so don't be put off if people go on about choosing the heat of your sauce - I personally always choose mango and lime, though there is also lemon and herb before you move up to the medium, hot and very hot. People who don't fear the heat can also opt to pick up extra sauce bottles on the way back to their seat with extremely hot being among them.

So let's break it down;

The setup:
Nando's is styilised to resemble the Portugese chicken restaurants it came from. Lots of oranges, red and yellows adorn the place with cooking going on in full view of the customers. Lots of chicken references and stories to accompany their famous name and logo; the menu is colourful, simple and easy to understand.

The food:
What I love about the food is there isn't too much choice - it's all standardised and the joy of every visit to Nando's is I know exactly what quality I'm going to get - and it's always excellent. 5 chicken wings is my favourite meal though I've now moved up to the 'half a chicken' which has a lot more meat on it. The key word here is 'consistency' and this resonates from the food to the service. Always great quality, always great choice and always a full stomach at the end of it. To accompany your choice which varies from different cuts of chicken, burgers and vegetarian choices, you can choose from regular or large sides. The sides include spicy rice, chips, ratatouille, garlic bread along with others. They help you out by putting the price of the meal on its own, with 2 regular sides or with one 'fino' or large side. These come in little round dishes which make it very easy to pick up and transfer to other plates. Frequently this will be from my plate to my boyfriends as he finishes off his huge helping and mine.

Drinks

Small selection of alcoholic beverages and the excellent bottomless soft drink. Trust me, with my sensitive senses the spicy rice attributes to a number of empty glasses for me so this is an added bonus!

Service

I have always found excellent, consistent service. If your new to Nando's, the procedure is explained to you - choose your main and your heat, choose your sides, choose your drink, queue at the till, collect your glasses and take a seat. When you go there too frequently a) they will start to recognise you and b) the order will roll off your tongue and you'll feel like leaning over and retrieving your own glass because you're so at home. Of course service differs depending on where you are but still, they are meant to be trained to the same standard and as I've seen this is friendly and welcoming.

Rewards!!

There's a reward card - of yes - a little strip of card helping you tally up stamps for spending around £5.50ish (which is the price of their basic mains) and receiving various free chickens in larger quantities as you work your way through it. They have a special stamp and sign it so don't think you can fool the system. Like you wouldn't want to have gone to Nando's all those times anyway!

Price

For the most part for around £20 I can pay for my boyfriend and I to have 2 mains, 3 sides (2 regulars and a large) plus drinks. I think personally that is an absoloute bargain - going out to a restaurant and paying £20 for everything!

So if you want a delicious, interesting and consistently excellent service and quality of food, Nando's should be your first choice for a night out that's value for money and yummy!

Summary: Delicious, great value food - yum yum! Get to Nando's!!