Peri Peri good chicken (Nandos)

Member Name: mtpatton

Product:	Nandos
Date:	09/07/09 (153 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap, Nice flavours,

Disadvantages: A bit of a fast food vibe, Poor toilet facilities

Nandos is a restaurant chain of Portuguese roots but first opened in South Africa in 1987 and enter the UK market five years later and has since grown into over 200 franchised outlets and is famous for it Peri-Peri Chicken.

Personally I have been to several of the UK outlets, but this is a review of my recent visit to one of the two oxford branches of Nandos

Why I went there
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I found myself enjoying a couple of drinks recently in this part of Oxford after work, and as usual we didn't plan a small thing known as where to get something to eat. Our requirements we simple
1) We wanted to sit outside to enjoy the recent enjoyable evenings that we have experienced.
2) Not to expensive

We racked our brains for ages an aged on somewhere that didn't met our requirements to sit outside as many of the restaurants in this part of oxford do not have the facility to sit outside. We then walked past this building and realised that there were about 10 tables outside, so we decided to go here.

The Food
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The food is quite simple, but sometimes the easiest things are most enjoyable. The restaurant food is based around chicken. First of all you need to decide what you want. Both I and my girlfriend went for a half chicken. Secondly you choose what level of spicy sauce you wish to be on the chicken. This ranges from extra hot right though to mild sauces of lemon and herd or mango and lime. We both opted for the hot marinade for our chicken. I have been Nandos many times and I always go for the hot spicy sauce and am also presently surprised how hot it is.

I did get extra hot sauce put on my chicken in Kuala Lumpar and the difference in spice was very noticeable. The extra hot sauce is described on the menu as a real throat scorcher. You can choose to get your chicken on its own or with a couple of side dishes. These include the usual side of chips, Coleslaw, Garlic Bread and corn on the cob. I chose corn on the cob and also chips as well. To make the chips a bit spicier I chose to get Peri-Peri salt on the chips which are a nice flavour for the chips.

After you chose what you want and how you want it, you head to the counter to place your order and pay for you meal there and then. Whilst you are at the till you can collect your entire cutlery and also any additional sauces you want so you can test the other flavours on your plate for the next visit. This is the part of the chain that I feel shows that it is a mix of the generic high street fast food and a restaurant. This is part of the reason that the prices are really good value for money here.

The chicken itself is cooked freshly for you and the half chicken has enough chicken meat on it to keep me satisfied and this combined with my two side orders means that I left quite full.

As I said myself and my girlfriend know what we like here through various visits to the chain, but the menu is reasonably diverse as my friends got a Chicken Burger and a chicken breast wrap which did seem really nice. Another friend who was there for the first time ended up ordering a whole chicken and taking some of it home in a doggy bag.

The décor
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Well we found ourselves sitting outside in the sun at some wooden tables which were shielded from the nearby road by a row of plants which helped to keep much of the noise of the traffic away. However one thing that was disappointing was that one of the plants was growing towards the table and meant that it was right in my face which was very annoying.

The inside of the restaurant is very dark in nature which all of the tables been a very dark brown colour. In the middle of the restaurant is the kitchen where you can clearly see your meal been cooked, which is something I always like to see.

The toilets were a disappointment here. There were four cubicles. However on one of these the door didn't lock and one had a broken door. This was ok when we were there on a quite Tuesday night, however it would be a problem on a busy Saturday.

The price
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Again this is a very reasonably priced chain of restaurants. My half chicken set me back £8.60. This included the price of two sides, The half chicken on its own cost £5.80.

Drinks are also reasonably priced. You can order a bottomless soft drink for £1.95 which gives you a choice of 4 soft drinks which are dispensed by yourself. I choose a bottle of Brahma for £2.95. There is also a wide selection of wines available as well.

Burgers are priced at £7.55 for two sides as well. The wrap was a little bit more at £8.55. A whole chicken and 2 sides sets you back £16.55.

Loyalty Card
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Nandos operate a loyalty card. If you purchase 10 meals you are entitled to a free whole chicken. There are also small things for free along the way as well. The card is free and you simply pick one up at the till and get it stamped with each meal you order.

Summary: A nice cheap meal