Nandos are a chain of chicken restaurants (although they serve a few other dishes as well). And although i have never eaten in one before i have it on good authority that the food is both delicious and fairly hot.

Now Nandos have turned their hand to the manufacture of peri peri crisps. The packet is brown and looks a bit like a brown paper bag youd get at your local grocers, no doubt done for an 'authentic' effect. With the words HOT PERI PERI emblazened on the front in red (dont say you werent warned). On the back of the pack there is a scale of heat in the shape of a chilli pepper, ranging from mild to 'x hot'. The scale puts these crisps one behind 'v hot' and two above mild. Now, it doesnt take a rocket scientist to presume that these crisps come in 3 other heat levels.

The bag is pretty large at 150g and should survive at least a few maulings before succumbing to emptiness.

The actual crisps are an impossibly bright orangey red colour and there are a few 'e' numbers in there as well (not indicative of your friendly local grocer at all). Im not too bothered about that kind of stuff but i know there are a lot of people who are and its important to know what your eating.

As soon as you open the bag your nostrils are assaulted by an overpowering garlicky based smell which is actually not that pleasant. The taste however is passable with these crisps being relatively hot, for a widely available commercial product.

Nandos use the bird eye chilli which is native to Africa (Kenya i think but im not positive) ground into a powder to give their crisp that little kick.
Based on the crisp alone i wont be running to nandos restaurant just yet but i must admit i am eager to try the next heat level up.


All in all not a bad snack, give them a try and see what you think!