Nando's

[Ryan Taylor]

I experienced Nando's for the first time tonight and I have to say I wasn't very impressed considering people I know tend to rave about it. For starters there is far too much going on when you have to order "what would you like?", "how strong do you want it on the 'peri-ometer'?"*, "do you want any sides with that?" and again I was asked "how strong do you want it on the 'peri-ometer'?" and once again "do you want any sides with that?". No I fricking don't. I then wanted a drink and opted for the 'Bottomless' Coke which means you can refill it and of course you get given the glass of which you then have to go over to the machine and fill it yourself (and put your own ice in if you like that kind of thing). Worse was to come when I find you have to then get your own knife and fork (and other cutlery) and napkins and any additional sauces (like ketchup). I go back to my table and the food is (fair play to them) quickly served to me but the chicken breast fillet burger I ordered was only luke warm, I expect food served to be hot. I had also chose 'medium' peri-peri for my chicken burger (and the same for the chicken wings) which I thought wouldn't be too spicy. Well I was wrong it made my tongue hurt so god knows what the two levels above that are like on the 'peri-ometer' *yawn*. Then I had a dessert (just strawberry ice cream) which came already well on the way to a melted state (I like pretty strong hard ice cream) and the bowl it was in was pathetically small. Anyway, I was pretty pissed off by the whole thing, the food wasn't to the standard I thought it might be, the whole ordering process is tiresome (you have to go to the counter rather than be served at your table), the portions are pitiful and you want to know the worst part...the cost. The whole thing is grossly overpriced...£5 for 5 chicken wings...please. I'd have benefited more if I'd just ate my £5 note. On the whole, I don't see how people can like the place. It is pretty much a glorified KFC although in my eyes KFC is far far better (I don't really like going to KFC much, I don't like fast food places in general). In summary I would have been better off just going to a takeaway saving myself half the amount of money and just sitting outside the Nando's staring into the place with a look of disgust. Will not be going back.

Is there anyone on this forum who is Nando's supporter who thinks it's the best thing since sliced bread?

*the 'peri-ometer' for anyone who didn't know (like me) is a scale of peri-peri sauce hotness (or something). It gives a description but when you are ordering something on spiciness you pretty much want to have a taste of the thing beforehand to know which level you are at. The 'peri-ometer' is pretty misleading.

[Michael Wallace]

Is there anyone on this forum who is Nando's supporter who thinks it's the best thing since sliced bread?

I don't think it's amazing but we eat there fairly regularly. I think your complaints about ordering being 'complicated' are a bit OTT, the only unusual thing is the spiciness of your food (it doesn't seem unreasonable of them to ask if you want one part of your meal at a different level of spiciness to another) and I think the option is great.

Were you complaining about having to do your own drink? I really like that. I hate Pizza Hut where you get a bottomless drink and they take forever to notice (or come near enough for you to get their attention) that you need a refill. Being able to do it myself means I actually get as much as I want.

The food not being hot is a bit unfortunate - that's happened to me once (in plenty of visits), but I complained and they redid my order quickly, without any bother. I don't think it's overpriced either, but we get veggie stuff so your mileage may vary on that one. When you take the loyalty card into account (assuming you go enough obv.) it works out pretty decent value imo.

[Ryan Taylor]

Is there anyone on this forum who is Nando's supporter who thinks it's the best thing since sliced bread?

I don't think it's amazing but we eat there fairly regularly. I think your complaints about ordering being 'complicated' are a bit OTT

Yeah I exaggerated it a bit, but still I think that when a menu has a step-by-step guide on how to order your food then I would say that's pretty annoying.

(it doesn't seem unreasonable of them to ask if you want one part of your meal at a different level of spiciness to another) and I think the option is great.

I would just presume though that most people would have the same level of spiciness for each bit of food they had.

Were you complaining about having to do your own drink? I really like that. I hate Pizza Hut where you get a bottomless drink and they take forever to notice (or come near enough for you to get their attention) that you need a refill. Being able to do it myself means I actually get as much as I want.

Yes. We were sat in the bit outside so it's a bit annoying to have to keep getting up to refill your glass (relatively small amount of drink once ice is added), I would much rather a waiter be mulling about paying attention to what is going on and then getting my drink for me so I can remain seated throughout the full meal to maintain the whole social occasion rather than breaking conversation by saying "I'm off to get another drink" (also exaggerated but yeah). Agreed though that Pizza Hut is annoying as the service seems to be very slow on the refills unless you are situated right near the bar so you can pester them.

I don't think it's overpriced either

Genuinely for what I was served I thought was overpriced. I can get (and do get) a better chicken breast fillet burger for half the price and I don't have to pay an extra 45p for some cheese with it. I can justify paying this for food if the restaurant(?) was better. And the spicy wings were very meagre for £1 each, looked like they'd come from chicklets rather than a chickens.

When you take the loyalty card into account (assuming you go enough obv.) it works out pretty decent value imo.

Yeah, obviously I didn't bother getting a loyalty card even though she asked me if I wanted one so don't know what the perks are like with that. Won't need one now though as I definitely won't be going back. Maybe my encounter with this chain was just unfortunate this evening in terms of where we were seated, service of food and being it my first time or maybe I was just expecting too much when I see other people putting statuses on facebook like "Nando's tonight with the girls, can't wait." and "mmmmm Nando's".

[Michael Wallace]

Yeah I exaggerated it a bit, but still I think that when a menu has a step-by-step guide on how to order your food then I would say that's pretty annoying.

Obviously it's hard for me to remember what it was like my first time, but you get the hang of it pretty quickly.

I would just presume though that most people would have the same level of spiciness for each bit of food they had.

I wouldn't presume that. For instance, you might be ordering one thing for yourself and one for people to share (or even for someone else), or you might like your burger spicy but your whatever-else-it-is not so spicy. I always just get burger+chips, so it's not a problem for me, but it doesn't really seem that implausible.

Yes. We were sat in the bit outside so it's a bit annoying to have to keep getting up to refill your glass (relatively small amount of drink once ice is added), I would much rather a waiter be mulling about paying attention to what is going on and then getting my drink for me so I can remain seated throughout the full meal to maintain the whole social occasion rather than breaking conversation by saying "I'm off to get another drink" (also exaggerated but yeah). Agreed though that Pizza Hut is annoying as the service seems to be very slow on the refills unless you are situated right near the bar so you can pester them.

Yeah, if you're sitting outside I can see why that would be annoying. I always try and grab a table near the drinks machine if possible, but even then I don't find I'm getting up that often (and I usually drink about 3-4 times as much as everyone else).

Genuinely for what I was served I thought was overpriced. I can get (and do get) a better chicken breast fillet burger for half the price and I don't have to pay an extra 45p for some cheese with it. I can justify paying this for food if the restaurant(?) was better. And the spicy wings were very meagre for £1 each, looked like they'd come from chicklets rather than a chickens.

Oops. I have just remembered that we get a 20% discount because CF has an NHS card, so my previous assertion of value might not be quite so accurate...

[Jon O'Neill]

Lol complaining about nandos. if you don't love nandos, you don't love life. maybe go eat in a wetherspoons with a quiz machine instead you chicken hating prick.

[Matt Morrison]

if you don't love nandos, you don't love life. maybe go eat in a wetherspoons with a quiz machine instead you chicken hating prick.

one proud chicken hating prick checking in. took another £10 secret letter jackpot last night.

[Ryan Taylor]

Lol complaining about nandos. if you don't love nandos, you don't love life. maybe go eat in a wetherspoons with a quiz machine instead you chicken hating prick.

That's a better option IMO you ginger hating prick.

[Jon O'Neill]

Alright, here are the top 10 best things about Nando's. I haven't thought of 10 but I'm pretty confident I can come up with them on the fly. Any Nando-hatorz will probably find a lot of their negatives in here as positives, because inevitably you are a sad little contrarian.

1) The chicken. I've been to more expensive restaurants and had worse chicken. I dunno what they do but I've never had a bit of chicken in there that was not the perfect chickeny consistency. How you can think KFC chicken is better is just beyond me, even though I am a big KFC fan.

2) The sauce. I'm a medium guy, and I definitely prefer peri-peri to -- no exaggeration- - any other sauce for meat bar Coleman's mustard (beef, ham etc.).

3) The ordering system. One of the things I fucking hate most about going to restaurants is the ridiculous archaic way of ordering food and drinks. The waiters and waitresses circulate and you have to wait indefinitely for a local one to come available for EACH of the following steps: get seated, order drinks, order starter, order main, order more drinks, order dessert, ask for bill, put money/card on little bill thing, do card machine/get change. The last few of these are particularly fucking frustrating, since you've already done all your business there and you're just waiting around for nothing. With Nando's, you think at your own pace, you pay when you're ready, invariably you eat soon after, and as soon as you've eaten you fuck off.

4) Getting your own cutlery. I always get a spare knife and fork in case one gets dropped or something. I love having the choice of which cutlery I can take. This would be especially good in Wetherspoons where the cutlery is always dirty. In Nando's the cutlery's always clean and often hot, which feels like a very novel luxury indeed.

5) Napkins. You can choose as many napkins as you want. This is definitely good when you're eating chicken. You get one napkin in restaurants or KFC.

6) Ketchup. You get a bottle of ketchup, unlike in Pizza Hut where it's rationed out or KFC/fast-foods where you get two tiny sachets which last about three chips.

7) Cocktail sticks/toothpicks. I can't think of another place where they let you have them, but I fucking love it. Chicken is one of those things where it's gonna take quite a clean-up job after you've eaten. Along with napkins, the toothpicks they leave ensure you don't go home feeling like you need a wash.

8) The musac. I bloody love the music they play in there to the extent that I've been known to get up and have a salsa during my half-chicken, peri-peri chips and spicy rice.

9) The loyalty card. That I have been able to sit and devour a whole motherfucking FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEE chicken in Nando's is testament to the genius of its loyalty card. I don't even do that shit at home. What a day.

10) Dickheads don't like it. Whether or not one likes it is a good barometer for whether or not one is a decent human being or not. It's a prickometer if you will.

[Matt Morrison]

pricko-prickometer

[Phil Reynolds]

11) It's SOD NAN spelt backwards.

[Ryan Taylor]

Points 1), 2), and 3) I clearly don't stand by based on my own preferences but 4) and 5) I can agree are good points now I see it. Point 6), I don't like the bottles of ketchup because they were not squeezy ones, 7) I have nails and a tongue for that job 8) I heard no music 9) mentioned 10) then I guess I'm extra-pricky on the prick-ometer.

[Charlie Reams]

12) It's a portmanteau of nan and dildo.

[Rhys Benjamin]

I've never been there. To be honest Ryan, try KFC instead. They have Chicken Wings too, and more of them!

[Ian Volante]

Hot cutlery = burnt hands.

KFC = shite battery chicken - surprised they even have wings.

Nando's sounds okay actually, never been in, although there's one about 100m from my flat. One day maybe. Might see their chicken ethics first.

[Michael Wallace]

8) The musac. I bloody love the music they play in there to the extent that I've been known to get up and have a salsa during my half-chicken, peri-peri chips and spicy rice.

Haha, whilst I've never got up for a boogie the music has got stuck in my head so that whenever I hear a similar style playing I get the urge for Nando's. It was pretty bad when I was playing loads of Sonic and Sega All Stars Racing, where one of the Samba De Amigo tracks would always end up making me want delicious Nando's.

[Tom Barnes]

I have eaten at Nando's a couple of times, and have no strong feelings about it. It seems there are a lot of people who do though, and not just on this forum. This troubles me.

[Dan McColm]

I had a whole extra-hot chicken once. It was very tasty. Where else can you go and eat a whole chicken?!

[Adam Gillard]

I had a whole extra-hot chicken once. It was very tasty. Where else can you go and eat a whole chicken?!

Try a JSoc Friday night dinner. You'll have to put the pieces together yourself, but you could probably eat 2 whole chickens before the supply runs out / other people start to look at you funny. I have experience in this matter.

[Mark James]

I don't think we have Nandos in Ireland. I've never heard of it anyway. I don't normally like chain food restaurants. They're really only good for a quick fix, not a substantial meal. Although I did have a chicken fillet burger and bacon and cheese fries from Abrakebabra on the way home from the pub the other night and it was unbelievably gorgeous.

[Jon O'Neill]

I don't think we have Nandos in Ireland. I've never heard of it anyway. I don't normally like chain food restaurants. They're really only good for a quick fix, not a substantial meal. Although I did have a chicken fillet burger and bacon and cheese fries from Abrakebabra on the way home from the pub the other night and it was unbelievably gorgeous.

What, a whole chicken is not substantial enough for you?

[Mark James]

I don't think we have Nandos in Ireland. I've never heard of it anyway. I don't normally like chain food restaurants. They're really only good for a quick fix, not a substantial meal. Although I did have a chicken fillet burger and bacon and cheese fries from Abrakebabra on the way home from the pub the other night and it was unbelievably gorgeous.

What, a whole chicken is not substantial enough for you?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWGguRg- ... ure=relmfu Watch the first minute. Well watch all of it, but the first minute is pertinent to this discussion.

[Ian Volante]

Abrakebabraquote

A proper restaurant of this name opened near us recently. Unsurprisingly, it didn't last long. What with Abrakebabra and Supermac's, you don't need Nando's.

[Mike Brown]

I must confess the idea of a restaurant that only seems to sell chicken doesn't inspire me. And this thread isn't converting me yet.

[Ryan Taylor]

I must confess the idea of a restaurant that only seems to sell chicken doesn't inspire me. And this thread isn't converting me yet.

I think there are a few other things on the menu too besides just chicken but can't remember what they were (just a small section). I did steal a menu but unfortunately it was desserts menu.

[Gavin Chipper]

Is Nando's short for "Fernando's" or something? It's just an incredibly shit name.

[Mike Brown]

I must confess the idea of a restaurant that only seems to sell chicken doesn't inspire me. And this thread isn't converting me yet.

I think there are a few other things on the menu too besides just chicken but can't remember what they were (just a small section). I did steal a menu but unfortunately it was desserts menu.

I hope so or any veggies will be in trouble!

[JimBentley]

I've never been to one but I'm quite tempted now. Jono is a very good ambassador for this brand.

[Andy Wilson]

I'd no idea it was a restaurant chain but their hot peri peri marinade caught my eye on the supermarket shelf last month and I decided to give it a whirl. Chucked a bunch of chicken drumsticks into a bowl for half an hour with a decent splodge of it and stuck em in the oven for however long they took to cook and yummy yummy. Tasty. Even nicer with pork (sorry Adam, you'll just have to trust me). I've just finished my third jar of the stuff.

Apparently we do have them in Ireland Mark http://www.nandosrestaurant.ie/our-restaurants but I've never noticed them myself (then, I don't ever bother to go to mahon point shopping centre).

Gav, this is for you - http://www.nandos.co.uk/default/ABS8/Our_Story.html Fascinating. It's called peri peri because Portuguese couldn't pronounce pili pili and in 14th century Barcelos a pilgrim escaped death by making a judges cock rise, or so they say. And if you're in Africa, don't leave your chili unattended if there are women around, because african birds eye chili, or something.

[Andy Wilson]

Oh, and I'd like to ask Jon if, seeing as you like Nando's so much, avoided it in early February for emotional reasons?

[Mark James]

Apparently we do have them in Ireland Mark http://www.nandosrestaurant.ie/our-restaurants but I've never noticed them myself (then, I don't ever bother to go to mahon point shopping centre).

Cheers Andy. I don't go to shopping centres either which is probably why I've never noticed them.

[Gavin Chipper]

Gav, this is for you - http://www.nandos.co.uk/default/ABS8/Our_Story.html Fascinating. It's called peri peri because Portuguese couldn't pronounce pili pili and in 14th century Barcelos a pilgrim escaped death by making a judges cock rise, or so they say. And if you're in Africa, don't leave your chili unattended if there are women around, because african birds eye chili, or something.

Thanks. Still a rubbish name.

[Martyn Simpson]

Abrakebabraquote

A proper restaurant of this name opened near us recently. Unsurprisingly, it didn't last long. What with Abrakebabra and Supermac's, you don't need Nando's.

We also have an "Abrakebabra", along with "The Codfather", and my own personal favourite, "Only Foods and Sauces"

[Soph K]

nandos is alright but its slightly too spicy - i mean, i got this chicken thats supposed to be for children and yeah ok i do like things a little bit spicy but was expecting it to be totally un-spicy. it was BURNING...well, kind of...almost...ish...ok it was about 7 out of 10 spicy!!! (ten being very spicy, 0 being not spicy at all) i was really surprised since it was meant to be for kids! it wasnt too bad though.