Nando’s

Am I the last person on earth to have been to Nandos? Yes, I think I am. I somehow seem to have managed to miss getting myself there. The opportunity just never presented itself. That’s not strictly true. The opportunity presented itself a couple of times, but:
Occasion 1: Offer to take friend to the St Enoch Square, Glasgow branch, meet her at St Enoch Square, we get distracted by the mulled wine bar at the Christmas market, we never make it to Nandos.
Occasion 2: I am at Silverburn shopping centre by myself. Decide to pop in to Nandos. Briefly look at menu, clock people reeling off orders to the cashier at the front like the way people do in a Starbucks (the chicken equivalent of an extra shot, extra hot, double macchiato venti soy vanilla latte cappuccino) and I got intimidated and flustered, and went to Subway instead.
Occasion 3: I am again in Silverburn. I arrange to meet a friend at the Nandos for dinner. She arrives and decided she’d like something more restaurantey/​less fast foodey and we go to the tapas place instead.
Gah! There comes a point where it’s just gone too long, it’s become a habit and I figured I was just going to have to add ‘been to Nando’s’ to my NeverHaveIEver list, along with ‘watched a Bond film’ and ‘been to CenterParcs’. I don’t know how to Nando! (Yes, ‘to Nando’ is a verb… you Nando, he Nandos, they Nando… its just that until now, I didn’t Nando). So imagine my delight when elite Unilocaler Nate organised a trip to Nando’s to educate the uninitiated! This is just what I needed!
I arrived a little late after getting a bit lost along the cobbled lanes around London Bridge, but the Nando’s way of doing things meant that this wasn’t a problem. Nate and others kindly talked me through the menu options and a soon realised there was no need for me to have been flustered by my first encounter with the menu. They explained that you first of all pick your heat/​spiciness level, but pro tip: recommend going for one of the flavours instead (lemon herb or mango lime), and add heat/​spice to taste from the array of bottled chili sauces available to collect and take to your table while you await your food. Then you pick your chicken and then your sides. There were lots of pitta/​sandwich type options available but for my first visit I decided to keep it simple with some straightforward lemon and herb chicken thighs with sides of macho peas and spicy rice. I always go for thighs over other bits of the chicken because the meat is so juicy and flavourful, and harder to mess up/​dry out. I needn’t have worried, though — the chicken thighs were deliciously juicy with crisped skin and delicious smoky barbecue flavours from the open grill. Yum yum yum. The thighs were already de-​boned too, so no faffing about eating around the awkward bones. My plate came with 2 small dishes with my sides on. The macho peas were a cross between mushy peas and garden peas, and had some sort of peri peri spice to them I think but that got a little bit lost amongst all the other flavours I had going on on my plate (I had all the sauces out). I would perhaps pick a different side next time because once the spice flavour is lost, it was just a small portion of peas really. The spicy rice was nice, although again the spice was lost so it was just ‘rice’. I would perhaps go for the mash or wedges and some salad next time I think.
Anyway, back to the ordering which had got me so flustered before. It really is easy. Pick your heat, pick your chicken, pick your sides, go to the till and tell the server your table number and your order, pay your money, go back to your table and wait for your food to arrive. Simples.
My food arrived very quickly and was very tasty. For 4 chicken thighs, 2 sides and a large glass of red wine, it was 15 quid and you can’t really say fairer than that.
It’s not fancy dining, but it is good, basic and relatively healthy food, cooked well. Given that BBQ’d chicken is one of my favourite meals, and given that I have now popped my Nandos cherry and know how to Nando, I will definitely be back again soon
Many thanks to Nate for organising.

I came here once before, a few years ago, but I was drunk, ordered everything extra hot and had a terrible time, so we’ll skip over that.
My most recent visit here was superb. The lady taking my order was friendly, attentive and helpful. I didn’t have to wait in line for very long, and the whole ordering process was quick and efficient.
My food was at the table within 10 minutes of ordering, and was piping hot — a lot of Nando’s restaurants that I’ve been to usually serve their food lukewarm (or sometimes even cold), but this tasted fresh off the grill and was wonderful. What speedy service!
The jugs of sangria we ordered took a little longer to arrive, due to a malfunction with their lemonade pump, however, once they were ready they were brought over to the table personally by the lady who had served me. Once again, what great service! The sangria was surprisingly good; I had low expectations as it was Nando’s, but it was fruity and sweet and the fruit inside was juicy and fresh.
A great experience, considering this is a chain/​fast food restaurant. I will certainly be back if I fancy a cheeky Nando’s!

As this is Nandos, everyone knows what to expect here. I like this particular one due to its location — southbank is amazing! The restaurant itself is also unique and interesting in its setting. I always take new visitors to London at this Nandos.

I’ve eaten at four different Nando’s now (London Bridge, Gloucester Road, Commercial Road [Whitechapel] and Mississauga [Ontario, Canada]. They’re consistently tasty and reasonably priced. Table service would be great but it would probably drive the cost up.
I’ve come to call Nando’s as my fast food guilty pleasure.

Who doesn’t love Nandos?
Its cheap, its fun, its simple, you know what you are getting and their loyalty scheme is ace! I don’t think I’ve ever paid full price for a meal!
NHS workers get a cheeky 20% off so its well worth it for a quick bite. Unless you don’t like chicken… but then there is always the steak roll or bean patty!

I was told by a few colleagues of mine in the US to stop by for chicken. Honestly thought this was British rip off fast food joint, however I was strongly mistaken! I ordered the butterfly chicken sandwich and it was simply amazing! You first are seated then you go up to the counter and order and head back to your seat but the service was fast! Great quality of food! You have sauces to choose from mild to really hot. I just got hot peri-​peri sauce on my sandwich And it tasted so good! I even went to the tesco to purchase the sauce bottle to bring home to the U.S. Great place and must go! There are several locations throughout the city of London. It’s a Portuguese place so you know it’s good food.

It is a chain, but we don’t have anything like this where I live every time I am in the area I make sure I stop by.
I really like the chicken, but I can pass on the sides. Free refills on soda!

I came here with colleagues from work for lunch and as always the food is excellent. Not only is the food excellent, but the place is not like other Nando’s, it’s atmospheric with loads of space and wooden tables and Spanish music playing which I really liked. The service is a queuing system which is fine, but was fairly quick to be brought to the table. Staff are friendly and accommodating. Another pleasant Nando’s experience.

The location and venue is really beautiful. It’s built around the old archways along the Thames. On entering we were seated within 20 minutes. We went up and ordered pretty swiftly seeing as though we knew what we wanted. I like that they have a basin for you to wash your hands. We collected our sauces and were sat waiting for our food when a waitress came along and without asking, just took our sauce bottles away. I thought this strange especially seeing as though there were plenty of bottles available if people wanted them. Perhaps she thought we looked full and like we had already eaten but even so, perhaps one should ask when one starts clearing the table.
15 minutes after ordering the couple next to us receives half of their food order. When they question it they get told it’ll be along in a minute.
Anyway back to our table it’s now 20 minutes later and we receive our luke warm food! Thankfully the sauces are amazing and can save just about any meal!!! So we slather it on and begin eating. No one came back to check if our food was ok!
Back to the couple at the table next to us. By now they’re wondering what’s really up with their meal, so they ask. The waiter looks at their receipt and matter of factly tells them that only one plate of food got ordered. They don’t get offered anything in way of compensation for the mess up, not even an apology that I could hear. The tables are so close you are practically having dinner with them, or not as in this case!
This place may have location on its side but oh boy, it really hasn’t mastered the art of customer service!

Love Nando’s. I always get the chicken pita with houlumi cheese and chips. It’s one of my favorite meals.

Love Nando’s
You can always go there, if you just want a quick meal. I usually have the same dish — chicken, of course! The sauces are good and the food is not too pricey!
The service I get has always been good and the location is also great.

One of the great casual chicken chains of the world.
After walking in and ordering from the counter, from which you can see morsels of chicken being basted and grilled, the smell teasing your nostrils as you struggle to utter the words of your order, you grab your drink cup and your order number sign. Then you head over to the fountain drink machine, where you are surprised by the wide array of sauces available next to the drinks. The sauces include Piri Piri-​spiced sauces ranging from mild to XXX-​hot. Also included are sauces such as lemon pepper and a garlic sauce.
After grabbing your drink, you sit down and wait in agony to experience your chicken experience. Try not to look at nor smell other tables being served their own servings. I recommend whetting your appetite and/​or washing down your chicken with a nice ale.
We went for the chicken roulette: Rather than being chicken arranged in a roulette-​like circular shape, all 10 pieces of chicken are haphazardly stacked in a glorious pile of chicken basted in sauces of various heat. A person of high heat tolerance may not find any of them truly intense on their own; each piece was delicious and flavorful in its own way and you can discern that each piece was individually basted.
After you finish your dish, the next step is simply deciding whether you want to leave, or order more.
The choice is up to you, my friend.
5 stars, rounded up from 4.5.

Being extremely hungry, my friends and I were looking for a place that’s not too expensive but filling and yummy. We decided to check out this cool looking restaurant and was very happy about the experience.
We got seated in the upper level so that was pretty cool because you get a really good view of the entire restaurant and it is more private and quiet from the rest of the place. I got the chicken burger and it was quite delicious. Although, it was kind of small for what I was paying for. The sauce was definitely the best part of the sandwich. My table also got the unlimited frozen yogurt as dessert so we were grubbing on that afterwards. All my friends from the states wish Nando is in the US, too!

L’ambiance et la déco du restaurant sont très réussies, mais je suis un peu déçue du repas: c’était un peu sec et comme les sauces sont extrêmement relevées, il n’est pas possible d’en ajouter. L’ensemble reste tout à fait correct mais les plats pourraient être un peu plus copieux…

What to say, it is Nando’s! Food was really good, as normal.
Service this time wasn’t so great, brought the wrong food out twice and then when the waitress took the dessert order she forgot half of it so had to take it again — doesn’t usually happen though!
If you get an upstairs table there is a fabulous view of the river and St Pauls Cathedral — worth asking for.

An interesting chicken fast food joint but the location was great (and really huge!), the chicken I had was a bit dry but the extra things you get on the side where good. This place probably could do well in the states thats for sure.

I’ve been to better Nando’s places. Definitely.
This one is in a great location, and true, either the terrace, or the grand interior is a delight for the eye.
However, the staff do not manage the place as they should, and you can wait for ages to get a table, while you discover later on that some have been free all this time.
More worrying is the cleanliness of the place. Our table had just been «washed», and when we rested our hands on it, we found it more oily than fried chicken. We had it re-​washed on the spot.
While queuing, I saw some clients asking twice for another glass, as theirs was seemingly not clean.
The food was alright, but I’ve had better-​looking butterfly chicken in the past.
The staff were friendly nonetheless, but I would go to another Nando’s next time I’ve got a craving for chicken.

We don’t have Nando’s in the US (there’s allegedly one in DC, but until I see it, I’m skeptical). Now there’s a few factors as to why I’m a huge fan of Nando’s having only been here twice in my life (in the past two days since arriving in London):
— I’m Portuguese — this food is like Crack to me
— My Aussie buddy raved about Nando’s when I met him and I’ve been looking forward to trying one
— The exceptional chicken, rice, sauce combo, with some corn and garlic bread thrown in is a meal I subsist on every day. Love the sauce
Honestly, I wanted to give this place 4 stars but my wife insisted on 5. Given she’d give up a meal at Alain Ducasse to eat here, I deferred to her preference.
Quick thoughts on the other reviews:
— Comparing this place to KFC is like me comparing Man U to the Colorado Rapids
— Complaining about this place being a chain or shuddering at the rent cost seems idiotic

Chicken time! If you like chicken, odds are good you’ve been to Nando’s at some point. One of the better imports from South Africa and inspired by the Portuguese, Nando’s is a prime choice when you want a cheap and cheerful meal that’s somewhat healthy (compared to KFC) and fairly quick. But odds are good you knew that so let’s get into specifics.
This particular Nando’s is very spacious and during the week you are likely to be seated immediately or at worst wait a few minutes. Weekends are a bit trickier and I’ve been told of waits up to 30 minutes (which isn’t too bad for a restaurant, but for Nando’s is an eternity!). With the high turnover, you are almost guaranteed freshly grilled meats, crisp and crunchy chips, and corn on the cob that’s bursting with flavour (and thankfully not butter).
Foodwise, the chicken is just like every other Nando’s (gotta love franchise standardisation). Most times, they get it right with flavour filled skin and tender moist chicken. However, there are those occasions where the chicken comes out dry and no amount of sauce will help. With this particular one, I’d say they get it right 4 times out of 5 which is a pretty good ratio.
Make sure you get your sauces as soon as possible. Given the high ratio of eaters to sauce bottles and the tendency of people to grab every sauce they might want, there have been occasions here where no sauce could be found and you had to go table to table hoping to strike it lucky and borrow a bottle. Not much fun when all you want to do is dive into your food.
Wine and beer are available at more than reasonable prices (a glass of red wine costs £2.10 for example) so easily a place to get your drink on while you eat. It makes Nando’s a great pre-​night out spot. This location has plenty of table staff so you can wave one over for another drink instead of trekking out and waiting 15 mins in line again.
The front door is a bit tricky when it’s cold out as the heat from the grills just inside create a high pressure area that takes a bit of elbow grease to barge through. It does provide entertainment while waiting in line though so overall a plus point. The lines tend to be a bit long so expect to wait 10 – 15 minutes to place your order.
Overall, definitely the best Nando’s for groups that I’ve been in and something to keep in mind anytime you’re out near LB.

Neben dem Nando’s in der Glasshouse Street (Nähe Picadilly Circus) war dies der zweite Laden, in dem ich während meines letzten Urlaubs in London war. Die Einrichtung ist spitze und die Lage nahe der Themse auch sehr verführerisch. Der Laden hat meine Erwartungen bezüglich Essen erfüllt, auch wenn ich hier leider etwas anstehen musste. Dafür war die Wartezeit auf das Essen selbst sehr kurz!
Absolute Empfehlung: Die Hühnerbrust mit Chips, Püree und/​oder Knobibrot! Genau das richtige nach einem anstrengenden Tag in London!

While visiting the London, our British hosts raved about Nandos! This location is really cool because it’s built along the river bank, using the previous industrial structure.
The chicken is grilled to a juicy perfection. They have an array of sauces that compliments the chicken nicely. The spicy rice was okay but the ratatoulle was very bland and mushy.

Dieses Nandos liegt sehr schön in alten Gemäuern unweit der Themse. Das Essen ist für fast food recht gut, es gibt eine große Auswahl an allerlei mit Chicken und die Preise sind für London recht zivil. Praktisch ist auch, dass man hier mit vielen Leuten hingehen kann, weil der Laden viel Platz bietet und auch über große Tische verfügt.

In life, there are Nan-​DOs, and Nan-DON’Ts
This is definitely a nan-DON’Ts
Closing up 15 minutes early, huffing and puffing through our take-​away orders, and asking if I want to scrape up the excess frozen yogurt from the drip tray (oh, I’m dead serious)… this pretty much closed the Nando’s book for me. For good.
And I’m sure I’ll live hap-​peri-​perily ever after sans-​o Nandos.
The end.