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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Nandos is not nice!

211 replies

biggirlknickers · 25/10/2021 10:18

I had a voucher for £25 so took the kids. Thought I might actually enjoy it too as everyone seems to love Nandos, right?

Major disappointment. The only nice things were the halloumi strips starter (can’t go wrong with halloumi) and the ice machine next to the free water.

Chicken - don’t know as I’m veggie. DD ate hers.

Veggie options - v poor. Choice of bean burger or pea protein burger. I had the latter. Tasted of grey sadness with the texture of tripe. Partner had bean burger and said it was rubbish.

Chips - undercooked, underwhelming.

Hummus - cheap and lacking in flavour. No evidence of olive oil or garlic present.

Frozen yoghurt- synthetic vanilla frothy nonsense. Really unpleasant.

Service - ok but there were no actual menus and I was the only person with a phone so I had to read out the whole menu to everyone, with endless requests for repetition and clarification.

I went to Nando’s a couple of times pre-kids - maybe 10 -15 years ago - and I thought it was nice! Has it gone downhill? I’m sure they used to have better veggie options too.

Grump.

OP posts:
Name99 · 25/10/2021 11:05

Overated food and it has gone down hill since covid
Also every single time I've been there the glasses are warm.
If you ask for a cold one or even room temperature it's like your personally offending them

ferretface · 25/10/2021 11:06

Quite like nandos, it's not fancy but it does the job if you like chicken.

Half chicken with medium peri, peri chips with perinaise, macho peas. And an assortment of sauces. Yeah, I like it.

londonrach · 25/10/2021 11:07

Yanbu. No idea why it's so popular..it's just chicken and chips..

DGFB · 25/10/2021 11:09

You didn’t have the chicken, yabu. It’s delicious!!

MobyDicksTinyCanoe · 25/10/2021 11:09

I like it.

We get the big sharing platter which works out at about £50 to feed four adults including drinks..... I mean it's not exactly fine dining but if I wanted that I wouldn't be expecting to pay £12.50 a head in a chicken shop.

Wroxie · 25/10/2021 11:09

Sorry but you went to a cheap fast food chicken restaurant for vegetarian food.

I've had their bean burger when I was dragged there as part of a group a few years ago. It was fine. The chips were also edible. Certainly better than squeaky chewy matted cotton wool halloumi.

Minniem2020 · 25/10/2021 11:11

We went once and really didn't see what all the fuss was about either. The chicken was just like the marinated chicken that Aldi do

Normandy144 · 25/10/2021 11:11

It's very disappointing. I found the chicken dry and the chips weren't crispy just a bit flabby. It's supposed to be Portuguese chicken and it's a world away from proper Portuguese chicken and chips.

TheAntiGardener · 25/10/2021 11:12

I don’t get the ‘it’s a chicken restaurant, so why do you expect anything’ argument - they’re taking people’s money for this stuff so it’s reasonable to expect it to be decent and to criticise it if it isn’t. Not being able to put out a reasonably tasty veggie burger or wrap is poor - they aren’t hard to do.

Don’t put it on the menu at all if it’s a lazy afterthought.

MobyDicksTinyCanoe · 25/10/2021 11:13

Name99 if I was out and saw you chasing some kid on minimum wage round because 'your glass was too warmy' id think you were a massive dickhead tbh.

Stick some ice in it from the massive ice machine if youre that bothered and stop showing yourself up. For the love of God. 🙄😬

SunShinesBrightly · 25/10/2021 11:14

You are right OP.
Nando’s is not nice. I have been once.
Almost as soon as I had finished my meal I had to go to the bathroom and go home. It made me so ill.

TuftyMarmoset · 25/10/2021 11:15

I used to love the Nando’s beanie burger when I was vegetarian but haven’t had it for at least 5 years so don’t know if they’ve changed the recipe. I’m vegan now and inexplicably they didn’t make the pea protein one vegan (shellac in the sauce apparently) so they don’t have any vegan mains which I think is poor. Love the peri chips though.

LittleDandelionClock · 25/10/2021 11:16

I have seriously never been, like never. It's never appealed to me.

Wobblywibblywoo · 25/10/2021 11:18

I think I could actually make better food than Nando’s at home for waaaay less than they charge!

CounsellorTroi · 25/10/2021 11:18

One and only time I went to Nando’s was at lunchtime with some work colleagues. Have never felt the urge to go back.

TellySavalashairbrush · 25/10/2021 11:19

I have always thought it was highly overrated. Very average chicken and a couple of sides that are ok. Would only go if there was nothing else available.

RandomLondoner · 25/10/2021 11:20

I didn’t comment on the chicken.

To paraphrase the point others have already made, rating Nando's on something other than chicken and chips is like rating McDonalds or Burger King on the quality of their desserts.

Having said that, I like Nandos a lot, usually, but I've had one disappointing experience at a particular restaurant that I've only been to once, and I've never liked it as a takeaway from whatever branch DW orders it. I think how good it is does vary from one franchise to another.

Someone compared it to other chicken places: the other chicken places I've encountered don't have high-quality corn-fed thoroughly marinated chicken, which is what Nando's is supposed to be like. (But my one bad in-restaurant experience tells me not all franchises always deliver that.)

Gonnagetgoing · 25/10/2021 11:20

Whenever I've been to Nandos I've been distinctly underwhelmed too - I have the lemon and herb chicken as it's the mildest they do but I can't work out the fuss re the food/drink choices otherwise - so basic and not that tasty either! I only ever went as one company I worked for it was their default place for leaving lunches etc and it was fairly near the office too. I know loads of people who love it though. So YANBU.

Gonnagetgoing · 25/10/2021 11:21

@Wroxie

Sorry but you went to a cheap fast food chicken restaurant for vegetarian food.

I've had their bean burger when I was dragged there as part of a group a few years ago. It was fine. The chips were also edible. Certainly better than squeaky chewy matted cotton wool halloumi.

But it's hardly KFC is it re cheap fast food chicken! I know what you mean though. It is cheap and fast food.
YourFinestPantaloons · 25/10/2021 11:22

It's awful and expensive, YANBU

OneTC · 25/10/2021 11:25

It's shit and it's always been shit

Fluffycloudland77 · 25/10/2021 11:26

Years ago we knew someone who was subcontracted there to do refurbs etc, they said they wouldn’t eat there after seeing how the meat was stored.

I’ve never felt the need to go there.

TheOrigRights · 25/10/2021 11:27

I used to love the super grain salad, but they don't do that any more.

Gingerkittykat · 25/10/2021 11:28

I loved the Portuguese chicken livers but they took them off the menu over lockdown and didn't put them back on.

I make my own peri chicken now, you can buy the marinades, peri salt and may from the supermarket. Asda also do a nice butterflied whole chicken which is marinated in peri peri sauce.

Sleepyquest · 25/10/2021 11:32

I used to loveeeee Nandos and go at least once if not twice a week (many moons ago). Last few times have been crap and I am not returning. I dread to think how much money I've given them over the years Grin