I’ve been hearing about how amazing Nando’s is for ages now and I’ve been dying to try it because I’m obsessed with Peri-Peri flavoured things. So when it opened in Blanchardstown on November 14th I was super excited to give it a go. My experience didn’t really live up to my expectations, and so I thought I’d write a blog about it. For no reason really, I think I’m probably the last person in the world to eat it so I doubt anyone still needs a review of it. But YOLO.
I should probably preface this by saying that I’m a vegetarian. So I’m probably the worst person ever to do a review of Nando’s. Or.... The best? You decide. I don’t even know. Basically it could have the most delicious chicken in the world. But I won’t be commenting on that.
My first impressions were: 'woooo this looks cool'. There were little trees and benches and bushes and stuff. I felt like a valued customer already because they had gone to such lengths to please me by buying all of these expensive decorations! Unfortunately, I was not thinking of blog potential, so I didn’t take my own photo’s, but I’ll include a generic internet one to help you along the Nando’s journey with me:
We had to queue for about 15 minutes (well Barry mostly had to queue, as I was late), but I don’t really mind that because you have to do that in Eddie’s a lot so I was sort of expecting it. There was TONNES of staff. Like probably 30. And they were all super busy, bless them. Anyway, we got seated eventually, and that’s where the fun began.
So FIRST of all, the seats were pretty shit. We kinda got lucky, because we were in the corner, but other people had to sit at like a lunch hall style thing, with people directly to your left and right. It just felt a bit crowded and squishy. Like you couldn’t even have a proper conversation because it was quite loud and everyone could hear what you were talking about. (I was mostly talking about how much I missed Eddies, and Barry was mostly sighing.)
THEN came the surprise. Yer one tells us to pick what we want and then stall it up to the till to order. I wasn’t sure how to feel. At first I felt a bit violated, kinda vulnerable. Then I got stage fright about having to stand up and wander around aimlessly in front of all these chicken lovers who clearly knew what they were doing. But I didn’t want to make a fuss. When in Rome, y’know. So since I was getting the complicated vegetarian option, I volunteered to wander across the room and queue, as if I was in Bewleys or something.
Barry ordered the Chicken Butterfly with Mango & Lime sauce. It didn’t really look like a butterfly so I don’t know what that’s about but there you go. I tried to order this thing called a Beanie, which is like a burger or wrap with chickpeas and lentils in it. Unfortunately, I wanted it with no cheese but apparently the cheese was already INSIDE the burger. Another setback. Regardless, I kept on trucking, and ordered the Couscous Salad, which I was HORRIFIED to discover cost €8.60. Or €12.60 if you wanted to add chicken.
I asked for tap water and was handed a warm glass and told to go fill it up at this little station thing. That’s also where you get the cutlery, Peri-Peri sauce and other drinks like Coke and Fanta etc. I normally love spicey food but the sauces were so complicated looking and had too many ingredients and I just wanted Tabasco Sauce from Eddies and I was too overwhelmed. So off I went back to my seat, sauceless.
Our food arrived surprisingly quickly, which was fab. My salad was pretty big, but the chip portions were much smaller than Eddies. (I’m sorry this whole thing is a comparison to Eddies ok?? I can’t help it. It’s all I know and love.) I got charged 15cent for Peri-Peri salt, but that’s a whole other issue.
The food itself was pretty decent. The chips were good and the salad was delicious. Barry wasn’t overly fond of his chicken, but that’s because he doesn’t like sauce and yet he ordered it with sauce. Men.
Overall, the food and the staff in Nando’s were fab. No complaints there really. What I was NOT a fan of was the price and the set up. It came to nearly €30 for the two meals. Which would be fine if we were in a restaurant, but alas, dear readers, we were not. We were in some sort of restaurant-canteen hybrid. Apart from the fact that you get shown to your seat and get your food brought to you, everything else was pretty much just a canteen. Like pick one or the other! You go out to dinner for the comfort of having a nice table, friendly staff, and your meal brought to you. No foostering around looking for cutlery and condiments. You might pop into a canteen on your lunch break for that kind of carry on, but you certainly don’t pay €30 for the privilege. Nando’s seems to be stuck in between these two types, the service of a canteen with the price of a restaurant, and I just don’t need that in my life. Give me some €3.50 chips in Eddies any day.
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