NANDO'S
In June 2008, we decided to have a quick dinner before watching a film in Cineworld on Broad Street, Birmingham. Nando's seemed to be the ideal place, as it is situated in the same complex and, being a part of large chain outlets, the service should be quick.
For those who have not heard about Nando's (should be few!), it offers what they call 'Portuguese food' in a casual ambience. In Birmingham city centre, besides this one, there are outlets in Paradise Forum, Mailbox and Bullring. They are usually very popular and I often see a queue in front of them. I have never eaten in Nando's (I usually avoid chain outlets, not because the food is bad, but because I find the eating experience boring) and considering the circumstances, I thought it is worth a try.
We visited it on a weekday, at 5:45. It is usually dead-time for restaurants, but here about one third of the tables were occupied. We were greeted by a waiter, shown a table, and given menus. The order, however, is taken at the casher in the same manner as in pubs. The food is brought to out table by serving staff, but the customers have to collect cutlery and serving dishes. This system has one obvious advantage for the customer: no need to pay service charge.
What Nando's sells is chicken, chicken and more chicken. If you don't like chicken (or some vegetarian choices they offer) there is not point in coming here. They marinate fresh (meaning "not-frozen") chicken in their special peri-peri sauce for 24 hours and cook on frame grill. They also welcome families offering children's menu. I did not see any alcohol sold (but, being a non-drinker, I was not paying much attention), and 'bottomless' soft drinks are for £ 1.90 and half a litre of water is £ 1.80. If you don't mind drinking tap-water, you can serve yourself for free.
Three of us ordered a sharing platter (as in the photo above) for £ 16.55 consisting in one whole chicken and two side dishes (we chose leaf salad and chips).
According to the menu, the chicken here is all fresh (meaning "not-frozen") and British. Meat is marinated in peri-peri spice for 24 hours and barbequed on frame grill. We add as much sauce as we want: there are 4 types of them (you must have seen in supermarkets), and one is pretty hot and made me happy.
I found some parts of meat too bitter because of burning, but it probably is normal for frame-grilling and I am sure some people like that way. As the chicken wasn't very large, probably this sharing dish is for two people with average size stomach. We requested to sprinkle peri-peri spice on top of chips: one of us found it too hot, but two not at all. We could not finish the potato off.
This is leaf salad. The small cup contains dressing. If you buy mix leaf salad bag from supermarket and add some cherry tomatoes and sliced radish, you get pretty much what we ate there. If you are big veggie eater, the quantity probably isn't enough.
As we drank only tap water, the bill was only £16.55. It is only £5.51 per person. But if we had eaten it in two, it would have been £8.27 per person, and, adding soft drink, it goes over £10. It seems to be an average value to me.
Nando's did not excite me in food wise, but I cannot deny it did brilliantly serve our purpose: cheap, quick, and acceptable food before the cinema.
