We were planning ahead for a family day out one recent Saturday, and all agreed on making our first stop Nando’s Speke Avenue in the CBD for lunch, before heading out of Harare, as we needed to eat fast, with an engagement to get to by early afternoon. Nando’s fitted this bill perfectly. As we drove into the city, I had that sixth sense cueing me in, “You might just get a parking bay exactly where you want it to be, even on the weekend,” and, to our pleasant surprise, we indeed happily did find a place to park close by — although surrounded by taxis, hooting and reversing endlessly in the vicinity.
By Le Connoisseur
Entering Nando’s, all eyes looked upwards to where the menu is printed on a well-lit sign behind the cashier, and though we were pretty sure of what we wanted already, one can’t resist looking at all they have on offer! As we had the children with us, we opted for their very well-priced family pack which included a whole lemon and herb chicken, a large portion of chips, four rolls, a 2-litre bottle of fizzy soft drink of our choice, and a fresh salad. The famous piri-piri chicken would have been too spicy for the little ones. The cashier gave us our change, receipt and a large metal disc with our order number, and soon, a waitress arrived matching this with our well-anticipated family feast.
Our lemon and herb chicken came ready to devour in portions, and the chips were just as we like them. The salad was fresh and well-presented and the rolls very good too. The chicken, we thought, could have done with being a bit more “lemony’’, but we enjoyed it all the same. We checked out the bathrooms and they very clean and well-maintained.
Nando’s speciality is Afro-Portuguese cuisine, and they do this very well. There is a well-varied menu with something for all and they offer very good value for money, and speedy service. Formerly focusing more exclusively on the fast-food-take-away market, branches of Nando’s nationwide entered the Zoap competition in 2011 as Speciality Restaurants and have fared pretty well in their ratings across the board, ranging from 2 Plates to 4.
Speciality Restaurant (Afro-Portuguese) 3 Plates Expect to spend US$7 to US$15 per head Speke Avenue, Harare
