Nando’s — gastronomical delight but service is slow

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By Le Connoisseur With an intriguing new reviewing assignment, we ventured forth to Avondale to indulge in some peri-peri chicken for lunch.  Nando’s, once simply a fast-food outlet, now aspires to be a full-blown restaurant, along the lines of its sister chain by the same name in South Africa.

Accordingly, several of their branches nationwide recently entered this competition under the Speciality banner, with their Afro-Portuguese heritage and popular flame-grilled peri-peri chicken. This was going to be a very different and interesting experience for us all.

We had to go to the counter to order our food and this was the start of the breakdown in our usual restaurant experience. We had to order all our food at once and then proceed to our table.

Once seated, we waited for our food with great anticipation while taking in the happenings in the busy Avondale shopping centre. There is plenty of seating, inside and outside. There are many service personnel but these are not your typical waiters. After informing the cashier that we were dining in situ, we proceeded to order.

We waited for my partner’s starter but a couple of employees started mopping right around our table. I found this odd, since it was 12:45, and surely they had been open long enough to clean the floors? Our drinks arrived shortly after and I noted that one was missing so he went back for it. There were very few customers seated outside, it being chilly. We took the time to observe passers-by and quietly discuss their attire among ourselves, from the comfort of our position, a highly amusing pastime!

The waiter then apologised for a delay with the chicken wings. We were not in a hurry so were not concerned. Imagine our surprise when he returned post haste with my partner’s chicken salad — her main course.

She would not have minded waiting to eat her starter first but now she had no choice. So she proceeded to devour her salad, which was scrumptious. The lettuce, onions, cucumbers and tomatoes were fresh. The olives were delicious. The chicken was grilled to perfection, spicy hot and well-apportioned.

 

She did order it with feta but this was sadly missing from the final ensemble. Halfway through her main course her starter arrived. It sat cooling in the wings while the main course starred.  By the time she got to eat the wings they were quite cold and clammy and not too appetising. So she doused them in wild herb sauce to make them palatable. My chicken espetada, another well-known Portuguese speciality dish, was a sight to behold! It comprised chicken thighs and green peppers on a skewer on an iron stand. The presentation was a work of art and the taste was fabulous.

We were quite stuffed but I really wanted a sticky toffee pudding. We were told they were all out except for hot chocolate, no cheesecake etc. But when we asked him to double check on the toffee pudding, to our delight it turned out to be available after all! This dessert was heavenly; soft sponge cake smothered in sticky toffee sauce. My mouth had been tingling from the hot peri-peri and the super sweet dessert was the ultimate balm and contrast. I thoroughly enjoyed the dessert.

While we really enjoyed our food, the whole experience was a little off-kilter.  At some point, our whole table was full of various dishes. There was no point in ordering starters, mains and pudding, as such, as they all appeared at the table within minutes of each other!  Nando’s needs to train their staff anew if they are planning both to continue to be a successful fast-food joint but ALSO, to cater appropriately for diners, as an actual sit-down speciality restaurant.

The food is definitely well up to scratch and meets the Afro-Portuguese theme!

Speciality Restaurant3 PlatesExpect to spend US$15 to US$30 a headAvondale Shopping Centre, Avondale, Harare.