The Chicken Chronicles
Meal for four: £50-70
Nandos is a restaurant which boasts to provide an 'authentic' taste of Portugal. The general decor of the place was trying to drive this point home, but it was slightly strange to me. The high ceilings were convenient for someone of my height, but the low-hanging barren lightt bulbs bordered on health-and-safety-hazard. We were promptly escorted to our table, then left to our own device. After some negotiations with the table behind us, me and my sister managed to squeeze ourselves into our seats, with our Mother and Step-Father sat opposite us. Conversation was another war effort, as we had been graced with a music speaker supervising our meal, blaring out more dwindling efforts of authenticity.
The table itself was clean enough... Just. Being lenient due to the fact they were busy and under-staffed, I decided to ignore the few crumbs speckled around and the rings from previous drinks. The chicken theme continued with a little mascot-on-a-stick behind out table number and in front of our dessert menus. I'm still not sure why they found this a necessary touch, but every little helps.
Once half the party had left to place the order, they returned with some of the most exciting drinks on offer; four Coca-Colas. Sipping on this, I soon realised it had the ability to be watery, despite opting for no ice. Perhaps they had been watering down some of the drinks to make them go further.
The amount of time we waited for the food eased my mind as to whether we were going to get food poisoning from under-cooked chicken. Once my lemon and herb single fillet burger and chips arrived, I picked up my knife and fork and began to disassemble it. While many people may feel it is a crime to separate foods which are supposed to be together, I feel that components should work as singulars before they are able to work as a group. This also helps to give me a better view as to how fresh their lettuce leaves were - fresh enough. The cleverly shaped buns were something even Paul Hollywood would be proud of, but the chicken itself didn't send me scratching for more. Slightly too rough and with the flavour reliant on the spice, it was almost a side note to the meal rather than a main component. The chips, however, were perfect. Far from the greasy, limp trimmings we are used to getting from the local take-away, these were fluffy in the middle and just firm on the outside. The chef had even endeavoured to season them, which added another depth of flavour to the otherwise bland meal.
Feeling a sense of emptiness after the rather disappointing meal, I decided on having a dessert. The Portuguese custard tart seemed enticing, so I opted for that. I am glad, however, that I inspect my food before eating it. On examination, I found a fruit fly baked to death in the sugary goodness of the toppings. My diet does not give allowances for fruit flies, so I decided to send it back. The staff were apologetic, and gave me a free slice of chocolate fudge cake - which my diet certainly does allow for.
The cake was divine. The fudge icing was rich and decadent, and heavy enough to sink a battleship. The cake itself was light and airy, the perfect accompaniment to the thick icing. Appreciative sounds came from the others at the table, and soon we were all chipping in to attempt to finish the behemoth. This slice of cake was the most generous portion of the night.
When all is considered, Nandos is the type of fast food which has been glamorised to make it seem like a 5-star restaurant. And for this reason, they feel they can charge you more than their fair share. I would consider going back to Nandos exclusively for their desserts -minus the fruit flies, please- though I'm not sure how close these are to the Portuguese recipes.
[Word count - 674]
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