Nandos, Cyber Hub, Gurgaon: Chicken Fails to Fly

My friends will never believe me if I tell them that till recently I did not visit Nandos. A highly popular South African chain that is known for its peri peri sauce and grilled chicken have been making lot of noise and even though we already have our team visit the other outlets, my first visit happened recently to check out the ongoing Espetada carnival.

Wiki: The Espetada is a typical Portuguese dish made usually of large chunks of beef rubbed in garlic and salt, skewered onto a bay leaf stick cooked over hot coals or wood chips

I visited the Nandos outlet at Cyber Hub Gurgaon. The décor is more like any casual dining but comfortable. The only meat used at Nando’s is chicken and hence I was never looking for authenticity and this being my first visit I obviously tried few of their other dishes too.

The Madeira Red has real pomegranate (170) and is a great summer refresher with fizzy lemonade. I enjoyed Refresh Mint (Rs 160) event better. The aroma from the drink was bursting and I can have it anytime during hot Delhi summers. The algarve salad (Rs 220) was simple with feta cheese and marinated sundried tomatoes adding to the flavours. I even loved the “altogether now’ (Rs 360) appetisers that has mixed spicy olives, creamy mixed dip made of roasted veggies apart from the Nandos style hummus mixed with peri peri and pita. This hummus was not done too fine and it is just the way I like. Mixed with peri peri sauce, it took the flavours to another level and each bite led to another.

Now it was time to move to the real thing; peri peri grilled chicken (Rs 180 for 1 pc) and espetada. The sauces that are served along extra hot, hot, mild, Garlic and wild herb are each one better than the other. I settled for extra hot. The fiery yet addictive sauce is known world over and I loved it too. My outside area of lips had a slight burning sensation and for few the eyes may water, but undoubtedly no one can stop once they start eating it. The issue here was the main ingredient; chicken. As soon as the outer skin and marination goes, one is left with a tasteless chicken. If there were no sauces, I would not be able to finish the chicken which has made Nandos so famous. The staff tells me chicken is marinated for 48-hours and the chicken is injected with peri peri sauce so that the flavours go deep within, something that I could not feel in the chicken served to me.

Nandos does serve espetada in their normal menu and these days are doing carnival in which are serving flame grilled peri peri chicken stuffed with garlic, parsley and feta with served with butternut squash and French fries (Rs580 served with mango sangria). Served on a skewer that hangs on a hanger, it gets full marks to the presentation. The feta makes the dish cheesier and the similar size chunks of chicken ensure they are evenly marinated and cooked. The pumpkin squash is equally interesting and complements the hot chicken. The fries served along are unsalted and with no flavours are left untouched. Usually they are sprinkled with peri peri but I am told it was out of stock. So when something is out of stock is it not better to at least sprinkle a little salt?

After a long time, I experienced a restaurant which below par on service. Water was never refilled; we kept looking for a server to order, despite of our request to get dishes one by one…all the dishes were kept in front of us as soon as they got ready, and making them cold by the time we could lay our hands on them. The sauces are normally presented on the table on their own (as mentioned by my friend who has been to Nandos earlier), but it was only served after two reminders to server. And then why someone should take service charge on take-away is debatable.

I loved my drinks and appetisers at Nandos, however the chicken was average and service disappointing. Would I revisit? Perhaps for the drinks and to buy the peri peri sauce to be used at home.

Ratings (Out of 5)

Food: 3.0 | Drinks: 4.0 | Ambience: 3.5 | Service: 2.0 | Overall: 3.0

Meal for two: Rs.1500 | Alcohol: No | Credit Card: Yes | Wheel chair friendly: Yes

Address: Nando’s, Ground Floor, Cyber Hub, Gurgaon | Tel: 81304-50202