They opened their first restaurant in India at Inorbit Mall, Malad (East), Mumbai somewhere in the year 2005.Since then they've been spreading their peri-peri magic which is quite evident from the lip-smacking and the smile on the faces of the diners.
After watching a not so memorable movie-Mere Baap Pehle Aap-we contemplated where to eat. We zeroed in on Nando's, after much protests from my aunty and uncle considering it was a Saturday and a no non-veg day in their house.
The restaurant is on the far end of the food-court, right across break talk. It is warmly decorated in reds, browns and beige. The ambiance is relaxed and informal. There are two levels of seating, one overlooking the food-court and the other a little lower.
Each table is laid down with paper table mats that offer fun word games, and spot the not games which one can play while waiting for the meal. The centre of the table holds magic - the peri-peri sauce!
We settled ourselves at a table for four that gave us the view of break talk and a non-obstructive view of the television set on which the India-Pakistan match was in full swing. Chit-chatting noisily - which seemed like the thing to do and not awkward-we finished playing all the games that were there on the table mat.
The menu is divided into starters, breads, meals, drinks and desserts. We did not want to fill our tummy tanks with the most popular dish-flamed chicken in peri-peri sauce and thus decided against ordering any drinks and snacks except one garlic bread. We also ordered two flamed chickens (full) and 5 Portuguese bread as an accompaniment.
The garlic bread was very well flavoured, unlike most garlic bread that you find in India. It was a plain garlic bread but once we dipped it in wild-herd peri-peri sauce and some ketchup, the burst of flavour in the mouth left us gasping.
After waiting for about 20 minutes (you do need to be patient in Nando's, especially on weekends)our order arrived, hot and smoking! We did not bother with table manners and devoured the meat with both hands, dipping juicy chicken pieces in peri-peri sauce or just chewing them plain.
The chicken was roasted to a deep brown. The outer coating was crips, while inside it was just as soft and succulent. The Portugese bread was bun shaped, but a little more coarse. We couldn't get enough of the per-peri sauce. So even after finishing the chicken, we ordered an extra Portugese bread, spiced it up with the magical sauce and let our stomachs literally burst!
They also sell their trade-mark peri-peri sauce in several variations. We purchased a 200ML bottle of wild-herd peri-peri sauce (medium spice) for Rs. 100. The sauce can be used to try and churn out our own per-peri chicken or used in pizzas, sandwiches etc.
The meal for four cost us : Rs. 800 (excl. drinks and dessert)
Flamed chicken (full) seves: 4 people with decent appetites
Service was a little slow and the staff generally seemed little less attentive (or was it because of the cricket match?). Overall the meal was satisfying and delicious! It is expensive for people like me who're students and in perpetual financial crunch, but ask someone with a big heart (my aunty and uncle) to treat you there and yours shall be the world! (for quite a while after you're done eating!)
Food: 9/10
Ambiance: 8/10
Service: 7/10
1 comment:
Sounds interesting. Must look at it and enjoy peri-peri magic. But wehre would I find some one generous to foot the bill. Try I shall one day, Insha Allah.
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