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2012-03-31
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J and I were looking for a place to have our late dinner after a movie date and we were torn between having soupy ramen or Nandos chicken. I knew he wanted to have the latter and so we headed there. Nandos is a restaurant known for their specialty, grilled chicken, with their famous peri peri sauces of different levels of spiciness. Upon reaching the restaurant, we were surprised to see a queue since it was relatively late. The wait wasn't long before we were shown to our seats. I realized they
Upon reaching the restaurant, we were surprised to see a queue since it was relatively late. The wait wasn't long before we were shown to our seats. I realized they had new items on the menu. I saw 2 similar items and couldn't differentiate between them. Hence, I asked one of the staff and she gave a very good description of the dishes. J chose to have 1/2 chicken, mild peri spicy, with 2 sides- Potato salad and peri peri fries while I set my mind on the new item, Cataplana. We also ordered beverages- Iced lemon tea and Madeira red.
Our drinks came shortly. I did not try the Iced lemon tea because I didn't think that it would be of anything out of this world. Haha. My Madeira red was so pretty- tall glass rimmed with sugar, fizzy red drink with floating pomegranate pieces. It was actually flavoured Sprite. It was good! And I loved chewing on those pomegranate pieces! Our mains arrived soon. My Cataplana came first and boy, I was surprised and so intrigued by the presentation. As seen in the photos, the Cataplana came in a metal round dish plating with the cover, which resembled like the hot dishes u would see at buffet establishments, just smaller in size. I was guessing that they cooked the food directly in the pan since they presented it with a cork placemat. Okay, so what exactly is my Cataplana? Its a bed of spiced rice filled with green & red capsicums, some onions, mushrooms, zucchini and grilled chicken thigh meat. So if you don't like the veggies mentioned, u would not have ordered this, haha. According to the level of spiciness u could take, u choose a suitable peri peri sauce. I had mine in Hot peri peri. Upon the first bite of the rice, the strong flavours of the spices filled my entire mouth, tasted like nasi briyani (haha!). The spiciness then tingled my senses. I thought that I chose a level too spicy since every grain of rice was coated with the peri peri sauce. So beware! to those who can't take HOT. The veggies and chicken were also infused with the peri peri sauce and they were really well flavoured. Veggies were well done as they were cooked yet crunchy to bite into. The chicken pieces were also juicy and tender. Overall, I was satisfied with the new dish except for that tad spiciness.
While i was busy taking photos of my then arrived cataplana, J's 1/2 chicken came. The portion was HUGE. The chicken came piping hot and the grilled lines on the chicken made the dish looked so appetizing it tantalised my tastebuds! For a moment, I regretted ordering mine. Anyway, I took bites of J's item. I tried the potatoes first and they were all soft and fluffy, and drenched in mayo sauce. Not the best I had eaten but decent. Next was the peri peri fries. It was fries sprinkled with peri peri spiced powder, like Mac's Seaweed shaker fries. It was not spicy in my opinion, but tasted good. I took bites of the different parts of the chicken (breast, rib, thigh, drum) and it was thoroughly tender! With each bite, I could taste the smokey flavour. The chicken was very well done! I loved it! No doubt, it was Nandos specialty chicken!
We polished every bit of our food and were satisfied! Bill came up to about $60. Given the tasty food, welcoming ambience and friendly staff, I will see myself coming back soon for more CHICKEN GOODNESS!
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