Ashford - Trish-the-Dish Review

I've been distracted all day... Not working, picking at breakfast and lunch... All I have been thinking about is the brand-spanking new Ashford Nandos!

It's located in the retail park with the cinema so is a popular spot, considerable development has gone into the area, and we had the pleasure of talking to some of the staff last weekend (prior to opening). It was a great start, they were as excited as we were about today's opening!

The door is opened for us by a friendly staff member and another 2 welcome us to Nandos enroute to our table. This makes me warm and fuzzy inside; the kind of warm and fuzzy only my fix of Peri Peri can replicate. There is no queue for ordering, Benjamin our server is polite and conversational, and in no time we're back at our table taking in the ambience. Funky bench seats, and a suspended wooden feature peice are the main eye-candy. There are also some caged lights that look great, and some art on the walls that make you do a double-take. I love that every Nandos has a different feel!

No opening night jitters here; the staff give the appearance of operating like a well-oiled machine, although food was quite slow getting to the table (29 minutes). I feel like this will improve once the staff get in their "groove".

The drinks machine is broken, but they have bottles of soft drink so the patrons aren't inconvenienced. We had to ask for forks, but they arrived in seconds.

Within 30 minutes of our arrival, the place is heaving.

Between 2 of us we had an extra hot whole chicken, corn, coleslaw and chips with halloumi sides. The Halloumi was perfect, warm and not rubbery. Extra Hot chicken was about right, staff have been trained well in Peri-peri application! The chips were spot-on, hot and crunchy with fluffy insides. Corn was a little luke-warm but taste was great. The food was worth the wait, and the staff were so attentive and friendly it was an all-over great meal out.