Covent Garden - Adam Nicol Review

Adam9154's picture
How Helpful?: 
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Author: 
Number of Visits: 
This was my first visit
How Busy?: 
10 - 25 minute wait
Date of Last Visit: 
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Time of Day: 
Weekend Dinner (Inc Friday)
Rating: 
3.25 / 5
Friendliness of Staff: 
3 (Not bad. Did everything I asked of them)
Speed of Service: 
3 (10 - 15 mins - Nando's average)
Quality of Food: 
3 (Average - just as you would expect)
Decoration & Cleanliness: 
4 (Very clean, newly furnished, impressive artwork and lighting)
Comments - Stand out in our monthly competition! What did you eat? Unique aspects? Parking/transport tips?: 

I only ended up at this branch because all my plans for the day had gone down the drain! (Obviously I intended to go to Nando’s, but it probably would have been a different branch) I had no idea where it was so I decided to ‘follow my Nando’s sense’ until I found it… A sneaky bit of iPhone googling always helps as well. Eventually I found it after about an hour of looking.

I expected it to be busy on a Saturday evening… It really was, we had to wait 20 minutes for a table, but this branch had a cool bar that I’ve never seen in any Nando’s before! My friend wanted to get a bottle of wine but I’m a real man and I don’t drink it! So I ended up just sitting until it was our turn to get seated.

While waiting I checked out the décor in the bar, it has the usual sort of artworks on the wall with one of the huge mirrors, It also had some impressive lighting hanging from the ceiling and a big spiral staircase that went down into the main restaurant area!

The wait dragged on with the bar getting more and more crowded, I understand why but it’s still annoying when larger groups come in and get seated immediately, grr. Eventually though we got told to descend town the spiral staircase, the area below is huge! I was surprised by the size, and the layout is awesome, there’s a little waiting area near the tills. It has these little separate little ‘cave’ areas with big tables which would be awesome for privacy when coming with a large group, and next to these is a big room with all the other tables in, we got seated on a table for 2 between other people, it was very busy!

The décor downstairs was good, and the layout just adds to this, the spiral staircase, the big spiral ramp and all the usual Nando’s artwork just add together to make a very memorable, awesome branch.
I struggled to find the tills again, you have to go up a big circular ramp thing that leads you back to the spiral staircase where the tills are.

There was no queue so we got served almost immediately, I ordered my butterfly chicken with chips and garlic bread, and a soft drink and headed to get my knives and forks, there was plenty of sauces there to choose from but only 3 bottles of extra extra hot, so I grabbed one and went back to my table.

The wait for the food was about 10 minutes, when it came it was pretty average, the butterfly chicken was lovely, and it was a bit piece but it wasn’t soaked in sauce enough but I had the extra-extra hot sauce so everything was fine. The garlic bread was good, half of it was burnt and it tasted amazing, though it was a bit cold. The chips were nothing special and were also slightly cold, I’m used to my chips being so hot I can barely eat them!

The staff were friendly here, though the Nandoca who served me was a bit hard to understand, I told her my table number was 32 and when she repeated it I thought she said 22 so some confusion arose when I checked to see if she had the right number, also a Nandoca did the thing where they sneak up on you while your mouth is full to ask you if your meal is ok! I panic and just nod my head.

So overall this branch, while not having the best food, has awesome décor and an awesome layout. A good branch to come to with large groups if you book it in advance I’d guess, though if you’re in a hurry best not to come here because the wait for the table could be quite long. Of course the bar earns it points because I’ve never seen one before and it’s a great addition to the restaurant! I would return here if I was in the area, so highly recommended branch to visit!

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