Harrow - Adam Nicol Review

I finally managed to drag my friend to our new local Nando’s, it was about time as I’d been living here a week and I hadn’t been yet! It’s only a 5 minute walk from my new flat which is awesome; I can go whenever I want! Nearby it has lots of shops and a cinema. Harrow-on-the-hill tube station is just a short walk away from the branch so it’s easy to get to.

My friend and I decided to go late at 10pm, just an hour before closing time, even though I find that branches are usually disappointing at these times, we got seated immediately on a table for four next to the window and quickly decided what we wanted, I went up to order for us and asked for my usual Butterfly chicken, extra hot with Peri-chips and garlic bread, however I was told that they didn’t have any Butterfly chicken ready and that they’d have to cook it which would take about 25 minutes, I said this was fine hoping that the chicken would come warm and tasty. My friend just got a quarter chicken, breast, with two portions of chips, which I had no problem ordering. I was given the glasses and was told my food would be about 15 minutes, despite what she’d just said about it taking 25 minutes to cook. I went to fill up the drinks and found that this branch had an ice machine I’d never encountered before you select what you want by pressing on of the buttons, e.g. Ice, Water, Ice for a jug, place your glass underneath and it automatically comes out, I liked this, but the second time when I went up to get drinks I didn’t realise that it was on water mode, and my glass ended up full of water so I had to pour it out, this was partly because of my own stupidity but could easily happen to other people who have their mind focused on the food and nothing else.

My friend and I waited for about 40 minutes before our food finally arrived, my chips and garlic bread looked like, but the chicken was burnt all over, especially on one side, this made it slightly unpleasant to eat and I had to take all the skin off and rub it in extra-extra hot sauce before it tasted good. The garlic bread was also a little burnt around the edges but that made it even tastier, the chips were normal Peri-chips though it wasn’t the biggest portion I’ve had, so overall I was disappointed with the food, I’ll return during the day and see if it’s any better.

The staff were friendly in this branch, the Nandoca who served me was smiley and seemed happy and they were all getting on well though the staff member who was cleaning seemed to avoid us when we had finished our meal, I wanted to order dessert and was too full to bother standing up but he just kept looking towards our table and cleaning others, almost like he was waiting for the branch to close so he didn’t have to get us desserts, this annoyed me and we didn’t end up getting any, but as we left we were thanked and goodbye’d.

The décor in this branch is nothing special, just normal Nando’s. It seems small at the front but there are more tables at the back, and possibly more upstairs, I didn’t get the chance to go check.

Due to this branch being on a busy shopping street it will most likely be very busy during lunch time and at most times of the day, every time I’ve passed it it’s been busy.

So my ratings for this branch for the given reasons would be:

Food – 2/5 – Butterfly chicken very burnt chips and garlic bread fine.

Speed – 2/5 – Although I was told my food would take 25 minutes to cook, then I was told 15 minutes, it took about 40 minutes to come.

Staff – 3/5 – The Staff were generally nice and friendly, just let down by the member who didn’t offer us desserts.

Décor – 3/5 – Average décor, nothing special but nothing bad.

Overall this was a disappointing first visit to my local, and I seriously hope it improves next time I go; I will review it again and hopefully give it 5/5!