Hempstead Valley - Ryan Review

Inspired by the recent works of "katesscarlett"...

A long drive back from Dover - no time to dilly-dally,
Except of course for a stop at Nando's Hempstead Valley.
The Shopping Centre gives six hours' free parking, for your stay,
Nando's always tastes better, when for parking you don't pay!
For rail fans it's four miles from Gillingham train station,
So over an hour walk - or taxi to your destination.
There are plenty of other shops to fritter away your loot,
Including a big Argos, a BHS and a Boot(s).

Walking up to this Nando's, you see plenty of outside seating,
And on a nice day like today, it'd be pleasant for sunny eating.
But inside I went, as I much prefer the decor -
And staring out into a car park, is sometimes a bore.
There are two dinstinct seating sections - the front and the back,
All with colourful seats, where Nando's really have the knack.
Not many (or any) booths though, just lots of tables and chairs,
With bench seating also making tables in fours or in pairs.

The lighting in the front is made of red copper plates,
and across the arch in the back are these rods or sort of gates.
There's etching on the ceiling and walls, in the front here,
With the entrance to the toilets found at the rear.
The toilets were clean - and didn't make a stink,
With round red metal mirrors above a beige granite sink.
Overall, being so new my expectations were quite high,
But the decor and seating arrangements, didn't catch my eye.

Onto the food and I was expecting a bit of a delay,
As the restaurant was half-full in the afternoon on this Friday.
But here it came double-quick, the cooks were very able,
Less than five minutes, from the grill onto to my table.
For late lunches I always have the same meal, as a matter of course,
A single fillet chicken burger, with chips and Extra Extra Hot sauce.
The fillet was very thin, in fact the slice of tomato was thicker,
But the chips were in abundance, worthy of going onto Flickr.

Overall the meal was okay, but I won't shout for glee,
On Rate Your Nando's, it'll be a standard score of three.
The staff were also fine and doing as expected,
They did nothing more than bring my food as requested.
My obsessive Nando's countdown, is very nearly done,
Except when one opens next week in Cambridgeshire's Huntingdon.
I am currently down to 9 remaining - first time as a single number,
Good job I like lots of running, cycling and Zumba*...

*Not that you need to do lots of running, cycling or Zumba to enjoy Nando's! :-)