Islington - Elliott Waters Review

My fourth reviewer dinner, Islington was to be the location, and after a short bus journey, I arrived Islington, and quickly scouted out the Nando's amongst the other eateries on the road.

The outlet is split in to three sections. As you enter, there is a large seating area containing lots of yellow booths to the left, with till and grill to the right. There is plenty of Nando's artwork and photographs dotted around the place, but lots of yellow! The main cutlery point with water machine is also on this level. At the back of the outlet is a staircase which takes you to another large dining area with many tables, but no booths and is where we sat. There is a secondary drinks and sauves point here, but it doesn't have a water machine, which is quite irritating. The ceiling is incredibly high at this point, and has wonderful brick and decaying wood effect, and a large sliding shed door giving the outlet a link to its former use. If you head down a further set of stairs, you reach the toilets and two secluded dining areas. This area seemed quite dark, and being near the toilets isn't a place I would like to sit.

After the RYN Raffle, which was running to a revised prize-plan, we headed up the stairs to place our orders. I was served by helpful Ula who navigated my order with ease and a cheery smile, subsequently returning to the table.

The meal arrived after nearly 15 minutes, and fustratingly, after others who ordered after me. Not to worry. It arrived and looked a little dissapointing. I ordered chicken burger mango and lime with Pineapple, chips, spicy rice, and 3 chicken wings to create a Peri-Peri feast. The burger bun wasn't too bad, had lashings of Mayo on it, and the chicken itself was warm with lots of spice. However, the tomato was mushy, a common problem, and the lettuce a bit dry. Pineapple was nice touch, one I would add again to my meal. The chicken wings weren't hot, more 'warm' but dripped in spice and the chicken quite tender. The chips were, as expected from looking at them, not that fresh and quite soggy. The spicy rice was rather rubbery and not very spicy. Portion sizes were quite reasonable though!

Following meal we endured the #RYNXXHot quiz, where #NotThemAgain were, again, victorious. Lovely stuff.

The outlet is located on Upper Street, Islington, and is a short walk from Angel Underground station on the Northern Line, and Essex Road Great Northern station. Highbury and Islington station for Victoria line, Overground, and Great Northern services is also close, but is a much longer walk to the outlet. There are plenty of buses passing through, including but not limited to, 4, 30, 73 & 425. Check TfL for details, looking for 'Islington Green'. On street parking is available behind the outlet and on the many side streets.

Overall a good reviewer dinner. The meal wasn't one of the best I've had, but non-the-less the setting is quite nice and it was good to keep hold of the Quiz victory! Overall, I'd always reccomend reviewer dinners, and would visit here again, but only as a last resort.