Liverpool One - MarkARogers Review

The place almost burned down a couple of days after I visited for the first time, so hopefully it's being repaired!

Decoration was as standard, but the view from the table was quite good (the fact there was a view at all is a bonus). The branch itself is as big as any Nando's I've seen, similar layout to the one in the O2 but very spacious which was a nice change.

I was bringing a friend to Nando's, his first ever visit, so was determined to convert him to a Nando's addict! (yes, I told him all about rateyournandos of course)

So this wasn't a normal Nando's, for several reasons. The first shock of the evening came as thus.

When I ordered, I asked for Perinaise which was charged to my bill - the lady serving me was very polite, and told me she'd bring it to my table, as there was none at the till. After a few minutes she came over, very apologetic, there was no Perinaise -- but instead, I could have any side order I wanted for free!! So, extra peri chips, +10 points, no Perinaise, -2 points.

The next surprise wasn't quite so pleasant -- I had to wait half an hour for the food to arrive, and the orders under the heat-lamp were piling up. We had an event to attend at the Echo Arena so time was limited to begin with. The worst thing though was the disappointment of my friend, to whom I had preached the magnificence of Nando's for many years. He was not impressed at this poor service, and was becoming increasingly threatening, cursing and throwing bar stools around.

At this point I expected the bonus of the free peri chips would be wasted and that my overall review would be a poor one. The polite lady seemed quite embarrassed when I went over to complain. Once the food finally arrived however, I was surprised at the excellent quality of the food -- which somehow had avoided the traffic jam under the heat-lamp and was done on the grill as we stood and watched.

Plenty of peri spice on the chips. Lots of sauce, and very tender chicken, on both our meals. Quite importantly for me, my friend was genuinely impressed with the food and returned within a week with even more first-timers.

Despite the long wait, which admittedly was at peak time (~7pm), the free chips, polite staff, decent view and excellent food more than made up for the delay.

Would definitely return, and believe the overall experience ranks higher than the flagship equivalents in Leeds and Birmingham. Bravo Nando's!