Manchester - Fallowfield - Ryan Review

Tired of seeing the non-stop exhibition football played at St. Andrews, I happened to go to Old Trafford on Boxing Day and watch a very average game of football - only 5 goals... Give me a dull 0-0 any day... :-/

Anyway, on the way back - what better way to take advantage of being up North than visit another Manchester Nando's - notably Fallowfield. Arrived here at about 5:30pm and the branch was due to close at 7:30pm for Boxing Day anyway, so needless to say it was very quiet. This did mean that there was a couple of free parking spaces right outside the front of the branch. There's an estate agents called Jordans next door and a couple of the spaces are reserved for them, so just be careful if it's busy. Otherwise, as other people have said in their reviews, park at the Sainsbury's right by it and walk through.

With only a couple tables in use, there was no wait to be seated or to order and the food came in just under 10 minutes. It was really, really good as well. There were two of us eating and we each had half a chicken, a side and a fino chips to share. Well, this was easily the biggest portion of (fino) chips I have ever had. It was easily four, nearly five single portions, thrown on top of the two halves on a platter plate. The peas and rice portions were also huge. My rice was towering in the little dish. I guess the Xmas spirit was certainly here! All of the sides were hot and delicious but the chicken was even better. Smothered in marinade, huge portions again and hot and moist. Very good indeed.

The staff were also friendly. There was no rush for tables, so the staff were making chit chat with people who were waiting for others to arrive or waiting for taxis - and staying at their tables, without any food, for 30+ minutes, so good on them.

The decor/layout was perhaps the only average thing here. The restaurant is in two sections - front and back. In the back section there are three booths, each with a wicker lampshade and a few tables and chairs. In the front, there is one large circular booth in the left corner and other tables and chairs on either side of the entrance. The problem is the back section is very dark indeed. Whether the lights were just turned down low (or some turned off as it seemed a lot of blown bulbs), I'm not sure. The front section was brighter though. There are also only a couple of canvas paintings on the wall - and these are both grey, so no bright colours. The toilets were spotlessly clean - but overall, I think this is a 3. It could be very easy to push up to a 4 though - a couple of brighter bulbs and paintings, since the layout is generally quite good for a smaller branch.

A good way to finish the Xmas dinners :-)