Southbank - Clink Street - Elliott Waters Review

Visited London for the day, and with the prospect of free chicken, a Nando's was scouted out. Visiting Tower Bridge, this seemed to be the closest along the route I was taking through the day.

Entered the outlet, and was shown to a table. After some discussion, I went to place my order. I waited quite a while, and was served by a rather abrupt lady who seemed to find it difficult to navigate my order and two gift cards. Eventually the order was placed, and I scouted out the cutlery point. I found one, however the water machine was spewing out hot water, and didn't seem to turn off. When I collared a Nandoca, he didn't seem to understand what I was saying, and how hot water could be coming from the machine. The resolution was "use the other one" and the machine was left. Not good. I found the other one, filled up my glass, picked through the cutlery to find some clean ones (yuck), and picked up some napkins. I was suprised to see a Nandoca take some napkins off a table when clearing, some of which had clearly been used, and put them in the napkin tray. Yuck.

After trudging around the outlet for 15 minutes finding cutlery, cold water, and a clean napkin, I returnred to my table, to find my meal had already arrived. The food itself wasn't too bad. I ordered a chicken burger mango and lime, with salad and spicy rice. The bun was a bit crisp, with the lettuce and tomato being a bit bland, but the chicken breast wasn't bad, with plenty of Peri-Peri. The salad was a generous size, and was quite crisp. The spicy rice was also a rather generous portion, but a little cold and lumpy.

The outlet itself is a bit dire. It's quite big, and spread over two arches underneath the railway in to Cannon Street (which you can hear, and it's quite loud, unlike Vauxhall arches!). As you walk in, you are immediately in front of the grill and tills, which are to the right, with seating to the left, along with an entrance to the other arch. When through the other arch, it's quite dark, crammed with tables, and somewhat uninviting. I was sat in a booth opposite the grill, and it wasn't the best. There is an obvious water ingress issue, as the wall was dripping wet, and it looked like the water had been running down this wall for quite some time. There were dishes scattered on the floor at certain places to capture water that was leaking into the outlet. the decor is non-existent, taking the original brick arches as the main feature.

I still hadn't been asked if my meal was OK, the chicken they place on the table was still present, even after sitting for a good 20 minutes after finishing.

The outlet is located on the south bank of the Thames, and is under the railway in to Cannon Street. It's only accessible by walking, but buses are close by, and London Bridge is a short walk away.

Overall, food isn't bad, but the outlet really needs to sort out the staff, leaks, cleanliness, and water machine! I wouldn't recommend coming here, find a different one if you can - St Pauls isn't far!