West Bromwich - Ryan Review

This Nando's is on the recently opened New Square development in West Bromwich which is easily found just a few minutes from the M5 J1 by following the A41 West (use post code B70 7PG to find this Nando's - as B70 7BA takes you 1.6 miles away). It's also less than half a mile walk from both Lodge Road and West Brom Central tram stops.

New Square has its own parking and there are hundreds of spaces. Charges apply from 8am-6pm Mon-Sat and is priced at 80p/hour up to £6.50 for "over 8 hours". From 6pm-8am it is free and also free on Sundays. Shoppers at Tesco spending more than £5 will receive a voucher for 2 hours free parking.

On New Square (or next to it) you also have The Public (which is next door to Nando's) and also an Odeon and other eateries (all anchored by a huge Tesco Extra).

First impressions of this Nando's were very good! There are half a dozen tables outside underneath a big glass canopy - which was lit up and reflecting the light from the big Nando's sign above the entrance and the brightly lit Nando's cock on the outside wall. Inside, as soon as you enter, the wall to your left is clay/cobbled and the wall on your right has dozens of small canvas paintings all set into grooves on the wall. The wall straight ahead of you by the drinks machine has a very large bright yellow canvas painting - and as this walls curves round towards the back, there are a few more large brightly coloured canvas paintings. The ceiling above the middle of the restaurant is wooden slats in a waved effect - with glass jars suspeneded from it for the lighting. Other lighting includes orange wicker shades and metallic grey dome shades.

The layout and seating is also nice and spacious. Near the front is mainly benhc/tables/chair seating - with several good sized four seater tables (with lovely red leather chairs) in the front windows (which also open up). Towards the back are then six good sized booths with a few more tables/chairs. Upstairs to the toilets and the stairwell is nicely decorated with black and white chalk drawings and the toilets were also very clean indeed with a full soap dispenser!

I arrived here at about 8:30pm and the whole area was very quiet. New Square has only been open for a month or so and there are still many more units to fill, so I am sure by the end of the year it will be busier. This did mean there was no wait at all and the food came in under five minutes.

There was an issue redeeming a free half chicken. The app and my card when swiped on the till said a green and orange award but it couldn't be redeemed, but the staff and manager especially were all very apologetic and it was sorted without issue. As you'd expect anywhere in the West Midlands (no bias at all), the staff were upbeat, chatty and friendly and really did more than just the bear minimum, throughout the whole meal. A free drink for the mix-up was also provided, not that I was complaining or in a rush or anything, so a very nice touch indeed. Theere were a couple of borthday parties in too and the staff were doing everything to make their visit as enjoyable as possible.

The food was delicious as well. My last few Nando's have been to a very high standard and this continued the trend. My half chicken was a very generous size and cooked to perfection. Hot and moist throughout with a nice bit of charing on the oustide and very well marinaded. The large chips pretty much needed their own normal plate as the portion was huge and they were hot and crispy - and the spicy rice was hot and moist too. An outstanding meal!