Windhoek - Olympia - James RYN Review

My first Nando's in Namibia! This wasn't actually meant to be the first one, since we tried to go in Walvis Bay and Swakopmund during our road trip, but both those branches had unfortunately closed down. We then tried to go to the one in Katakura to the north of Windhoek, but found some security officers firing shots at someone right outside, and thought it might be best to move on! We then tried the one on Independence Avenue, but being right in the heart of the city, parking was very difficult. Finally we settled on this one in a nice location in the south of Windhoek, and with free parking right outside.

You can really see why if you Google 'Nando's Namibia' you end up at the South Africa website (even though the Namibian branches aren't on there): Nando's is almost exactly the same here as it is there. This particular restaurant seemed reasonably old, and had very standard decoration. There was however a nice seating area outside, and when we sat down, a friendly Nandoca came and wiped the table clean since it had become covered in leaves from a nearby tree. Being a lovely dry 27 degree afternoon, it was the perfect weather for Nando's on a terrace!

The ordering process was at the till as usual, and the food was brought to our table within about 7 minutes. The food itself was essentially identical to South Africa. On this occasion, given I knew we were going to have a second lunch within a couple of hours (another Nando's), I went for a simple quarter chicken and chips. The chips were the highlight given they were piping hot and covered perfectly in peri-spice. I have finally decided that I prefer the taste of the slightly redder peri-spice of Southern Africa, when compared to the darker version back in the UK. However, the food misses out on a 4/5 due to my quarter chicken breast being rather small.

Overall a decent introduction to Nando's in Namibia, and no surprises for someone used to the system and food in South Africa.