Wood Green - Adam Nicol Review

I visited this branch two times this week, both were pretty similar so I don’t see the point in writing two reviews. I arrived at 10:30pm as I like to do, I prefer it when it’s empty, and you usually get to choose wherever you want to sit, the only downside is that at this time they’ve started to refill all the sauce bottles and there’s a bit of a hassle of asking for some and getting given a little plastic container to put it in… All very complicated! But yes, nice calm, quiet atmosphere at this time of night and the staff are usually cheerful that they get to go home soon (Not that I’d ever get tired of being in Nando’s but I assume it gets a bit tiresome walking round and carrying stuff) So yes, both of the times I went I got given the choice of which table, so naturally I chose the same table each time, perched on the first level with a good view of the grill, I like watching my food get cooked and plated up.

Obviously I don’t even look at the menu so I get straight up to order, usually it’s the same person who showed me to the table in the first place so I don’t have to bother giving my table number, the first time it went smoothly with me ordering my butterfly chicken with chips and garlic bread.. But the second time… I nearly had a heart attack! She turned, the world slowed down and she asked the griller, “Do we have any butterfly left?” he opened the draw and turned to her, “One” he replied. Relief flooded over me and time sped back up to normal. So yes, I got my butterfly chicken, but that is a warning that if you come really late they might not have what you want left :/ .

So I got myself seated back down and watched them prepare my food, the chicken is done almost immediately and plated up but then the long wait for the chips and garlic bread begins, it only took about 5 minutes the first night but the second night it took about 10 minutes for them to plate up my full meal and bring it over, it’s painful watching the chicken sit there while I’m starving, and because of that, the second night the chicken was not as warm as I would have liked it. On both nights the chips were really hot, so hot that I had to let them cool down a bit before I ate them, the garlic bread was just perfect, I love the garlic bread in this branch, not too crispy and not too soft, just right. The chicken was covered in extra hot sauce and other than the fact it was slightly cold the second night it was delicious.

One annoying thing about the second night was a group of loud men at the table next to me, they were making strange loud noises I think trying to sing opera? They were really annoying until a man in front of me turned around, he seemed to check if they were bigger than him before he said anything… But he told them to be quiet while he ate, I was grateful for that and I enjoyed the rest of my meal in peace. The first night my chair was broken I noticed but on the second night, sat in the same place it was a new chair, I didn’t quite feel safe on the broken one.

I was recently informed that one big Nando’s fan! Stays away from the Wood Green branch because he fears for his safety in the area, I personally haven’t experienced anything, other than the time there was the stabbing in the McDonalds next door, but I don’t know, Is delicious Nando’s food worth the chance of getting killed? Personally I think yes but you can decide that for yourself. It’s pretty safe if you just hop off the tube, run over the road and get straight in there, behind the magic shield of Peri-Peri power, I’m not sure about parking since I don’t drive and never park anywhere but there seems to be a cinema just behind this branch.

But yes, this branch is my local and I love it and I’ll be spending many nights there over the next year. Though I wouldn’t recommend coming all the way from central London just to visit it as there’s plenty of awesome branches to visit there, but if you’re in the area or live near it, get yourself there!