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Liam Hetherington
Liam Hetherington
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3 out of 5
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27) Nando's - Only Here For The Hot Chicks

27) Nando's - Only Here For The Hot Chicks

Mozambique – 19/05/09

Famous potty-mouth and TV chef Gordon Ramsey is on record as saying that he distrusts restauarants with large menus – how can you hope to keep a consistent high quality when you are expected to prepare everything from meat and two veg to Thai green curry to lasagne to Louisiana gumbo to nut cutlet? Nando’s takes this idea and runs with it. What they serve here is chicken. And they do very well on it.

In particular they serve peri-peri chicken. The peri-peri is the African birdseye chilli (pili-pili, which means ‘pepper-pepper’ in Swahili), native to Mozambique, with which marinades of varying strength are concocted. The chicken is fresh, butterfly cut and steeped in those marinades for 24 hours before being flame grilled. The last time I had eaten piri-piri chicken (the spelling varies) was in a Portuguese restaurant in January. This dish is a classic of Portuguese colonists adapting local produce to create their own cuisine in Africa. And then exporting it back to their homeland with great success – much like with curry in the UK. In much the same way the Nando’s chain is a similar fusion of influences, being founded in South Africa by Portuguese exiles from Mozambique. But the dish itself originated in Mozambique, so I am more than happy to claim this as my Mozambican dish – even though Paul quibbles with my logic.

Paul and I had attended an organic cheese and wine tasting at the famous 8Th Day Co-operative on Oxford Road with Gary and his girlfriend Lucy. With our appetite whetted we took a short walk up Oxford Road to to get something to eat. Located almost opposite the BBC, this branch of Nando’s (there are another six in Manchester) was ideally placed. It was a long dark room stretching back from the entrance on Chester Street. To the right cooks sizzled chicken over a flaming grill. To the left were private booths, decorated with dark wood mashrabbiya and arabesque lanterns. All in all the effect was much more reflective of Zanzibar or Dar es Salaam than Lourenço Marques. And one other notable thing: after the amount of times we had visited practically deserted eateries so far this year, this place was buzzing with customers. We were seated at one of the few remaining tables and presented with menus.

Obviously, chicken is the thing to go for at Nando’s – whether it is as a burger, in a wrap, wings, or served whole with sides. There are vegetarian options – several salads and a choice of vegetarian burgers – but obviously I wanted chicken. You order at the counter and bring your own cutlery and condiments back to your table. You can also specify how spicy you want your chicken, with a choice of marinades: lemon & herb, mango & lime, medium, hot, and extra-hot. I asked for a hot quarter chicken, with which I got a choice of two sides – chips and spicy rice in my case. This cost £6.10. I also ordered a bottle of Savanna cider from South Africa for £2.95. Other options would have been South African or Portuguese wine, or ‘bottomless’ soft drinks which you can continually top up from the soda fountain.

The choice of hot marinade was not a mistake. When the waitreess brought over my steaming chicken, slightly blackened on the outside, but with its succulent white flesh falling off the bones, the marinade added a lip-tingling zing to the meat. This did go well with the sweet South African cider, which proved to be very refreshing. No, the mistake was to only order a quarter chicken. Paul had requested a half-bird (£8.60 with two sides). Gents – if you are in any way hungry I’d suggest the half-bird. Lucy and Gary had an even better idea. After sharing a tub of olives around the table, they then had a platter heaped high with food between the pair of them. Final conclusion? A satisfyingly carnivorous meal.

For a chain with a somewhat limited menu, Nando’s has expanded quite dramatically. In particular it’s a good place to bring kids with their bottomless soft drinks and childrens’ menu for ‘little Nandinos’. From their authentic roots down in South-East Africa the chain has now apparently spread to five continents, and in Manchester alone there are other branches in The Printworks, the Arndale Centre, the Spinningfields development on Deansgate, on Wilmslow Road in Fallowfield, in the Trafford Centre, and at the Chill Factore indoor sky slope. Who knew it would be so easy to eat Mozambique in Manchester?

From journal Around the World in 80 Meals! (part 3)

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