Food is always amazing, but the service was shocking tonight.
I’m usually a huge fan of Nando’s on Elgin Street and have been here many times, but our visit today was seriously disappointing—purely because of the service. Let me be clear: the food was, as always, absolutely brilliant—a solid 5/5. Nando’s consistently delivers that perfect Peri-Peri hit, and the kitchen staff deserve full credit.
We ordered a large platter to share, sampling the perfect heat of the Medium chicken, the refreshing tang of Lemon & Herb, and the delicious fruitiness of Mango & Lime. The sides were all spot on: rich, creamy Mac & Cheese topped with crumbs, flavorful Peri-Peri Rice, crunchy Coleslaw, and of course, those signature Peri-Peri Fries paired with some great garlicky bread slices. The quality of the dishes truly saved the meal.
However, the front-of-house experience was frankly terrible. We arrived about an hour before closing, which is plenty of time, but it felt like we were a massive inconvenience to our server. The waiter was incredibly grumpy and gave off a palpable vibe that they were unhappy to see us. They didn’t offer us anything, simply dropped off the menus, and left. From that point on, we ended up having to collect all our own necessities—the cutlery, water glasses, and tissues—from the service station ourselves. It was disheartening to feel completely unwelcome right from the start.
It’s a real shame that such excellent food is being completely overshadowed by such visibly poor customer service. This wasn’t the signature, welcoming Nando’s atmosphere we’ve experienced before. The food deserves a much better service experience. We’ll be back for the Peri-Peri, but we really hope the service improves drastically.
