Nandos - Wow what a let down

Maybe a little OT, so I apologise for this, but you guys might be interested...

Actual proper Portuguese "churrasco", which is what Nando's is supposed to be trying to imitate, is way different. The cooking process is worlds apart. Have a look at some photos of the equipment used to grill the chicken at a Portuguese churrascaria.

I tried to find a good website, but these are pretty much all independent places and most don't have their own website - thus the Facebook link above. Still, serves it's purpose, even if the photos could be a bit better. Some make it look not very appetising, but it is good! Mostly trying to show you the spit-roast type thing they use.

Nando's use nothing of the sort. The chicken arrives at the restaurant already marinated, in bags. The bags get opened and the chicken gets put on racks that fit into ovens. Then they precook the chicken in some big ass ovens, after which the chicken gets stored in some temperature regulated "drawers" next to the "grilling area". Once an order comes in the griller removes the requisite pieces from the drawer and basically heats it up for a little bit, and applies the chosen sauce. (This being somewhat simplified. Not going to get into details about different types of things like "burgers", whole chicken, wraps, etc... just a generalisation of the process).

I'm pretty sure in Portugal the chicken just goes straight onto the spit-roast thing raw (might be marinated before, idk), then gets cut up, put in a plastic container, and sauce is applied. There's only one type of hot. You can ask for hot, or not hot. Nando's doesn't exist in Portugal. At least not that I'm aware of. I don't believe anyone would go anyway, it just wouldn't work.
 
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pedromaltez said:
Maybe a little OT, so I apologise for this, but you guys might be interested...
Actual proper Portuguese "churrasco", which is what Nando's is supposed to be trying to imitate, is way different. The cooking process is worlds apart. Have a look at some photos of the equipment used to grill the chicken at a Portuguese churrascaria.
I tried to find a good website, but these are pretty much all independent places and most don't have their own website - thus the Facebook link above. Still, serves it's purpose, even if the photos could be a bit better. Some make it look not very appetising, but it is good! Mostly trying to show you the spit-roast type thing they use.
Nando's use nothing of the sort. The chicken arrives at the restaurant already marinated, in bags. The bags get opened and the chicken gets put on racks that fit into ovens. Then they precook the chicken in some big ass ovens, after which the chicken gets stored in some temperature regulated "drawers" next to the "grilling area". Once an order comes in the griller removes the requisite pieces from the drawer and basically heats it up for a little bit, and applies the chosen sauce. (This being somewhat simplified. Not going to get into details about different types of things like "burgers", whole chicken, wraps, etc... just a generalisation of the process).
I'm pretty sure in Portugal the chicken just goes straight onto the spit-roast thing raw (might be marinated before, idk), then gets cut up, put in a plastic container, and sauce is applied. There's only one type of hot. You can ask for hot, or not hot. Nando's doesn't exist in Portugal. At least not that I'm aware of. I don't believe anyone would go anyway, it just wouldn't work.
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IIRC Piri-Piri chicken is supposed to be cooked over hot coals (I mean hot) and almost dried out, then Piri-Piri sauce is liberally applied to the chicken so it soaks it up and becomes moist again. This is usually with a whole chicken and matured oil/sauce. I doubt Nandos would get their desired turnover if they used this method though :)
 
TechMinerUK said:
IIRC Piri-Piri chicken is supposed to be cooked over hot coals (I mean hot) and almost dried out, then Piri-Piri sauce is liberally applied to the chicken so it soaks it up and becomes moist again. This is usually with a whole chicken and matured oil/sauce. I doubt Nandos would get their desired turnover if they used this method though :)
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Sorry guys, it seems the idiots took the facebook page down? wtf...

But yeah, the pictures I was trying to show you had the coals in sight. I'll try to find something else. We don't really go around calling it piri piri chicken though, it's just generally called "frango assado" which everyone knows the meaning of. Literally translated it means "roast chicken", but it really means churrasco chicken, or sort of "bbqed/grilled chicken". And churrasco doesn't imply piri piri at all, just the method used to actually heat/cook the bloody thing. As you say the chicken does get very dry, and the sauce is added afterward, after it's been cut up and put in boxes to be taken away. The sauce can be either hot (piri piri) or not. It's not mandatory to get piri piri if you don't like it spicy. Normally we'd order one box of each, or maybe two hot and one not, depending on whether there are picky people about (there's bound to be one, or a child, or whatever).

And yeah, no way. xD Funnily enough the churrascarias sell a whole chicken for like the price of one of Nando's chicken burgers, though. Around 10EUR, maybe. (maybe in the context of a Portuguese salary that's actually more than it sounds like it is) So Nando's could do it but the profit would be way less unless they inflated the prices like crazy. Anyway, that's why Nando's would never work there. People are used to THAT, and if Nando's came along with a cheap imitation, which barely even deserves to be called that... then... well, I just don't see anyone having Nando's over the real thing.
 
Not a big fan either but we have one across the road from office so we end up there every now and again. Thankfully it's been quite a while now since the last time we went. Though that probably means someone will suggest it soon.
 
krooton said:
KFC fo life!
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KFC in the UK tastes rank dude, I'd agree with you abroad. Personally I think nandos is alright, up there with the rest of those chains. Having said that, I only really go to one branch and there are no doubt going to be variations in quality
 
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