Crawley - Archive Review

Crawley's medium-sized Nando's restaurant is ideally located in the centre of a busy Leisure Park, in close proximity to a Cineworld (which will be boasting a brand new IMAX screen as of next month) and several culinary competitors (McDonald's, Subway, Frankie and Benny's, TGI Friday's, Pizza Hut and Bella Italia). There is generally plenty of parking spaces for cinema patrons and diners alike.

I have visited the Crawley branch 40 plus times in the last few years and have never had a bad experience there, with my most recent visit late on a sunday morning being no exception.

Our party of four (including my young daughter) arrived just after 11:30 and the restaurant was understandably not very busy at that time; thus we were afforded more attention than normal, and the staff were extra-attentive and very friendly/chatty.

Due to the seemingly high turnover of staff there, we were not recognised as usual...and hence subjected to the usual, almost robotic, question "have you been to Nando's before?" Perhaps the only disappointment was that we had to ask for colouring crayons for the little one, but that's only a small detail about our generally hospitable welcome.

We didn't have to wait long for our food: ten minutes at the most, which is a typical waiting time for this branch. There was a slight delay in waiting for my daughter's bean burger to arrive, though - kids should always be served first I think.

The food was (mostly) of a high quality once more. Their chicken is always cooked perfectly (unlike the Brighton branch) and there is always a generous amount of sauce on it. Also, the food was piping hot (unlike the Brighton branch who decided to give me stone-cold Luso Beans a couple of months ago - thanks!).

However, on a slightly negative note, I ordered a side of chicken livers and, for some reason, these weren't up to the usual standard (a bit rubbery and over-cooked perhaps) and I had to ask for some butter which normally arrives with the bread roll, but this is a minor quibble. At least the livers were edible - unlike the ones I had at the Brighton branch that were saturated in extra hot sauce by some clumsy member of staff (I now order them plain and apply my own sauce).

So, a few minor points aside, another satisfying visit. It's not the best Nando's I've been to (London Bridge holds that honour) but it's certainly up there.