Reigate - Gerry Louis Review

This restaurant had only been open 4/5 days but it felt like 4 months. As I've been going to a Nando's for my birthday for the last ten years, this visit was only by chance as my plans for Basingstoke flopped last minute. I hope Basingstoke wasn't any better.

Less than an hour journey from Clapham Junction and only £6.80 return ticket plus a ten minute walk. My Google map took me as if I was driving and not walking, I probably would have been there quicker as it is a one way system and I went all the way around.

Smack in the middle of this quiet high street , they have an open window front and it's not hard to miss. It was quite busy as I arrived but was able to get a table near the front. The downstairs is separated into three seating sections and upstairs two. There's a door that leads to the beer garden of the pub next door but no seating for Nando's customers. The tables in the front section are quite close together. The middle section has two booths and the section down the back, after the grill area and cutlery station has 8 tables and a secret back door into the kitchen.

Ordering was easy but they still give a small glass for water.. and why do they swipe your card afterwards? How can you use your rewards that way? Anyway...the staff are nice enough if not a bit absent minded. My food was warm when it arrived so they forgot about it. Half chicken mango and lime with sweet mash, halloumi and garlic bread. The chicken was nice, nothing special and burnt bits.. the mash was bland and a small portion.

The artwork is fantastic as usual, portraits everywhere and plant life is quite dominant in branch which is nice. As you enter there are mini plant pots against the wall with leaves hanging down. The front also has leaves going up to the ceiling which is part of the upstairs section which is where the toilets are. There is a second till area upstairs and the staff take the last table before the loos to eat their meals. Be careful of the mini step that leads up.

Visiting the toilet, the Nandoca exited the cubicle and went to pass me. She saw the look on my face and said she had wiped her hands with tissue after washing them.. Um. Okay sure. The toilets were a disaster to be honest but the toilets always suffer in Nando's which it shouldn't. The floors were dirty, I think a door was already broken. The restaurant in general was dirty to be honest.

It was a nice branch. The staff are nice enough and it's easy to get to. I do hope they take more care to keep the branch a bit cleaner.