Southbank - Clink Street - James RYN Review

With regard to the decor I can only reinforce that which I said in my previous review. It is a cut above the usual Nando's! However, the whole visit was overshadowed by some rather unnecessary staff rudeness. When we got there we asked to be seated in one of the alcoves that overlook the Thames. The woman then rudely said 'No' and I looked at her rather shocked. Realising that she had been rather rude she then pointed out that the table was for 6, however on my last visit here I was politely shown the table in question despite only being with a party of 3 (this time I was with a party of 4). Not wanting to cause a fuss before even starting the food, we then accepted a standard table for 4.

The next issue arose when we went up to order the food. I had a free half chicken which I wanted to share with a friend. However, he likes medium spice and I like extra hot. I asked if the leg could be made medium and the breast extra hot and I was told 'no we do not do that'. I pointed out I had been to Nando's hundreds of times and it had never been a problem before. She still said no. I then asked her 'but don't you cut the breast and leg apart anyway?'. She said that they do. So I said can you then not put different sauce on each part. She said no! I then said can you make the whole thing medium and give me some extra hot sauce on the side (the proper sauce from the grill - not the bottled sauce). She said no! I then just looked at her and said I am shocked. So she said she would ask the griller. She went over to him and they both very rudely had a laugh at my expense before saying no again. Where is the Nando's spirit?! If this ridiculous system is in fact an official Nando's rule then Nando's need to sort it out and start catering more to their customer's needs.

Eventually the food came (we had to ask twice for two of my party's meals - the first person we asked didn't even come back!), and it was very tasty indeed. My chips did arrive without peri though, and the woman insisted on checking my receipt to make sure I had ordered it despite being the very person who had taken my order. Its only 10p! I guess the food kind of made up for the staff issues, but still, I will be reconsidering before returning to this branch (previously it had been my favourite).