The first Nando’s restaurant opened its doors in 1987 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Since then, the Nando’s flame has spread to 23 countries across five continents. Nando’s is known worldwide for its succulent PERi-PERi chicken, marinated for 24 hours, flame-grilled to perfection, and basted to the customer’s preferred flavour and spice. The Nando’s flame landed in the UAE way back in 2002 when the first restaurant opened on Sheikh Zayed Road. It’s hard not to smile as you walk into a branch of this chicken chain-restaurant. If the kooky poultry cartoons fail to tweak the funny-bone, the punsome slogans and relentlessly chirpy atmosphere will fail to cheer only the grouchiest of diners. Despite the abundance of such comical decor, we are soon made aware that Nando’s take their chicken very seriously indeed. As well as poultry, the chain’s big thing is its ‘world famous’ peri-peri sauce, ranging in intensity from mild lemon-and-herb to screamingly hot chili variant. After brilliantly fiery olives set your taste buds in motion, it’s chicken all the way.
