Eating with your fingers, feeling the Peri-Peri warm your tummy and lift your mood. It can bring the sunshine on a particularly crappy day. Mrs P. and I go to the Cinema quite a lot. Usually a couple of times a week if I'm not travelling. A feat made possible by the fantastic invention of the Cineworld Unlimited card, and this Wednesday we thought we would stroll down and see what was on. As, apparently, had the entire population of Milton Keynes. Never people to give up too easily, we drove round the car park once comparing the idea of dinner versus getting grumpy about the people eating popcorn/nachos/sweets too loudly or checking their mobile phone half way through the movie in case, God Forbid, they miss that vital Facebook post that tells them Mandy is no longer in a relationship with Dave. And then gave up.
There was only one realistic choice. Quick, cheap but not fast food, Nandos is the default go-to joint of choice. Strangely, we have three in MK and Mrs P. and I are still not sure why. Surely two can cater for all our chicken desires but apparently not. I'm not complaining, it meant we could leave the cinema to drown in it's own 2 for 1 Orange Wednesday tidal wave of tracksuit wearing Chavs* and make our way to get some tasty chicken closer to home. We rolled in, got our table and I jumped in the order queue. Although in most places we eat regularly, we try to discover new dishes, Nandos is a bit of an exception. Because they only serve chicken (albeit in various baps or wraps) we have long since distilled the best value dish on the menu. A whole chicken with two sides and two drinks for under 20 quid. What more can you ask for?* Bloody Bargain.
As you may know by now I love my chilli heat. Mrs P. is not so much of a fan but is game for a good go. Therefore, our normal Nandos tipple is a Lemon and Herb marinade with a bottle each of the Hot and Garlic sauces on the side for dipping. It came as a welcome surprise therefore when I noticed as I got to the till that there was something new available. The children’s menu (groaningly named 'Nadinos') mentions a 'Peri-tamer' sauce which proports to be the first step along the Peri-Peri road of deliciousness. Just up Mrs P's street I thought.
The chicken arrived in all it's bounty and looked as good as usual. The new sauce was reminiscent of a sweet BBQ sauce which was reasonably pleasant. My surprise though came when Mrs P. exclaimed that it did not float her boat at all. While nice and sweet, there was no punch to it apparently, it could have been shaken out of any generic BBQ sauce jar and straight onto the grill. I couldn't criticise Nandos for the lack of spice, it did come from the Kids menu after all, but it didn't seem to have anything special going for it. Uniquely average was the position we best thought described it the end result. The chicken and sundries are good value and we love the ability to share food with a large group but we will be returning to the Lemon and Herb marinade next time. That is Nandos, unless you can tempt me away with something else. Go on, I dare you.
*This opinion may have been unduly influenced by the Daily Mail that I glanced at on Wednesday morning. I apologise for this.
*If you are Mrs P. that would be halumi cheese. Tips me over £20 every bloody time.
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