One of the restaurants that my sister told me that they love, which is also on my Food Trip List in UAE is Nando’s Peri-Peri Chicken. They’ve been talking about Nando’s and good thing I can actually relate now since I already tried it in Malaysia once.
So, I am excited about this food trip! Finally, I will be able to try again the best Peri-Peri Chicken I’ve had.
We dine-in here on our 14th day in UAE, the day before our flight. A lot of things happened on this day. Before going here for lunch, we went to Al Ain Zoo which was a really bad idea since it was a whooping 37°C outside, around noon-time. I think we arrived at the zoo at around 11 am. It was too hot so we just stayed there for a few minutes and went to Al Ain Mall to eat good food which we really needed since were all hungry and exhausted because of the heat.
Here’s what we ordered:
For starters, we had their Hummus and Chicken Liver. Good thing I saw this on a separate menu card and I remembered immediately how good this was. I asked my older sister if we should order one and if she already tried it. She did and said that it was indeed delicious. Now, I got a reason to order it. Haha.
Hummus and Chicken Liver
I am actually not sure if my other sisters would love this but I am someone who doesn’t really eat livers. I remembered that my friend forced me to try it in Malaysia and it was indeed the best that I had. So, I just had to order one here.
Hummus and chicken livers? You must not miss this one even if you don’t eat chicken livers!!! You won’t even know it was livers so, again, DO NOT SKIP THIS ONE.
At first, I thought this was the one I’d tried before but it wasn’t, it was their Chicken Livers and Portuguese Roll which was served with butter. This one is new on their menu.
Their creamy hummus is topped with saucy chicken liver served with toasted pita and a PERi-PERi drizzle. If you are not that much into spicy food, just put a little Peri-Peri drizzle and you’re good to go.
To give you an idea, the hummus they have here is quite similar to the ones I’ve tried in Manila. Creamy, rich, and almost melts in your mouth. The chicken livers also melt in your mouth. It was creamy, tender, and smooth. It wasn’t grainy or tough that’s why you wouldn’t know or feel that you are actually chicken livers. The Peri-Peri drizzle adds flavor and spice to it so, even if you are not that much into spicy food, you should still put a few drops of this.
This saved us from getting more hungry. Also, we finished this in a flash and everyone loved it! Simot ang plato!
Price: Dhs 34
Table for: 1
Drink Rating: 5/5
Then came our main meal!
1/4 Peri-Peri Chicken
Ordered 1/4 chicken with 2 regular sides. We got the minted rice since two of my sisters doesn’t want the spicy rice even though I told them that it wasn’t really spicy. We also got the Peri-Peri Wedges for our sides. I could’ve ordered their coleslaw if it was only for me. Haha.
We ordered the mild flavor based on the PERI-meter. I never tried ordering the spicy or extra hot flavor so I have no idea how spicy it is. The minted rice was okay. It has a minty flavor, of course, but not my favorite. I’d always go for their spicy rice. Their spicy rice has a mild spicy flavor that’s not overwhelming. Its flavor perfectly matches the Peri-Peri Chicken so you should definitely go for this one.
You can also get this with one side only for Dhs 39. If you want additional sides, you can order for an additional cost.
Price: Dhs 49
Table for: 1
Drink Rating: 5/5
1/2 Peri-Peri Chicken
One is definitely not enough for us so, we ordered another one. Nabitin kami sa chicken. Haha. This was actually just an additional order since we also ordered their Espetada a Torre.
This time, we got the Lemon & Herb. I actually like this one better but I wanted them to try the mild flavor first. So, yey! We got this with 2 spicy rice. How Asian can we get? Haha.
Nando’s Peri-Peri Chicken is flamed-grilled and marinated with their special sauce for 24 hours. So, if you are looking for a flavorful, tender, and juicy Peri-Peri Chicken, Nando’s would be one of your best bet. In addition to that, they only use African Bird’s Eye Chili and do not use preservatives or artificial flavorings on their PERi-PERi sauces
Price: Dhs 71
Table for: 1
Drink Rating: 5/5
Espetada a Torre
I saw this when I was in Malaysia but it says on their menu that this one is exclusive in Nando’s UAE. Maybe what I saw there was smaller? I am not sure since I did not order that.
Anyway, this Espetada Torre is inspired by the world’s tallest building which we can see in Dubai, the Burj Khalifa. This tower can feed 3-4 people.
It comes with 3 side dishes and we got another spicy rice, minted rice, and their PERi-PERi wedges.
The flame-grilled PERi-PERi chicken thighs are skewered between layers of roasted bell peppers. It was so tender, juicy, and delicious! You can easily remove the chicken on the stick and the bell peppers in between are perfectly roasted. Super yummy too!
Aside from this, they also offer Espetada Carnival which is chicken thighs stuffed with feta, crushed garlic, and parsley skewered between layers of bell peppers. And their Espetada Rustica which is sun-dried tomato skwered between layers of red onion. These two comes with 2 sides only and cost Dhs 84.
Price: Dhs 159
Table for: 1
Drink Rating: 5/5
Chicken Caesar Wrap
Tender chicken fillet, croutons, parmesan cheese, sun-dried tomatoes and Nando’s Caesar dressing served in a toasted wrap with 2 regular sides, their PERi-PERi chips and chargrilled vegetables.
This one is huge too. You can easily get full with just half of the wrap. Siksik, liglig, umaapaw yung filling niya as you can see in the photo. Definitely delicious and something easy to eat for take out.
You can also get this with one side only for Dhs 44.
Price: Dhs 54
Table for: 1
Drink Rating: 5/5
Pomegranate Lemonade
One thing I love the most here in UAE is most often than not, you get what you see in photos. Like this drink.
A refreshing & fizzy pomegranate lemonade with Sprite!
I did not order this one since my sister said were going to have dessert at Dip n’ Dip. So, Imma save the calories. But just look at this drink! It looks really refreshing and they said that it was really good and rated it 5/5.
Also, love those pomegranates on top!
Price: Dhs 26
Table for: 1
Drink Rating: 5/5
Mars Milkshake
Mars flavored ice-cream shake topped with whipped cream and chocolate sauce.
I wanted to order this one too but again, I did not order this. Haha.
Price: Dhs 26
Table for: 1
Drink Rating: 5/5
They also offer unlimited softdrinks for Dhs 18 only.
Overall, we love all the food here. My favorites are their Peri-Peri Chicken, of course, and the Hummus and Chicken Liver which you should definitely not miss when dining in at Nando’s.
In addition to that, the staff here in Al Ain Mall was very nice to us. They even gave us one serving of Spicy Rice when we ordered an additional. My sister jokingly said that the rice serving was too few and that they should give us more serving. He came back and told us that the rice was free. Haha. Note, we already ordered I think 2 additional rice and that was the 3rd one. Hehe.
Ambiance: 5/5
Service: 5/5
Value for Money: 5/5
Overall Rating: 5/5
If you live in UAE, you can order on their website or using the Talabat app.
Location: Al Ain Mall, Othman Bin Affan St – Central District, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Facebook Page: Nando’s
Instagram: @nandosuae
Website: www.nandos.ae
Disclaimer: We paid for our food and this review was written with an honest opinion.