Nando's Bangladesh Quarter Chicken meal!
The other day I was at Nando’s for buy one get one meal. It was disappointing to see what came on the plates.  I asked for one with double fries as sides and the other with coleslaw and fries. But little was I told that one will be breast and the other will be leg. I felt a moment of strong frustrating anger bubbling inside when the unexpected leg was served.
I know leg pieces are perfect for grilling because they retain the juice while the breast loses all the juice very quickly and it is bland compared to the leg. But I just love digging in meaty succulent chicken breasts and I was there to check if the flavours have gone deep into the breast.
They should be serving exactly the same piece for buy one get one meal. Otherwise, it is like buy one and get 70% more.
Now it is time to taste. Fries were actually potato chips and they were good, but not enough crispy for me. I like my chips to have a very crispy outside with soft inside.  They shouldn’t bend, but break. Some of them were crisp while others weren’t. Coleslaw was good and refreshing, but I should have added pepper to it.
I have never enjoyed Nando’s chicken before and I wasn’t sure I would like it this time either. So I had a close friend and a chef with me that evening to help me.
The leg and the breast were grilled to perfection. Flavours did sink deep inside the breast, nice juicy and perfect texture (you know it when you chew). The first few bites were delightful.
Once I was done tasting the meat, I decided to try with their signature sauces. And right then I figured why I never enjoyed at Nando’s before. I know many love those sauces on the table, but the flavour and the sourness of the vinegar just masks the good flavour of the chicken. The chicken is already marinated in those sauces (not many know this I guess) and it’s quite tasty on its own. Sauce just takes away all the flavours the meat acquired when grilled. So if one is enjoying it more with the sauce, the flavour of the meat isn’t probably essential for him or her I suppose.
Every sauce had a strong aroma and a note of vinegar. The sourness itself tells the presence of that ingredient. If you sniff from the bottle, you can smell notes of piri piri, similar to the red chilli in Bangladesh.
I know many will find me crazy for saying it, but I don’t think the sauce has the perfect note to complement the chicken. For me, it lacks one particular flavour for perfection.  And I am on a mission to perfect the sauce.