Nando's Palmerston — Restaurant in Northern Territory

I'm not a regular Nandos customer, in fact I think this might be the third or fourth time I've ever visited over the last 10+ years.

Caught up with friends for dinner prior to a movie at Vmax, and the vote was with Nandos. Walked in, and I was impressed with the decor, it was clean, modern and stylish. On a Friday night (around 8pm) it was not packed. There seemed to be an 'outdoor' area, not sure if it was, but it was separated by large glass doors, and I could see a large water feature almost big enough to be a pool. I didn't go inside that area, so not sure if it was airconditioned or not, but it had a few people dining there.

Back to Nandos. With a lack of imagination, trying to pick quickly from the menu with people behind me, I went with the 'Supremo' burger, which is grilled peri peri chicken, cheese, lettuce, tomatoe, yoghurt and their peri peri chutney. At $9.95 it seemed a decent price, and I added crispy bacon as an option for an extra $2. I ordered some peri peri fries, where I got to choose the spice leve, so I cranked it up. Made my order, advised which table I sat at, and then joined my group.

It did take a while for the food to arrive, maybe 20 minutes or so? That said, it looked like they were cooking to order, with an open kitchen for anyone to watch. When it arrived, it looked great. Good sized burger, with awesome crispy bacon strips...not those sad excuses for bacon you find at fast food restaurants like McDonalds/HJs.

Biting into it, I was pretty satisfied. The chicken was good, the seasoning was on point, and it all worked well. The bacon was a must have. The chips weren't bad either, definitely enjoyed those though I couldn't finish them, I was surprisingly full.

All in all, an enjoyable experience, I might actually visit Nandos more regularly...

I usually love Nandos but today's experience was appalling from one staff member. My family and I walked into Nandos today and found ourselves a table - so obviously, we were dining in. My mother went to order and for some reason, the man who served us put our order as "take away" without even asking my mum whether we were dining in or ordering take away. Another guy came after about half an hour (the store was practically empty btw) to ask if we ordered as we were sitting and waiting for our meal with our plates and cutlery all set up. We showed our receipt and he left to grab our food. When he came back, it was all wrapped as a take away. We explained that the person who took our order never asked if we were dining in or taking away. He persistently and rudely insisted several times "No, YOU ordered take away". Then left the food on our table and left. At this point, we were furious although we were fine to just take the food as it was and just eat it out of the take away boxes. Luckily though, the man who originally served us apologised and took the food to serve us as dine-in. A woman who we presumed to be the manager apologised as well and clarified that it was miscommunication on their side. So the rest of them were great, despite the little mistake and long wait. What made us mad was the young man basically...

Inconsistent Experience at Nando’s Palmerston

I’ve visited Nando’s Palmerston multiple times, and while some visits have been good, others have been disappointing. The biggest issue is the inconsistency in both food quality and service.

Food: The taste of the food is not the same every time. On my recent visit, I ordered a full extra-extra hot peri-peri chicken, but it was only cooked in regular hot peri-peri sauce, which was disappointing since I was expecting the extra heat. The serious large peri-peri chips were far from "serious large"—the portion size was much smaller than expected. Additionally, the chilli broccoli was undercooked, making it tough and not as enjoyable.

Service: The service quality varies a lot. Sometimes it’s good, with friendly and attentive staff, but other times it’s slow and not up to standard. Over multiple visits, I’ve noticed that the service can go up and down, which makes it frustrating as a regular customer.

Overall: Nando’s Palmerston has potential, but the inconsistency in food and service makes it hard to rely on for a great experience every time. When it’s good, it’s really good, but when it’s bad, it’s disappointing. If they can improve consistency, it would be a much better...