Nando's Leeds - The Light — Restaurant in Leeds

Chicken burger arrived colder than room temperature, and the bun was stale. I suspect the meal was pre-prepared, refrigerated and inadequately reheated. A junior member of staff offered to reheat the meal half way through service, and a senior member of staff offered a replacement meal as our plates were cleared. We had a cinema booking thereafter, so I declined both offers.

Junior member of staff eating leftover food from customer's plates. I understand this is common practice behind closed doors (I've worked in hospitality), but it shouldn't be happening in view of customers, pandemic or otherwise.

The nozzles of half a dozen sauce bottles we tried were completely blocked with solid old sauce. Happens in every Nando's, but still a bit grim.

I was hesitant to complain too firmly in person, as I'm aware of Nando's business practices. Restaurants are understaffed and existing staff are underpaid. It's no wonder corners have to be cut and standards cannot be met. Frankly I should have asked for a refund, but nobody on the restaurant floor gets payed enough to deal with complaints.

A couple of things to consider if you've read this far: The food at Nando's isn't as fresh as they'd have you believe. A lot of it arrives pre-cooked or frozen, and is just reheated on the grill. They hire students and teenagers with little culinary experience, so this should be a dead give-away. They aren't cooking fresh meals.

It's difficult to notice if you frequent Nando's, but the food quality is gradually worsening as the chain sources cheaper ingredients to maximize profit margins. The businesspeople behind Nando's don't care about the quality of the meals or dining experience, or the well-being of the floor staff.

I've decided from this dining experience that I'll show Nando's (the chain, not the staff) that quality matters by eating elsewhere. Maybe I'll give a local restaurant a chance next time.

p.s. I have a bit of a stomach ache today too. Not saying it's the cold chicken, but not...

it’s like my third time coming here because I’ve been quite hesitant about other peoples experiences that I’ve heard about Nando’s. Wanted to see how the experience would be anyways, I ordered a sunset burger and as soon as it arrived I gave it 2 bites to then realise the chicken was completely raw (pink) and I then realised there was a hair that I pulled out from the burger too. completely put me off. (Offered me a refund as an apology which I accepted) I’ve had 2 years in customer service so I know how the hospitality and catering environment is like, i observed every waitress there and 2 seemed to be stood in the corner having a casual conversation and there was only 1 poor girl just running around taking everyone’s orders. Felt quite bad as she was looking over at the other waitresses as an indication to help her. I also noticed that on pass, there was a lot of dishes just sat there getting cold and that made me mad to say that my sisters dish came completely cold too. I think Nando’s is way too overhyped and should improve on customer skills...

This particular Nandos is the best in Leeds and it's majorly because they have great service. I have eaten with my family and friends 3 times at this Nandos restaurant and all 3 times, I was never disappointed by their service. They are welcoming, warm and understand what good service means to a customer. While I have had a very terrible experience with the Nandos restaurant at Trinity Leeds due to terrible service and rude attendants, the Nandos at The Light Leeds, is the only reason I would still consider dinning at Nandos again.

Well done to the Nandos team of The Light Leeds. I am giving 4 stars because the toilet was not smelling fresh enough and the hand dryer did not work when I last visited. They seemed to be short-staffed on the day so that may be the reason. Other than that, great job by the kitchen staff and attendants. Well done to the Manager there too.

Please go to this Nandos by all means, try to avoid the...