Nando's Ealing - Bond Street — Restaurant in London

A Disappointing Experience at Nando’s: Poor Service, Cold Food, and Unprofessional Management

I recently visited a Nando’s location, and unfortunately, my experience was far from satisfactory. From the moment we arrived, the lack of attentiveness from the staff was evident, and as the evening progressed, it became clear that both the service and food quality were severely lacking. What should have been a straightforward and enjoyable meal turned into an hour-long ordeal marked by delays, subpar food, and dismissive management.

Arrival and Initial Impressions (0-10 Minutes)

Upon entering the restaurant, we immediately noticed that it was not particularly busy, yet we were completely ignored by the staff. Despite there being no apparent reason for the delay, we stood waiting for an extended period before anyone acknowledged our presence. Even after being seated, we were left unattended for another 10 minutes before receiving menus. There was an absolute lack of urgency, and the customer service was disappointingly poor from the outset.

Placing the Order and Extended Wait Time (10-20 Minutes)

Once we were finally able to place our order, we requested: • 3 Sunset Burgers • 3 Peri Chips • 2 Mac & Cheese • 1 Salad • 1 Garlic Bread

Given the simplicity of the order, we expected a reasonable preparation time. However, we waited another 20 minutes without any sign of our food. During this time, no staff members checked on us, and we were left with empty glasses and no updates on the status of our meal. The lack of communication only added to our growing frustration.

Food Arrival and Quality Issues (20-40 Minutes)

After an extended 40-minute wait, the food finally began to arrive—though what we received was utterly disappointing. • Sunset Burgers: These arrived 35 minutes after placing our order, and they were a disaster. The buns were dry, the patties were cold and flavorless, and the cheese was served separately rather than melted onto the burger. Instead of a freshly prepared meal, it felt as if we were assembling it ourselves. • Peri Chips: These arrived shortly after the burgers, but they were completely unappetizing. Cold, soggy, and lacking the signature crispiness and flavor that Nando’s is known for, they were far from the quality one would expect from a reputable chain.

At this point, we had been seated for nearly 40 minutes, and the food quality was unacceptable.

Further Delays and Subpar Dishes (40-55 Minutes) • Mac & Cheese: When this dish was finally served, it was a complete disappointment. The pasta was overcooked and mushy, while the cheese sauce was thin, bland, and lacked any real depth of flavor. Rather than a creamy, satisfying dish, it felt more like an afterthought. • Salad: The salad arrived 50 minutes into our dining experience, and it was perhaps the most shocking dish of the night. Instead of a fresh, well-balanced mix of ingredients, we were served a plate of plain tomatoes with no dressing, no variety, and no effort in presentation. It was unappetizing, uninspired, and completely unacceptable.

Final Dish and Overall Dissatisfaction (55-60 Minutes)

By the one-hour mark, we were still waiting for our final dish: the Garlic Bread. When it finally arrived, it was dry, stale, and flavorless. There was no noticeable garlic or butter, leaving it with a chewy texture and no redeeming qualities.

Management’s Dismissive Response

After enduring an hour of slow service and unappealing food, I decided to address my concerns with the management....

0-10 Minutes: We walked in, and the place wasn’t even busy, yet we were completely ignored. We waited for what felt like forever before someone bothered to acknowledge us. Once we were seated, we waited another 10 minutes just to get menus. Absolutely no sense of urgency or customer service.

10-20 Minutes: We placed our order—3 Sunset Burgers, 3 Peri Chips, 2 Max & Cheese, 1 Salad, and 1 Garlic Bread. It was straightforward, so I expected the food to arrive in a reasonable time. But no. We waited for 20 minutes with nothing but empty glasses in front of us. At this point, we were already starting to get frustrated.

20-40 Minutes: After 40 minutes in total, the food finally started arriving, and it was honestly shocking. The first dish to come out was the Sunset Burgers, and they were a disaster. Lukewarm at best, with dry buns and cold, tasteless patties. The cheese was on the side—not even melted—making it feel like a DIY burger, rather than something freshly made. This was 35 minutes after ordering.

Next came the Peri Chips—cold and soggy. These were a complete disappointment and looked nothing like the crispy, flavorful chips Nando’s is known for. I couldn’t even finish them. 40 minutes after placing our order, we were still dealing with cold, sad chips.

40-50 Minutes: The Max & Cheese came out next. It was a joke—overcooked pasta in a thin, flavorless cheese sauce. Lukewarm and mushy, it was more like a sad side dish than a main. I can’t even explain how unappetizing it was. By this point, I was already losing my patience.

50-55 Minutes: The Salad arrived last—honestly, I couldn’t believe it. It was a cold, bland mess of just tomatoes. No dressing, no other vegetables, nothing to make it remotely appealing. What kind of restaurant serves this as a salad? 50 minutes into the experience, this was the final straw for me.

55-60 Minutes: We were still waiting for the Garlic Bread at this point, which finally came at the hour mark. It was dry, stale, and tasted like it had been left out for hours. No garlic flavor, no butter, just sad, chewy bread that wasn’t worth the calories.

Management Interaction: When I finally flagged down a server to complain, the European management was rude and dismissive. They didn’t care at all that the food was cold, tasteless, and poorly prepared. They didn’t even apologize; instead, we were met with condescending remarks and zero effort to resolve the situation. At that point, I was beyond annoyed.

Overall Experience: This meal was nothing short of a nightmare. It was cold, tasteless, and poorly prepared. The timing was horrendous—over an hour of waiting with barely any service—and the management was unprofessional and rude. We paid under £60, and for that price, I expected fresh, hot, flavorful food, not this miserable excuse for a meal.

I will never be returning to this Nando’s, and I suggest anyone thinking of visiting stay far away. There’s nothing worse than bad food and...

I usually visited Nandos myself with friends and family usually Ealing branch also dined at other brunches at Chiswick and at central London even my whole family visited Namdos a lot but what I experienced on 5th of April was seriously dangerous situation few days ago went with my cousin we dined in at 9pm I think the manger was her Name Helen she was very helpful and we got our food in good presentation and was warm and fresh we enjoyed it but we couldn’t finished it so I had to take home some chips and quarter of chicken next day I was having it for my lunch I start to choking and start screaming from pain went to bathroom and throw up in sink and my sister found piece of back metal as you can see on picture was stuck in my throat making me bleeding for bit was really scared this is gave me nightmares I never had in my whole life such experience to have piece of metal was in chicken, we thought this piece of metal is from the metal brush where the chefs clean their big grill we’ve seen it a lot of times probably every costumers can seen this , the way the clean their big grill before they put their new chickens over the grill, we went next day to speak to them at Ealing Broadway brunch and spoke to tall man with beard he was the manager he took my details and phone number and it’s been few days no one has called us not even apologise I will need to escalate this to the head office and take it further this really dangerous situation it could kill people and no doubt it will happen to others too . I have no intention to make bad reviews about this restaurant as we loved it but what I have experienced have really gave me nightmares seen piece of metal in my food and the fact no one had ever contacted us about their dangerous services .

Edit this review: I’m adding another screenshot of the outcome of this incident, Nandos health and safety department have admitted that this metal is part of their cooking equipment and they valued my health and dangerous items I experience for £30 gift card even less what I paid for whole meal !

Seriously is this how you value people’s life for £30 ??? I start to have this anxiety going to any restaurant and check every meal I receive in each pieces to check it if nothing dangerous in my dish !

I’m sharing this screenshot of an email from Nandos department to other customers to...