Nando's Ilford — Restaurant in London

I recently visited Nando’s Ilford and had a mostly positive experience the food was great, and the majority of the staff were very professional and attentive. However, my experience was unfortunately soured by the behaviour of one staff member after my meal.

After finishing my food, I needed to use the female toilets. As I walked past the counter, I noticed an Asian woman wearing a hijab who appeared to see me head in that direction. The toilets were locked, and I stood waiting, assuming someone might be inside. During this time, the same staff member was engaged in a prolonged and visibly flirtatious conversation with a male colleague. Her uniform was not visible due to her hijab styling, which made her look like another customer rather than someone working there.

As I waited, no assistance was offered despite her clearly seeing me. I eventually asked a kind male staff member for help, who began assisting me right away. It was only at this point that the female staff member decided to intervene. Her tone and body language were unprofessional, and she informed me that the baby changing toilet had been locked . She then said, “You should’ve just asked,” which struck me as unnecessarily judgmental and dismissive especially since I did ask another staff member for help.

I was left feeling quite uncomfortable and disappointed by her attitude. Nando’s Ilford would benefit from training this staff member on how to handle customers with professionalism and respect, especially in moments that require clear communication and empathy.

Aside from this incident, I want to highlight that the rest of the team were friendly, professional, and made my visit pleasant overall. It’s unfortunate that the actions of one individual had such a negative impact on an otherwise...

Extremely Disappointed with Nando’s Ilford Branch

I had one of the worst restaurant experiences of my life at Nando’s Ilford. I visited around 16:35 and ordered a Full Family Platter for takeaway. The restaurant was almost empty — just a few other customers — so I expected the order to be straightforward.

I watched the staff start cooking my food right away, and after about 10 minutes, everything seemed ready to be packed. When I politely asked if the order was mine, the supervisor, Ernisha, told me they were still waiting for the corn to finish cooking. However, I noticed there was no corn on the grill at that time.

Around 10 minutes later, I reminded them again, and only then did I see a chef bring out frozen corn straight from the packaging and put it on the grill. As someone with restaurant experience, I could tell it was still frozen solid. Another staff member later pointed out the same thing and replaced the frozen corn with properly defrosted ones.

By this point, my food had been ready and sitting there for over 20 minutes, but the corn still wasn’t ready. When I raised this with the supervisor, she didn’t apologise and claimed they were “very busy,” which wasn’t true since the restaurant was nearly empty when I ordered. She also told me there was no manager on duty, and that she was in charge.

After waiting nearly 40 minutes in total, my corn was still not ready, and my food was completely cold. I finally asked for a refund, as the situation had become unacceptable. Even then, there was no proper apology or sense of responsibility from the staff.

Overall, this was an extremely disappointing experience — poor service, bad management, and no care for customers. Nando’s Ilford seriously needs better supervision and...

Ordered a whole chicken and salad for Iftar an hour before Iftar time. When I arrived I was told 2 minutes, 10 minutes later I still waiting. When I asked again I was told another 2 minutes, it’s coming. 5 minutes later I asked the manager. She said, “wait, your food is coming”! I said your staff members said 2 minutes twice 15 minutes ago. She said, “no they didn’t”! She didn’t even ask which staff or ask those staff members. My point was dismissed and I was made out to be a lair. That upset me greatly, so I asked her to speak to the staff members instead of dismissing my experience. She refused and walked away. When I was talking to another member of staff who was polite and trying get to the bottom of things, the one who said 2 minutes ages ago said, “if you don’t stop talking about this I will not give you your food!” I look at her is disbelief and disappointment. If I wasn’t fasting I would have taught her a lesson. Anyway, she handed over my food and I left in hurry. I was already late for Iftar, had to break my fast in the car with date and water. When I came home I opened up the pack, the chicken pack was already disintegrated and liquid was pouring out. The chicken was raw, pink and uncooked. After a long day’s fast that’s the last thing I wanted. I will be thinking twice before going back to Nando’s in Ilford especially when that manager was extremely arrogant, dismissive and did not even attempt to deal with the issue. In fact she became the issue for me. I hope other people have better...