Founded in 1987, Nando’s is a South African restaurant chain specializing in peri-peri style chicken, which has a distinctively tangy taste, thanks to its blend of lemon, pepper, and vinegar used in its marinade. In Malaysia, Nando’s has numerous outlets – including one at D’Pulze Mall in Cyberjaya, where N and I dropped by for lunch recently.
Just like all its other outlets, the one at Cyberjaya boasts a fun and vibrant design reflecting its South African and Portuguese roots (the Portuguese were one of the first Europeans to land in South Africa. Peri-peri chicken is also a popular dish in Portugal!). The Nando’s logo is a rooster, which is a symbol of Portugal based on the folktale “The Rooster of Barcelos”. Geometric patterns adorn the walls, while the ceilings feature colourful drapery in festive shades.
While the resto looks fairly clean, I think the booth seating can do with a replacement for its covers. The fabric looked worn and there were patches and stains all over them.
Of course, the chicken is the star here. First, choose the part you like (thigh or breast). Then pick from four levels of spiciness, namely “lemon & herb“, “mild“, “hot“, and “extra hot“; and a selection of sides which include garlic bread, chargrilled vegetables, corn on the cob, wedges, peri-peri chips, coleslaw, Mediterranean rice, and Spicy rice.
N ordered the thigh part with wedges and garlic bread, basted with hot sauce. The portion was humongous, and frankly, would have been enough for the both of us. The chicken was cooked well; it was tender and flavourful, and the hot sauce gave it an extra kick. N liked it and said it would fit well with Filipino taste buds, on account of the lemon/sourness from the vinegar marinade.
I personally prefer roast chicken from Dave’s Deli, but Nando’s is a pretty solid choice too. It’s especially good if you eat it with their signature sauces, which are also sold by the bottle as condiments.
I was excited to see Chicken Livers and Portuguese Roll on the menu, because not many places serve chicken livers or even makes them well. The version here is decent; ie the liver has a nice, creamy consistency, and did not have an overly offal-y smell. However, the sauce was EXTREMELY salty. I ended up ordering a bowl of mushroom soup to dip my Portuguese roll in.
Our meal for two came up to about RM50. Overall, pretty satisfying! You can get a bottomless drink for extra. We were debating if we could just order one drink and share it between the two of us but decided we didn’t want to be assholes. 😛
NANDO’S (Cyberjaya)
Lot G-25, DPULZE Shopping Centre, Lingkaran Cyber Point Timur, Cyberjaya, 63000 Cyberjaya, Selangor
Opening hours: 11AM – 9PM
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