Nando's in Altrincham is located on the corner of Stamford New Road within the town centre, it's…read morebasically across the way from the public transportation interchange, making it an easy stop-off if arriving there via bus, train or tram.
It's a fairly large restaurant with two floors of seating - Nando's new QR code system is handy here when sitting upstairs as you don't have to go up and down the stairs to order, although if you have an allergy you will need to order at the counter as this must be processed by a manager.
I visited on a busy Saturday, and was advised of a 30-35 minute wait for a table for two, the Nandoca took my contact details and promised to call me when my table was ready. I found it interesting how Nando's here used the old-school pen and paper, and then a staff member physically called me, with most other Nando's using a tablet or QR code, the more personal touch is nice but I prefer the newer way just in case I miss their call, and it also saves the employees time to deal with matters in the restaurant. For the time they spent chasing up customers back to inform them their table was ready, they could have had more staff in the kitchen or been topping up the cutlery/sauces which had become do depleted, I had to go downstairs to get what I needed.
Despite being advised of a wait of over half an hour, I only had to wait ten minutes or so. The wait for food was much longer than usual though, but I'd prefer waiting longer for food if it meant I'd be sat down quicker.
I had to wait a couple of minutes to order at the counter as they couldn't find a manager, and then the only manager working appeared to be busy, the manager was friendly though and he had pretty much a full restaurant to deal with so was trying his best.
I do find the prices a little high at Nando's, for the kind of place that it is, and the prices keep going up every couple of months too. I also dislike the fact they no longer offer Mayonnaise, replacing it with a vegan alternative or a paid Peri-naise (Mayonnaise + Peri-Peri Sauce). On this occasion, my meal came to £14.45 which didn't include a drink as I opted for tap water.
I ordered a Hot Chicken Butterfly with Peri Chips and Spicy Rice, my chicken was cooked well, I went for the Hot Peri-Peri sauce compared to my usual medium, I felt like something a bit spicier, I don't think the sauce looked as nice on the chicken as the medium, as it was darker but still tasted good. The rice tasted a little dry, potentially like it had been reheated, and the chips could have been seasoned slightly better.
I did ask a staff member to bring a couple of pots for me to pour my sauces in, as they never seem to have them out, but he simply forgot and didn't bring out anything.
3* - The interior is attractive and comfortable, food is up to a good standard but there is room for improvement. I wouldn't return at a peak time, such as a busy Saturday, in future as I do feel their standards dropped on this occasion as despite having many staff members, they didn't appear able to handle it too well.
