Nando’s
Westfield Shopping Centre
Chatswood

Few meals are as taste-bud tingling and satisfying as Nando’s Portuguese-style flame grilled chicken. Their star ingredient is the Peri Peri sauce, a super tasty spicy sauce that they baste almost all their food in. You can choose between Mild, Hot and Extra Spicy – I opted for the Hot today and found it pretty spicy. Chris got the Extra Spicy and the whole chicken looked so red I didn’t have the guts to taste it 😉 But beware, we discovered that the spicier you request your chicken, the saltier it is. I much prefer the Mild and will order that version next time.

Their hot chips are also always a winner, but you MUST order it with the Perinaise dipping sauce – Peri Peri sauce mixed with mayonnaise. It’s cool and creamy with the tiniest kick to it, and just perfect with the hot chips! And wanted to try something new, so selected the corn on the cob, Mild. It was utterly fantastic – lightly BBQ’d and with a hint of flavour from the sauce so it didn’t overpower the sweetness of the corn. Totally delicious, it’s a winner for next time!

Quarter chicken with Hot Peri-Peri sauce

Corn on the cob with Mild Peri-Peri sauce

Bowl of hot chips

Dessert was Beard Papa cream puffs – Vanilla and Chocolate

Back when I lived in the North Ryde area, we frequented The Ranch fairly often. Large and roomy, it’s always packed and bustling inside. I always went for their famous $6.50 roast dinners, which was a real bargain. And frankly, I find the rest of the food really overpriced. The food IS nice, but not worth the $$. However, since we had a 1-for-1 coupon, we headed there today for dinner.. It was completely packed as usual, and so we waited almost 15mins in the queue just to order. However, the food only took a few mins to arrive, much to my surprise. Great, efficient service.

I chose the Pork Loin with roast vegetables and potatoes since I don’t think I’ve had pork loin before and was pretty curious. I was pretty shocked when this big slab of pork arrived on my plate – it was much larger than I thought! The pork was absolutely delicious though – so soft but had a really satisfying bite. Lots of fat that I had to trim off, but there were good chunks of pork in the middle that was super lean and super soft. Mmmmm :)~

Chris opted for Quesadillas with Chicken, Cheese, Spicy Tomato Salsa & Sour Cream which I stole some of.. it was lovely! The quesadillas were a little crisp on the outside and nice and warm.. and the salsa was just fantastic, though they should have been more generous with the salsa and sour cream. They made a great dinner though, really satisfying and so tasty!

The Ranch

Pork Loin with roast vegetables and potatoes

Quesadillas with Chicken, Cheese, Spicy Tomato Salsa & Sour Cream