Nando's Ilford

We are regular customers at Whitechapel Nandos, we decided to try the Ilford Nandos for the first time. We had to wait over ten minutes to be seated, even though there were no other customers and the staff kept walking past us if we weren't even there. Finally I managed to get attention of one of the staff and had to ask if we can get a table! Once seated everything else went quite well. The staff really need to work on their customer services!

Honestly, this was the worst Nando’s experience I’ve ever had. I’m a big fan of Nando’s and usually enjoy the food and service, but Ilford Nando’s was extremely disappointing. From the start, there was no one to greet or welcome us. We stood at the counter but none of the staff made eye contact, so we ended up seating ourselves. After ordering through the app, we could clearly see our food sitting on the counter for over 10 minutes before anyone brought it over. By the time it reached our table, it was warm at best, not hot. The food itself was tasty as always, but the service completely let it down. Even when we ordered dessert, it took around 20 minutes to arrive, which is far too long. It’s obvious the staff need proper customer service training. Someone from Nando’s head office should really review the operations at this branch because it’s well below the standard expected. Sadly, we won’t be returning to Ilford Nando’s.

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 experience there.