Croydon
Nando's

Nando's

26 High Street, CR0 1GT, Croydon, United Kingdom

Salad • Burgers • Desserts • Vegetarian


"A while ago KFC had the imposter. Now Nando's has launched The Great Imitator as a burger, pitta or wrap dressed with their new plant-based Vegan PERinaise. The Great Imitator is made completely from pea protein. It was really difficult deciding between the Pitta or the Wrap but I decided to get the wrap and Nando's were really helpful and let me have the chili jam on the side because I wasn't sure if it was going to be sweet. I got the takeaway, so the wrap came in a Tortilla Wrap Sleeve. Obviously it won't be piping hot but it was still good. Taking the first bite I got more of the wrap than the filling so I sliced the wrap in the middle and ate from the centre. There is supposed to be four pieces of the imitator chicken by their books in the burger, wraps and the pita. For the pita, I found it tastier if you separate two pieces per half wrap to get an even distribution when you eat it. I was really impressed with the texture and taste of the imitator because it was like eating the roast chicken with some crisp chicken skin on it. It was also like eating the springy meat off a moist chicken wing so it was certainly a treat and very different to Quorn roasted chicken fillets which taste more like white meat. Overall, the only thing I personally didn't like was the PERInaise which was a bit sweet although sweet the chili jam fared better because you could taste some tomatoes in it. Although my first experience was good, I think I am going to try it again without the default sauces and have it with Nando's signature sauces because nothing beats the taste of these sauces. To summarize, I would definitely recommended this to anyone who is curious and they won't be disappointed. Now that I have talked about the food, I'll move on to the service. As I was getting the takeaway, the guy was really patient in explaining the best choice for the vegan, it was extremely helpful that he mentioned that the sauce could be served on the side. He also offered if I wanted any of the sauce sachets which I did want. Upon collection, I was lucky I checked the bag because the sauce sachets were not there so I was able to get them. But had it not been for the guy I would have not known about these sauces which really made everything taste as good as if you were dining there because Nandos sauces are always the star as well as the chicken. The only thing that I wish was included was some cutlery and napkins but I was too excited on the wrap and sauces to think about those items. It would great if they had some chairs outside for people sit while waiting since you are not allowed to wait inside."

The Breakfast Club

The Breakfast Club

Boxpark 99 George Street, CR0 1LD, Croydon, United Kingdom

Vegan • Coffee • Mexican • Fast Food


"Came here on a Sunday morning quite excited to eat having had a great meal, drinks, and excellent service at a very busy Hackney Wick Breakfast Club a month ago, we expected a similar level of quality, experience, and service. How very wrong could we be. Firstly, quite a few menu items were not available including ruby slaw, avocado fries, “gherkins/pickled chilli’s” (which later found out they did have as they were served with my burger but was given the excuse, they didn’t have any when I questioned where the garnish was on my **** Mary). One of the members of staff was incredibly nice, well mannered, and friendly, however, the rest of the team seemed clueless, lazy, and haphazard. He made as much effort as he could to make our meal enjoyable, but the rest of the team let him down. We waited ages (circa 15mins) to get served when the restaurant was only a third full and I eventually had to overtly grab their attention to save waiting a further eternity. One female member of staff just seemed to wander around doing nothing. We waited the best part of 15mins for our drinks to come out to find my **** Mary had no garnish as advertised. At Hackney Wick BC, it was served with a big stick of celery, fresh basil, a pickled chilli, pickled baby onion, and gherkin in a nice big Stein glass. Here it came with zero love, zero garnish, no straw. When I queried it, the waiter said he’d check and when he returned, he explained they’d run out of garnish. Clearly a lie from the lazy bar staff as my burger came with 2 out of the 5 garnishes. To add to the terrible service, they served the Chicken Burger, Buffalo Loaded Fries and “Lord of the Wings” telling us the avocado on toast would be 2 mins. We waited a further 25 mins for the avocado on toast by which time my food was going cold, so I had to start. The well mannered and friendly waiter was so apologetic, explaining the kitchen had forgotten to add the eggs (didn’t realise it takes 25 mins to poach an egg, maybe they were waiting for the hens to produce it) and asked if he could get us a drink on the house. Having sorted an oat latte his supervisor/manager then got moody about it. Had I not been so exhausted and had the energy to complain I would have asked them to take the service and late food off the bill as it was simply textbook appalling service. Hindsight, I wish I had complained to the manager, but I can imagine I would have just got a fat dose of attitude back. As for the quality of the food… The burger was a solid 3.5/5. The loaded fries were ok, a 3/5 and the wings were awful, a 1/5. Would NOT recommend the wings. The sweetcorn was ok. The sourdough was burnt and unbuttered, avocado looking past its best (turning brown), however the egg was poached well egg yolk still runny. Overall, I’d highly recommend NEVER coming here unless the management sorts out the issues with quality control, service, stock takes, training bar staff to make drinks correctly and the kitchen on timing and preparing food to ensure all plates go out together (not 25mins apart). Terrible experience. The only positive was the friendly and polite waiter, although this didn’t make up for the awful service. Food 3/10 Drinks 2/10 Service 1/10 Decor 4/10 OVERALL 2/10"

Frankie Benny's New York Italian Restaurant Bar Croydon

Frankie Benny's New York Italian Restaurant Bar Croydon

Valley Leisure Park, CR0 4, Croydon, United Kingdom

Kebab • Pizza • European • Vegetarian


"I was looking forward to going to the cinema next door with my partner on a rare day off we had each and decided to pop in here to try it out and ended up regretting that decision. We was welcomed in by a guy at the front desk and taken to a seat. We checked they had a disabled access toilet for my partner as she is a wheelchair user and they did which is the only plus thing in this review. We were seated at a table in a restaurant that was easily less than a quarter full and did not get seen for over 10 mins, not even for drinks, I had to request someone come over as the guy on front desk was on his phone and the 2 waitresses were standing and chatting to each other. Eventually we got served but the waitress taking our order didn't even look at us whilst doing so and was looking at someone else on another table. The vegan milkshake was good and the expresso martini was below average. We both had hot dogs and the bun was dry as old leather, I left mine but my partner was so hungry she forced her way through. The actual hot dog was also dry and with the speed we was served our meal I'm sure it had been cooked a long time ago and left out to dry. Couldn't find anyone to ask for the bill so in the end a guy emerged from a back office and I said I wanted to pay, he gave the bill then asked a waitress to come and setlle up. Terrible food and diabolical customer service. Will not be returning to this establishment any time in the future."

Crepes And Cones

Crepes And Cones

24-26 South End, Croydon, United Kingdom

Cafés • Kebab • Asiatic • European


"Summary: We wouldn’t go back at all and sadly, would not recommend. Food ordered: Starters: Chicken Popcorn (2/5) Nice but tasted like KFC Salt Pepper Squid (4/5) It looked like sweet and sour chicken but it was tasty. French Fries (1/5) Tasted like chips with freezer burn Mains: The Buff Burger (3/5) A nice basic burger, reminded me of a burger from a van. Grilled King Prawn Skewers: (0/5) Awful, so underwhelming given the title. They definitely did not use King Prawns and it definitely was not restaurant quality in terms of presentation or flavour even for a diner. This was quite bland and supposedly took over an hour to prepare. They need to go to Billingsgate invest in some actual King Prawns. Sides: (These actually came with our Starters we waited so long for Mains that we’d finished by then) Return of the Mac (5/5) The Man N Cheese was really tasty, and a nice portion size too. Plantain: (5/5) Good portion size, nice and juicy. French Fries: (1/5) Still tasted like chips with freezer burn. Drinks: Pushing Pina (5/5) Orange Juice Pros: we were running late, when I called to move the booking it was done without an issue. The lady on the phone even explained that they had a booking of 45 people and the kitchen was very busy so moving our booking later would work out well because the kitchen would be less busy by the time we arrived. The starters and sides came out quickly with out drinks The salt and pepper squid was the nicest starter we tried, it looked like sweet and sour chicken but it was tasty. The Manager was polite, efficient and had really good customer service skills. We’d cancelled the order due to the wait time but the manager reinstated it and gave us complimentary take away boxes. Cons: We had a booking but the waitress that greeted us looked confused as to what to do or where to seat us. The place lacked ambience and the music playing was notably terrible. Even after moving our booking to a time that worked better around the booking of 45 people, the mains took over an hour to arrive. We saw four people that walked in after us get 4 burgers whilst we waited an hour for just one. we had to get back by a certain time so we cancelled the order due to the wait time and discrepancies on how long it would take from different waitresses. Other than the manager, the staff we saw seemed miserable. Maybe a team visit to another restaurant could give them an insight into the customer service they should aim to deliver and also raise morale."