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Being a massive Nando’s fan I was naturally looking forward to tasting some real, authentic peri-peri chicken in Portugal. I didn’t have to wait long as I spotted Roberto’s Chicken on the drive from the airport, roughly 1 hour after landing.
Roberto’s Chicken is essentially a fast food restaurant. It’s a takeaway but with a small number of tables outside too. It was incredibly busy inside and although a fairly touristy area most seemed to be locals which I always think is a sign of a good place. It’s obviously often busy as they have a ticket system which I realised after queuing for about 10 minutes. I took a ticket and impatiently waited for my number to be called out. When it was I ordered a whole peri-peri chicken which came with rice & chips and a portion of mixed vegetables.
Just like Nando’s the chicken is all cooked to order on open grills, once ready it is cut into small pieces and packed into foil boxes. I noticed that the chickens are cooked plain and the peri-peri dressing is added at the end.
I grabbed a couple of bottles of SuperBock from the fridge and paid at the end counter before taking a seat outside.
The peri-peri chicken was good, perfectly cooked and very tasty. The peri-peri not as spicy as the ‘Extra Hot’ I love at Nando’s and I found it a little greasy and messy due to the dressing being added at the end rather than before cooking. Nothing wrong with getting messy when it tastes so good though!
My only complaint was with the mixed vegetables which were carrots, broccoli and green beans. They were seriously overcooked and almost falling apart which was a shame.
In general I was very impressed with Roberto’s. It’s fast and cheap but real food that tastes good.
Date of visit: 16.08.2012
