The World Loves Melbourne Judging Panel for Nandos Master Griller Challenge
The World Loves Melbourne was honoured to be a guest judge with Nandos as they brought the best flame-grillers together from Nando’s restaurants in each state to compete for the title of ‘National Master Griller’.
The top four grillers (this year the winner was NSW) go on to compete as a team at the International Master Griller event being held in Canada (13 – 18 September in Vancouver).
Nandos is no longer seen as a fast food chain, but is more about casual dining (as meals are cooked to order). The new restaurants are highly attractive, and boast high quality art from Africa and a modern chic vibe.
The guest judge spot was heaps of fun for The World Loves Melbourne – spending the morning tasting and critiquing the Nandos delicious flame-grilled PERi-PERi chicken with their internal judging panel. We've enjoyed many Nandos meals over the years, both in Australia and overseas, and it's popular with our family. Not having had breakfast, The World Loves Melbourne was ready for a solid morning of imbibing the flame grilled chicken. We went "hard" early and a more experienced judge may have paced themselves better. We may or may not have eaten the equivalent of about 3 chickens...
Each griller team had their own team song (and dance in some cases) and their renditions were humorous, with senior executives joining the fun as MC's. The event was highly competitive but also had a festive atmosphere. We judged each team on a number of key factors for the grill such as basting, colour, temperature, juicy factor, excellence of the "cut", skin, and grill marks on the chicken. Griller judging is a serious business!
To be honest the entries of all 16 teams were exceptional; there were no duds. This is a testament to the skill of the grillers but also the processes of Nandos.
Nando’s is famous for its Portuguese flame-grilled, butterfly‑cut chicken, which is marinated for 24-hours before being basted and cooked in Nando’s famous PERi-PERi sauce!
Nandos is also currently launching a new product range; including a sharing plate, appetiser range and whole new burgers, and a pitas and wraps menu - meeting the trend for healthier eating (launch date Sep 15). Many of the Nandos regular menu items are also often featured as a healthy choice takeaway option as the chicken is grilled (actually the only thing on the menu that’s fried is their chips). The surprise of a good quality quick meal (without being fast food).
Check out the sharing plate (above) - an excellent option on trend for shared dining.
The World Loves Melbourne also ventured down to Armadale to check out the new Chicken Hummisphere - a delicious healthy option chicken burger. This is a burger (above) we would love to revisit! We walked away feeling we'd eaten a flavoursome burger but also we enjoyed the feeling of eating a healthier burger. Get on it.