Back at Nando's: A Taste of Gula Melaka

 

Two months is a long time

Being a fan of Nando's, it was a little surprising that it had been over two months since my last visit.

So what is PERi-gula Melaka?

Gula Melaka is the dark palm sugar Malaysians put in everything from cendol to kuih. Nando's has blended it with its PERi-PERi sauce. They describe the result as smoky and caramelised, the way Malaysians like it.

On paper it sounds like a strange marriage. Sweet palm sugar on spicy grilled chicken? I was sceptical. That said, Malaysians have been pairing sweet with heat for generations, so maybe I shouldn't have been.

What we ordered

My wife went straight for the chicken wings in the new gula Melaka glaze. They arrived sticky and glossy. She was sold within a couple of bites.

I played it safe with a wrap in Lemon and Herb. Old habits die hard. It was exactly what I wanted, light and fresh with that familiar zing.

The real surprise was the Fully Loaded Chicken Chips we ordered to share. Picture a pile of fries topped with chunks of PERi-gula Melaka chicken. It sounds like a mess. It works brilliantly. The sweetness of the chicken plays off the salty chips in a way I didn't see coming.

The verdict

It's a weird mix. I won't pretend otherwise. Yet somehow it really works.

Nando's tried a local flavour once before with Soy PERi-PERi back in 2021, but that one came and went. PERi-gula Melaka feels more confident. If it sticks around, I suspect we'll be back sooner than two months.

Sweet, spicy and a little bit Malaysian, it's a Nando's I'll happily go back for.

Nine Years Later, The Man In Seat 12A Is Back

Back in 2016 I wrote a post asking why people stop updating their blogs. Two years later I stopped updating mine. The irony isn’t lost on me.

My last post went up on New Year’s Day 2018. Nearly nine years have passed since then. A lot has changed, although some things never do.

I’m still commuting between Singapore and KL most weeks. Airlines on the route have come and gone. My seat has moved too. These days it’s less often 12A on a low cost carrier and more often a full service carrier, with the occasional business class treat when the stars align.

What never stopped was the eating, the travelling and the grumbling about things that should work but don’t. I just stopped writing it down here.

So the blog has had a tidy up. There’s a new About page explaining the name. A few long standing issues have been fixed too, from a typo in an old post title to sidebar widgets that stopped working years ago. Every post now has a proper description for search engines.

The old posts are all still here and will soon get simpler labels so you can find things more easily. Many describe restaurants that have since closed. Each of those carries a short note saying when it was written. A fresh design for the blog is also in the works.

From here the blog will cover life, travel, food and aviation. There will be more travel and aviation than before, with trip reports, lounge visits and a closer look at how airlines really work. Expect restaurant finds and the occasional Friday Frustration too, for the moments that test my patience.

The first proper post is about food, naturally. It goes live later today.

Nine years is a long gap, but it’s good to be back in seat 12A.