Pepe’s Piri Piri is a chain of Nando’s copycat restaurants from the UK which has recently opened its first Dubai outlet in Motor City. Located near Spinneys in Foxhills 1, its red and yellow, fast food style interior reminded me of a happy meal. Like all the other wannabees, it too offers any-which-way-you-can-eat grilled chicken, e.g. burger, wraps, wings, etc. No peri peri clone would be complete without a selection of sauces and Pepe’s has its covered with familiar names such as lemon and herb, mango and lime and the like. What caught my attention, however, was the 28-piece wings platter which, at AED80, may be one of the best wings deals out there. Note, Pepe’s only works with Talabat. I ordered.
A view from the street 
Cheerful interior reminded me of a Happy Meal
My order arrived in 45 minutes flat, the wings still piping hot. I found it very thoughtful of the restaurant to call and ask if I wanted my order divided up so I could sample all their sauces. Of course, I said yes. The wings arrived packed in carefully labelled paper packets which had aluminium foil inner linings (I appreciate restaurants which make an effort to use eco-friendly, biodegradable packaging). The wings themselves were all wingettes, no drumettes.
This is how it arrives 
A peek inside 
Unboxed 
Inside the individual parcels
I simply had to start with the lip-numbing one labelled Extreme. There was one labelled Mild too, but I left it, and all the other milder ones (mentioned above), for my daughter; I took one out of each to try. But it was only the hottest sauce which I tasted. The others weren’t strong enough to shine through the char; that’s a polite way of saying they were all burnt. That aside, the wings were perfecting cooked and juicy on the inside.
This is the least charred ones 
Over charred 
Some call it burnt, som call it charred 
I’m assuming this was a teething issue and not the norm. The question is, am I prepared to ordered again to find out. The answer is – yes.
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Xerxes physically dines at, or orders from, each and every venue he reviews. He pays in full for whatever he and his companions eat, drink, take away or occasionally throw at each other. Xerxes accepts no money, gifts, discounts or free meals in return for reviews or favouritism. What you have read was NOT influenced in any way by the venue. Join me on Instagram @ravenousxerxes or email me on xerxes@dellara.com.