BBQ Nation

Based on its name, one would assume BBQ Nation, located in Newton, serves up Southern BBQ and associated eats.  Upon closer inspection, it keeps basically the same menu as its predecessor, Barcelo's.  For those who are not familiar, Barcelo's most closely resembles Nando's serving up Peri Peri Chicken and the sort.  Well, I guess so does BBQ Nation.  To check it out, I visited the place with Chill and Zamboni Guy.

Looking over the menu, there were many options of chicken in terms of pieces, sides and heat level.  However, the best deal for 2 people was the Half-Chicken Meal with a side and beverage.  Hence, Chill and Zamboni Guy split that and added another side and drink.  They asked for mild spiciness which was actually quite hot.  Depending on the piece of chicken, the reviews were mixed.  Chill thought the leg meat was decently tender with a good amount of spice.  Yet, Zamboni Guy's white meat was not particularly succulent nor flavourful.  For myself, I had something different in the BBQ Burger with fries.  I really can't be too nice with this as the burger resembled something from a cafeteria.  The frozen patty was decently charred yet completely forgettable.  Ditto for the frozen fries.  You'd find a better burger at any fast-food joint.

To give the place another chance, I returned to try the Tandoori Chicken meal.  Since it featured a chicken leg, the meat was sufficiently tender albeit not juicy.  The flavours were pretty decent with definite spiciness and tang.  Again, much like the chicken from the previous visit, it didn't come close to Nando's or Barcelo's in terms of execution.  With all being said, the owner and staff are super-friendly and genuinely seem interested in proving a good experience.  If that is the case, they should look into producing chicken that is juicy while offering up sides that are more freshly-made than frozen.

The Good:
- Genuinely friendly owner and staff
- Some of the specials are reasonably-priced

The Bad:
- Food doesn't stand out, very generic
- Expensive