By Sherman Chan,
Special to The Post

BBQ Nation serves up Southern BBQ and associated eats. It keeps the same menu as its predecessor, Barcelo's, which most closely resembles Nando's serving up Peri Peri Chicken.
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. We asked for mild spiciness which was actually quite hot. Depending on the piece of chicken, the reviews were mixed. I had the BBQ Burger with fries. The frozen patty was decently charred yet completely forgettable. Ditto for the frozen fries.
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.

Sherman Chan is the #1 ranked food blogger on the Vancouver portal of Urbanspoon.com. Read more of his reviews at www.shermansfoodadventures.com.

NORTH NOODLE HOUSE
Third Floor, 356-800 Carnarvon Street, New Westminster, BC

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

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