Nicholas Hoult Spills On His Go-To Nando's Order - Exclusive
Nicholas Hoult was an adventurous eater long before he set out to portray some of the world's most obnoxious gourmands on screen — first in "The Great," and now in "The Menu." Back in 2007, the Emmy-nominated actor told The Guardian that he'd eat "anything," proffering up his caterpillar-eating experiences as proof. "It tasted bland at first, then you got a nasty aftertaste of dry, dead caterpillar," he told the publication. "Wouldn't do that again."
As Peter III on the set of "The Great," Hoult has bravely licked lard ice cream and sampled "pretty gross" roasted squirrel — at least according to what he told Vulture. As Tyler in "The Menu," Hoult meets a much less savory fate than Peter III, but at least all the food was real. Michelin-starred chef and culinary advisor for "The Menu" Dominique Crenn assured Tasting Table of that herself. "The food was edible food," she told us. "We didn't nix the menu. We didn't want [it to] be prop food." When you see Tyler freak out over pressure-cooked vegetables, roasted fillet, potato confit, beef jus, bone marrow, and a broken emulsion, that's what Hoult's actually eating.
Hoult, however, might not go into raptures about it in real life. Like he told People, he's not the type of person that compulsively snaps pictures of what he's eating. Also, the actor has a soft spot for fast food, and in particular — as he exclusively revealed to Tasting Table — Nando's.
How to replicate Nicholas Hoult's Nando's order
Nando's hasn't reached all corners of the United States yet. You will, however, find the fast-food chicken joint in D.C., Illinois, Maryland, Texas, and Virginia. The South African chain has been a mainstay in Great Britain for much longer where — The Guardian doesn't mind telling you — it's picked up its fair share of celebrity fans, including David Beckham and Jay-Z.
Its fans include Nicholas Hoult, too, of course. Catch him in Nando's on either side of the Atlantic, and he'll likely be ordering chicken thighs. "I like chicken thighs more than breasts. The chicken thighs, I'm probably getting it medium, but I'm getting a hot sauce as well and bringing that in," the actor exclusively told Tasting Table.
"The Menu" star will also add Peri-Peri spice chips, mayo, and coleslaw to his order. It turns out that Hoult has a soft spot for mayonnaise that borders on obsession. He told us he'll put the condiment on "everything. Well, not everything, but anything that makes sense." Hoult would also like to represent the egg-based emulsion. "[I'm a] big mayonnaise fan," he admitted. "I'd like to be the face of mayonnaise, if anyone's watching."
Nicholas Hoult stars alongside Anya Taylor-Joy, Ralph Fiennes, and Hong Chau in the black comedy "The Menu," which you can watch now in a theater near you.