An unstructured nodal spectral-element method for the Navier-Stokes equations is developed in this paper. The method is based on a triangular and tetrahedral rational approximation and an easy-to-implement nodal basis which fully enjoys the tensorial product property. It allows arbitrary triangular and tetrahedral mesh, affording greater flexibility in handling complex domains while maintaining all essential features of the usual spectral-element method. The details of the implementation and some numerical examples are provided to validate the efficiency and flexibility of the proposed method.