Assail the unassailable - the Pret Christmas sandwich

I hope Burger King bring back the Winter Whopper.

1. Turkey
2. Stuffing
3. Cranberry sauce
4. Mayonnaise
5. Bits of crunched up crisp
6. Unnecessary leaf

No red onion though.

everything else, mmmmmmm

Of course you can go too far. I knew a guy who even had mayo with curry. Pretty grim.

In other wobbsy sanger news, I had a chicken and stuffing WEDGE from Tesco the other day, and it wz sh1t.

welcome to London! I've never had to eat so much mayo in my life

Their men's casual clothing range remains shit though.

The irony is that all this mayonnaise crap has taken over through a misguided belief that smothering everything in "mayo" (I'm sure it was never called that over here before the 1990s) makes a sandwich all NYC Deli and modern. We're too embarrassed to use butter as the base for our sandwiches anymore.

That's funny, about the sweetness, seeing as Americans put sugar in their bread or somesuch urban myth.

I have always found American white bread to be sickeningly sweet.

This reminds me, starbucks eggnog latte. Mmmmmmm.

Haha Madchen, fantastic!

xpost - A friend worked at pret and had to get there at 5 am or something to make up the sandwiches.

It's not even available! Not in Pret Reading, it isn't.

A colleague recently found that Subway's Veggie De-Lite (SPELLING PLZ) wz actually wotever salad you asked to be put on it in some toasted bread, she thought she'd be getting eg vegetable 'patty' sort of thing plus some cucumber and ended up w/ toasted cucumber butty, YEERRGH.

Cheapo shop on Store Street not only doesn't have MAYO on it's sandwiches, but doesn't even have butter, it has... MARGE!!! Mmmmm.

DO NOT APPROVE.

They do do a veggie patty thing, but I can't remember what it's called. Not that I would recommend going to Subway.

when did subway start toasting their rolls?

Butter on sandwiches is for weird people stuck in the 50s anyway. Do you rub butter on your chicken normally?

-- Alba (albab...), November 8th, 2005. (later)

otm. Mark's Prawn Mayo Sandwiches are just 2 euro here, and are really nice.

I agree about the Subway smell a bit actually, it's so strong you can smell it from around the corner as I walk to work in the morning. An occasional sub is ok though, I find, if you're particularly hungry or in a hurry.

I am happy to be stuck in the 1950s when it comes to sandwiches. If God had meant us to put chicken teriyaki and sunblushed tomatoes in a tortilla wrap he would have been a cunt.

It does annoy me that sandwiches are chilled, in places like Marks. There's something horrible about fridge temperature ham or chicken.

i normally rub it on bread.

Also, condiment-wise, my girlfriend swears its acceptable to put ketchup on top of chicken soup. Surely not?

context? were london sandwich vendors of 2002 selling us this traditional portugese fayre, only to be swned by the rocket-men? what do you mean?

i believe this to be the most insane thing ever written, by anyone, anywhere

mayo sucks
houmous is the best spread for sandwiches
cold sandwiches are awful

all bought sandwiches are awful for the above reasons. it is only acceptable if i watch someone make it and they ask me at each stage what i want in it (eg butter or olive oil, type of bread, each ingredient). buying sandwiches make little or no sense, generally. doesnt mean i dont do it, but everytime i do, i hate myself.

you must be a treat in restaurants

In the reality where I'm allergic to it.

look, i love nothing more than a fancy, homemade sandwich - i can make 'em better than any shop - but i still found M&S/Pret pre-made ones totally acceptable.

the pre-made sandwich thing does not really fly over here in north america, though...

hummous is for hippies.

i love it when pret say "no mayo" as a real selling point. ok, so er....just dont put it in the others, then i will be really impressed. mayo is as far as i can tell, a cheap way to keep sandwiches moist to hide stale bread. and mayo and mozzarella = bleugh

mayo is a way to increase JOY, PEACE, and HAPPINESS across the globe.

Butter on sandwiches is for weird people stuck in the 50s anyway.

Wrong. Ham, gruyere, and good French butter on baguette is one of my reasons for living.

I like rocket, but more in salad than on sandwiches. I am quite fond of a little amuse-gueule consisting of bresaolo with a dab of mustard and a sliver of pecorino, wrapped in rocket and pressed to make little rolls.

M. White so thoroughly OTM I bet he has an imprint of an eagle on his arse. Anyway, butter waterproofs the bread and stops the other sandwich ingredients making it soggy.

Er, yes, God *is* a cunt. Plus, Subway are *great*. It's a choice of that or McDonald's on a late shift for me though, and McDonald's is too delicious to go to every day [ducks]

I remember a few years ago there was a TV ad for something-or-other which involved contrasting a busy chaotic NYC deli where the customer would walk in and rattle off a complicated order machine-gun style, while the Brit would mumble "white coffee" or similar. "coo, those NYCers" I used to marvel.

And now I go to Subway and rattle off bread type, non-toasted, filling, sauce, garnishes, then go round to Starbucks and order a "decaf non-sugar vanilla grande white mocha to go".

and then I feel silly.

xpost - the what now?

I think the people in Pret think I am a mental though as I have been known to inspect all the All Day Breakfast sandwiches very closely, looking for the one with the most ketchup.

I had my first Pret Christmas sandwich yesterday and it made me very happy. Then the microwave thread distracted me and I forgot to revive this.

I am going for Bicester as the smallest town to be Pretified (though I haven't a clue how big Bicester is). There are also now two in Brighton apparently, though I can't say I've noticed the second one - must get out more.

Not as good as last year.

do they do a veggi one?

OMG it's back! What's different, Matt?

No, no veggie xmas sarnie, or if there is i ain't seen it.

STARBUCKS CHRISTMAS PANINI.

Seriously. I was stunned.

The one I've just chomped was wayy better than last year's

why do people in britain love x-mas so much? people in the US think we're holidays-obsessed but srsly we have nothing on y'all.

only the english do christmas properly

it's one of the few good things about not having a separation of church and state

The Pret xmas sandwich is the one and only good thing about xmas.

well, also people giving you gifts of good things

OTM. Worst thing: having to give other people gifts

You're not listening. Starbucks Christmas Panini! (It's actually called a turkey special or something like that, I can't remember).

Contents:

1. Turkey
2. Bacon
3. Stuffing
4. Cranberry Sauce
5. Cubes of potato!
6. Cubes of carrot!
7. Onion!
8. NO UNECESSARY LEAF!

And then they heat it up for you. BEST EVER.

First Obama, now the return of this. A truly great week to be alive.

Joy to the world...

and is there Gingerbread Latte for tea?

i still want a hot toasty version of this

DIY?

Think that it might go a bit weird when toasted? Would need ingredient changes.

The Starbucks one up there would work though.

I had the brie and cranberry one yesterday. A marvel. Well worth the gastric distress.

I think the lack of leaf is key. Eat have lettuce in their toasted club sandwich, and it's the rankest shit ever when toasted.

xp

oh yeah i haven't kept up with what's in this but for toasted version fuck a leaf obv

There's a growing chain of sandwich shops in central London called Fuzzy's Grub that does a full hot roast meal in a sandwich. I a bit put off by the idea but with the right bread a proper Christmas turkey one would rule.

As with all PaM sandwiches, rendered inevitable by pointless suffocation with rabbit food. If I wanted to eat grass I'd have a bell round my neck, The Man.

EAT is so many lightyears ahead of Pret that it's not even funny.

Last week had clam chowder there. Now THAT'S a lunch. Wish I lived near an EAT.

Had the Thai Chicken curry and Rice soup - Pret.

T'was nice.

Eat has the lead in soup and salad but it lapses behind in sandwiches.

But yeah, Eat soups are godly. Top 5 Eat soups:

5. Spicy Tomato and Basil
4. Old Fashioned Chicken and Egg Noodle
3. French Onion
2. Chilli Con Carne
1. New England Clam Chowder

The problem with Eat is that their service always seems so ridiculously slow at peak times, whereas Pret have their shops running like a military operation. I don't want to wait 10mins to be served when I'm on my way into the office.

Eat pies, however, are godlike.

Eat's heated ciabattas are good. Not had the cold sandwiches. Anyone had the pepperoni wrap thing? Looks tasty but got chowder instead last week.

The wraps look interesting, especially the pork and apple. But again, Pret's hot wraps are good if a little calorie-heavy.

pret gets marked down by mystery shoppers if they don't serve you within 1 minute from moment you join queue.

so eat's soup isn't just heinz then?

may be hard to believe but had excellent cheese and tomato toastie from coffee republic a while back - unfortunately the only CR round here is in the new Premier inn down the road. Eat only set up on City Road this year - Caffe Nero and Subway only the year before. surprised it's taken them all so long to catch up with Pret.

i'm glad i'm near to a Benugo as i rate their toasted ciabattas/flatbreads. never tried their pies but they look good.

I like the Pret meatball wrap but I clearly have to farm myself out and school them on club sandwiches, which should only ever be made with Cos or iceberg BECAUSE THOSE LEAVES STAND UP TO CONTACT WITH WARM TOAST. Duh, food scientists.

DC, if you are going to the same EAT that I usually visit, shit DAMN they are slow. As if they've never had to make whatever it is you've ordered before that moment. If I see that happening it terrifies me more than the words BARISTA IN TRAINING on a Caffé Nero shirt.

OMG could inhale one full gallon of clam chowder but this is Friday soup, yes?

Actually the Pret proscuitto and chorizo/red pepper artisan baguettes are fighting it out as my favourite mass market sandwiches these days. Both are ridiculously good.

Every Eat is slow in my experience, especially when it comes to doing coffee.

Pret proscuitto - still too much butter/mayo/GLOOP for me
Chorizo "artisan" - good altho frequent overload of rocket + super crusty bread can make it less fun

the roast beef horseradish sandwich is OK but a bit dull without cheese and/or tomato

No EATs round my way; the nearest one is at the other (Peter Jones) end of the King's Road and a 20-minute round bus trip and 10-minute queue wait is not what I want in my lunch hour. Unbelievable that there aren't any on the Fulham Road at all; plenty of empty shops going spare!

We've got an in house Starbuck's and Costa's but you don't exactly go there for sandwiches (nor indeed coffee).

Free iLxor with your Pret duck wrap:

Today you can wander into any large branch of Pret A Manger, pull out your laptop or your iPod Touch and enjoy a free wi-fi connection along with your latte. It really is free, not “buy something and then have free wi-fi” or free for half an hour. You do not even need a password.

Another year, another sandwich.

<3

prudent shelf inspection can yield one bursting with turkey

Fuck the turkey, it's all about the stuffing.

man i miss Pret.

Is it me or have their coffee cups suddenly got a bit smaller..?

They've got one of these at Eat now. Added ham! And can be toasted. But stuffing not as good, and stingy on the cranberry.

i'm up to 5

please bump when your pcl count is upped

First sighting of the year! Followed soon after by the first eating of the year.

bump

yeah this is the only firm i will go full markers for

I was going to post here yesterday then forgot! The season is open. So satisfying.

this year's model is almost preposterously good

huh

I accidentally bought a Pret Christmas hot wrap. The thing was absolutely revolting and may have ruined Christmas forever.

Pret hot box Macaroni Cheese with Prosciutto and Cauli Stalks is very nice indeed.

Yeah, the xmas hot wrap is blee.

The Sammich, tho...

I feel like mayonnaise is not as hated as it used to be (cf. the top of this thread) and that is a good thing.

I had the tesco turkey, cranberry and stuffing sandwich this morning and it was not good.

as a recent pret convert, i'll have to try this new one.

the staff in the kings cross station branch are insanely chirpy, despite being equally as busy on a winter morning. i want to know what their secret is.

They are famously forced to act like that

Anyway I'm curious as to why the wrap is so terrible. It's the same ingredients, right? And hot is better than cold.

I never knew this was even a thing till I saw this thread but I have now tried the veggie version of this sandwich and it is indeed tasty

I think there's squash and some other things in the wrap, as well as some kind of herb that feels distinctly un-Christmassy. The whole thing is basically mulch wrapped in a tortilla.

There's squash in the veggie sandwich! And pine nuts. It isn't remotely xmassy but it tastes good.

They are famously forced to act like that

― why do I hate that thing (excluding imago, marcos) (wins), Friday, November 28, 2014 3:35 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i can't believe people still get excited about anything to do with pret after that emerged

no better than people getting excited about the j*hn l*wis ad

Yeah idk food tho, food!

My position atm is that there is no prepacked sandwich extant in this universe that is worth getting excited about but then I haven't tried the festive sandwich proper

The guy that served me, his name tag said 'Brighton'

My position atm is that there is no prepacked sandwich extant in this universe that is worth getting excited about

― why do I hate that thing (excluding imago, marcos) (wins), Friday, November 28, 2014 5:10 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

it's true! i've no idea why anyone would think differently. i mean prepacked sandwiches can be nice and are certainly useful but that's really it

Pre-packaged sandwiches are sooo shitty outside of the UK, you guys don't know now lucky you have it, the look on my face when I sink my teeth into an M&S ploughman's

M&S do great sarnies it's true.

To what extent are the Pret staff 'forced' to act happy? I mean, isn't that sort of a part of retail and sales etc? I have to do it to an extent in my job, not that I have to face customers all day long but being friendly and accommodating is part of what I have to do.

They are known for taking it to extremes, sending their staff to smile camp &c

i have only been to one of the new york prets and i don't remember the staffers acting happy and chirpy. this is something i'm having a hard time imagining about english employees, and that's in no way an insult! i love you and your stiff upper lips.

How does any company encourage teamwork? At Pret a Manger, executives say, the answer is to hire, pay and promote based on — believe it or not — qualities like cheerfulness.

There is a certain “Survivor” element to all of this. New hires are sent to a Pret a Manger shop for a six-hour day, and then the employees there vote whether to keep them or not. Ninety percent of prospects get a thumbs-up. Those who are voted out are sent home with £35 ($57), no hard feelings.

The crucial factor is gaining support from existing employees. Those workers have skin in the game: bonuses are awarded based on the performance of an entire team, not individuals. Pret workers know that a bad hire could cost them money.

Pret also sends “mystery shoppers” — people who anonymously visit and grade the stores — to every shop each week. Those shoppers give employee-specific critiques. (”Bill didn’t smile at the till,” for instance.) If a mystery shopper scores a shop as “outstanding” — 86 percent of stores usually qualify — all of the employees get a £1-per-hour bonus, based on a week’s pay, so full-timers get around $73. “There’s a lot of peer pressure,” said Andrea Wareham, the human resources director at Pret.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/07/business/pret-a-manger-with-new-fast-food-ideas-gains-a-foothold-in-united-states.html

If I was given a job and then on the first day I was sacked for not being sufficiently chipper, I think I'd have very fucking hard feelings.

so. fucking. glad. my retail days are over. working from home means i can glower into the laptop for hours on end.

omg this ham hock xmas special is nextlev

Hard to believe that it's possible in London, but i no longer work near a pret. On the other hand there are three within 500m of my house.

back to old faithful. and thanks, me, for reminding myself about the ham hock version, which is also around this year I think

their smoked chipotle flavour crisps are as close as I've tasted to the halcyon lamented Kettle Chips salsa and mesquite flavour, too

On the other hand there are three within 500m of my house.

now there are four.

Ham hock falls into the common mustard trap ime. Original Christmas lunch remains one of the few previously good things that is not now in the gutter.

are these just pre-made sandwiches or can you get one of these sans le sang du diable (c'est-à-dire le mayo) ?

guardian article on the sandwich industrial complex was long read of the year

might read

however, the ham hock one IS still great

i loved that long read.

Link for the full Woody Allen sandwich history quoted in the Guardian article