I am not normally someone who buys these ready made sandwiches, as I am very much a stickler for always bringing my own lunch with me to work. But there are some days when it is really manic at work or I am out and about at networking events and need to just pick up something quick. There are also those days where the lunch I have brought is just really unappetising and I need something different just to get me through the afternoon.
M&S tends to have a pretty good vegan range as part of their Plant Kitchen range. I have heard news that they are also looking to expand this but I imagine this will happen around the New year to coincide with Veganuary in January. One thing I have noticed however is that their Plant Kitchen range isn’t separated out anywhere now. Usually you can go to a particular section of the store (or any store really) and all of the Plant Kitchen products would be on display in the same location. It seems now though that the Plant kitchen products are just shelved with the meat versions which is…odd. So if I want a vegan burger, I still have to go to the meat aisle to find the Plant Kitchen version. The same with sausages. Apparently this is being done to encourage people to buy the vegan option, as it is shelved right next to the meat version and so more likely to entice someone to try it, but for me it is a little off putting. I haven’t been down a meat aisle in years and in all honesty, I do find it quite gross to look at. I am a bit sceptical as to whether or not this new tactic will work, but I am hoping to be proven wrong! I guess any tactic to encourage people to eat less meat is good in my books.
Their Plant Kitchen no chicken and chorizo sandwich is very much what you would expect from a ready made sandwich. I did find the chicken and the chorizo to be tasty – the chorizo definitely has a nice little spicy kick to it – but the sandwich itself was quite dry. It also tasted quite sweet – now this may be simply because I haven’t had a ready made sandwich in such a long time that I forget how they taste, but the bread definitely tasted sweeter than regular bread does. This is also likely due to whatever preservatives they put into the sandwich so that it lasts longer. Quite frankly, it is a ready made sandwich so I guess my expectations cannot be too high. This sandwich did the job it needed to – it was tasty enough and didn’t taste too artificial – and it did keep me satisfied for the rest of the afternoon, which is all you want food to do really.
M&S is one of the more pricier places in the UK. It is meant to be more ‘premium’ foods than other supermarkets, but I do admit that I don’t think the Plant Kitchen range does anything different to any other vegan range at a supermarket. This sandwich cost me £3.50, although this cost may vary depending on your local store (I think the prices are also different if you buy from Ocado too). That being said, £3 for a sandwich does seem to be the norm these days, which seems like a whole different issue. I think in a pinch, this is a fine option, but it is so easy to see how buying one every day for work would get very expensive very quickly.
Taylor Talks Vegan 