Co-op Boxing Day Lunch.

This sandwich is the sandwich equivalent of watching Love Actually with a mug of supermarket mulled wine. Yes, it's not perfect but you know what you're getting and it makes you happy. 

We ate the Boxing Day sandwich several times last year and I don't think the contents have changed much this year. 

The fillings are even and we don't mind the smoked turkey as it goest well with the coleslaw. It's a good bargain as you can get it in a meal deal. It doesn't linger in your mouth or make you feel too stuffed. The Boxing Day Sandwich isn't trying to swipe you off your feet; just a good sandwich bringing some festive cheer. 

We've eaten it before, we'll eat it again and we'll definitely be disappointed if it's not around next year. 

A solid 8/10

Starbucks Brie and Fig Chutney

We've eaten a lot of chutney recently and I have to say the fig chutney here was probably the nicest. The ciabatta was nice and not too tough and chewy like some ciabattas. The brie was quite generous and of good quality. We were offered the chance to warm this up, which we didn't take as we weren't going to eat it for a few hours, but I can imagine that this would be nice toasted.

Betther than expected. Another good option for vegetarians 7/10

Starbuck' Christmas Club

Whenever people ask about our sandwich eating last year and ask us what was the best, we always rate Starbucks highly so we were hoping for good things again this year. Sadly, Starbucks didn't up their game, or even equal last year's efforts. Yes, this is a reasonable sandwich, and we do actually like the rare addition of cheese in a festive turkey sandwich, BUT there was just nothing special to this one. 

The chutney was ok but 'real ale' isn't festive enough and there could have been more of it. Disappointingly the sandwich wasn't as full as last year. The stuffing was pretty standard; nothing to write home about.

Passable but we could have made better at home. 6.5/10 

Tescos Pulled Pork, Spiced Chutney and Beetroot Slaw Bioche

Tesco really bought into a lot of 2014-2015 food fads here by including pulled pork and brioche. To be honest, I think pulled pork has really had it's day. We also worried that this was pushing the festive title a little and Erin went as far as to say she really wanted to hate this sandwich before she ate it.

 However, all that aside, this was  actually pretty good. The flavours worked well together, the meat wasn't too sweet and the brioche was tasty. The spiced chutney was tasty and brought the much needed festive element to the sandwich. 

A not-particularly-festive-but-quite-tasty 7.5/10

Tesco Brie and Mulled Wine Chutney

I was off school ill with a chest infection when we ate this one and I hated it. I didn't finish it and I thought that the mulled wine chutney made the cheese taste rotten BUT I'm prepared to accept my taste buds weren't reliable at the time so I'm going to take Erin's lead on this one.

Erin thought the bread was good and the cheese was nice but she wasn't convinced by the mulled wine chutney. She commented that Tesco's Finest range is leaps and bounds a head of the normal Tesco range but it's still not a patch on the Co-op speciality range.

Mixed reviews from us 5/10. 

Tesco Classic Prawn Cocktail.

Now this was a far more festive attempt at a prawn sandwich. Anyone who was ever dragged to a Christmas do in the 80s and 90s will have eaten something just like this as a starter. An ample amount of sauce, crisp lettuce, soft bread and a generous helping of lettuce to crisp and freshen it up.

Like listening to Mariah Carey while untangling your Christmas tree lights.  6/10

Boots Festive Triple

Of course, the prospect of a three course meal in a sandwich is exciting but there was always the concern that it wasn't going to be done well.

The salmon and prawns had more of a Christmas breakfast vibe: there were herbs and cream cheese involved. We personally think that a bit of a crap prawn cocktail can actually bring Christmasy vibes and so we were hoping for that. We would have preferred a bit of Marie Rose sauce; this offering just didn't have enough Christmas connotations to warrant the festive label.

Next up was the turkey. It was a good, basic turkey sandwich but in no way top of the range. It did the simple things well: good moisture, passable turkey and a nice stuffing. This sandwich without the other two would have scored higher.

Finally, the cheddar and fig. This was oversold and sounded much fancier than the reality. It didn't deliver. The fig chutney was festive enough but it was minimal and the slice of cheddar was sub-standard and over-provessed. In Erin's words, "You'd have been better off just sniffing a Christmas plug in and eating a slice of cheese."

5.5/10. Boots hold have focused on doing one thing well, not three things averagely.

Tesco Turkey, Ham and Coleslaw Sub.

Let's not beat around the bush, this was an offence to Christmas sandwiches. Yes, we're prepared to try festive offerings outside the traditional Turkey and stuffing fare (one of my favourites from last year was beef) but you can't just slap a snowflake on it and call it Christmas.

Erin thinks they are trying to dupe those of us that like to throw ourselves into the festive spirit through our sandwich consumption. But we're not buying it, Tesco.

Turkey HAM (not even proper ham) with normal ham and coleslaw is NOT a Christmas sandwich. We're not against coleslaw, but if you're adding coleslaw at least have the decency to call it a Boxing Day sandwich. Even worse, the bread was too filling; we wouldn't have even put up with it even in September.

Tesco have let us down with their sheer laziness and exploitative marketing. Shame on you Tesco. You almost made us into Christmas Sandwich cynics, but fear not readers- we will battle on.

An insult to Christmas. I'm being generous with a 1/10 (Erin said -10/10 but I'm not sure we allow minus numbers.)

Co-op Festive Feast

We do try and go in without preconceptions but this was one of our least favourite sandwiches from last year. All the cold vegetables are are a bold choice and last year they were far too hard. Who wants a sandwich with cold, hard parsnips in it? Not us! This year the vegetables were softer and more thinly sliced.

The stuffing in the sandwich was reasonable but, like other co-op sandwiches, the turkey was slightly over-proessed. The bread was soft and tasty and the filling was evenly spread, unlike in other sandwiches where this has been a problem. The cranberry sauce was fine but there was slightly too much of it.

5.5/10. We're glad it wasn't as disgusting as last year but that's the best compliment we've got for it.

Co-op Turkey and the Trimmings.

Now, as you may have guessed, we eat a lot of Christmas sandwiches. We try to take notes on the day and write up our findings as soon as possible but sometimes life gets in the way and we slack off our duties. Because of this, we occasionally forget a sandwich and have to eat it again. This is what happened with this sandwich. On second eat, it became clear that we forgot this sandwich the first time because it is ultimately a forgettable sandwich.

The Co-op brings a lot of good sandwiches to the table and this one is a reasonable basic. The turkey was slightly over-processed but the bread was soft and there was a decent about of bacon.

An additional side note on the festive drink that came in the meal deal: it was a bit odd, thick and sparkly. Ultimately, any drink with Christmas spices needs to be alcoholic. We won't be regularly branching out into reviewing festive drinks.

An uninspiring but inoffensive 6/10

Pret Veggie Christmas

We do like when shops bring out a proper veggie offering. After all, Christmas is not just for meat eaters. 

This sandwich has a had good texture and I thought that the nutty stuffing was actually better than the stuffing in Pret's meat sandwich. Cold veggies in sandwiches can be a worry, but the butternut squash filling wasn't too offensive. There was a small amount of lingering onion after taste but a reasonable overall effort. 

6.5/10 we've had better but we gave one to our vegetarian colleague and she was satisfied. 

Pret Christmas Lunch

We had big expectations for this sandwich and, although it was ok, it didn't blow us away. Firstly, the bread was a little dry. In the spirit of honesty we should admit we didn't eat it on the day of purchase, as you are meant to with Pret, but logistics mean this is often the case.

As you can see from the photo, Erin took half the sandwich before I took the photo but you can also tell from the picture that the filling was slightly uneven. The stuffing was breadcrumby but good and didn't have a lingering onion taste. The cranberry sauce was the best we've had so far- unique, slightly tangy and not at all jammy. As all cranberry sauce should be. 

Sometimes we are unsure about greens in the Christmas sandwiches, but these worked and added texture.

A strong 7.25/10 but this won't be a winner in our books. Pret have rested on the laurels this year and the Festive Sandwich crown is still up for grabs. 

Tesco Turkey and Trimmings

Before I start this review, yes we do know that Tescos are doing a chocolate and cherry festive sandwich and yes we are going to eat it, without preconceptions. In fact, we went to Tescos to buy it but they didn't have it in stock so we bought the Turkey and Trimmings sandwich instead. Out first sandwich disappointment of the season.

The photograph illustrates where some of the problems lie: all the fillings are unevenly spread and jammed in the middle. There was tons of sauce but it wasn't tasty and it made the bread soggy. The sausages were in lumps and Erin didn't even believe me there was bacon in it until I showed her the label after we had eaten it. The bacon was in very small chunks, like poor quality pancetta. The stuffing was also almost impossible to find- just a few small crumbs. This sandwich was shoved together with no thought; it relied too much on poor quality, salty turkey and didn't have any redeeming qualities. 

I ate my sandwich in the work canteen and half way through I got jealous of a colleague's meat pie, abandoned my sandwich and ate the pie instead. A good choice. Poor Erin didn't realise we had all gone down for lunch so ate her sandwich alone in the staff room. I'd like to offer her this public apology for going through this disappointment alone.

As a side note, you can buy this as a triple sandwich. Don't. Eating more of it won't make it any tastier. 

It wasn't disgusting but a very poor, beige effort. 4/10 

Like getting a poor quality bubble bath gift set from your secret Santa.

Co-op Truly Irresistible Pigs Under Blanket.

Co-op can be a hit and miss contender in the festive sandwich game. Last year they had some strong contenders, such as the Boxing Day sandwich- which I'm please to see they brought back this year- but they also have brought out some duds. The less said about last year's Festive Feast (complete with cold turnips) the better.

So it was with slight trepidation I brought the Pigs Under Blankets today, especially as it boasted the Truly  irresistible label; I want more from a sandwich it it is not available in a meal deal! I'm pleased to report Co-op have pulled it out of the bag with his one.

The sage bread was huge thumbs up: it was soft, lightly herby, untainted by the heavy filling AND the crust was really good - quite like a fine pizza.

The turkey was good but perhaps a little drier than M&S. The stuffing wasn't too overpowering but felt it was on the slightly strong end of the spectrum, although it didn't become too much, even with the sage bread. 

We really appreciated how thinly they'd sliced the pigs in blankets... Erin commented that she never thought she'd say less is more when it comes to pigs in blankets, but for a sandwich you've got to be careful with P.I.B overload: just because the P.I.B is the best part of Christmas, doesn't mean you want a huge lump of pork disrupting your sandwich. 

It was a strong 7 from Erin and I'd have given it an 8 so we'll call it 7.5, meaning it's currently our highest scoring sarnie.

 It played the dangerous game of heavy meat filling but managed to pull it off. Good effort.

M&S Brie and Grape

Here's one for the vegetarians. Brie and grape with a port chutney. I was dubious but it was surprisingly good. Creamy Brie, crisp lettuce and despite all the wet ingredients, it avoided becoming soggy. The oat bread was nice and there was a good range of textures. I thought it lingered in the stomach a bit and made me feel sick an hour later but Erin says she was fine and reckons my sickness was un-sandwich related. 

7/10 I probably wouldn't eat it again but I'd have no qualms in recommending it to a vegetarian. 

M&S Turkey Feast.

Firstly, sorry for the false start on the blog. After an unexpected delay in starting, we are now ready with our first review.

M&S food is synonymous with Christmas eating so this seemed like a good place to start. We are also fans of some sandwich profits going to charity; it relieves us of some of the guilt we get from eating so many.

We actually ate this sandwich twice as we weren't in the right frame of mind the first time we ate it (Erin scoffed hers before 10am and I was generally moody.) This has thrown up a new element - quality control. On first eat I thought my sandwich seemed to have too much bacon but on revisiting it was the right amount.

The bread was nice and soft. The whole sandwich had a good amount of moisture without being soggy. The cranberry sauce was pretty good; I wondered if it was a bit jammy but Erin was a fan. 

The meat was decent quality, which we expect from M&S. The stuffing was ok and not too heavy; it brought something to the sandwich but didn't linger into the afternoon. In fact, despite being a high calorie sandwich, it didn't stick in the stomach at all or lead to the dreaded post- sandwich indigestion.

A fairly solid sarnie. Nothing amazing or groundbreaking 7/10

We Are Stuffed

We are ready to get started on this year's Christmas sandwiches. This year we are documenting our lunches on Instagram: we.are.stuffed and on this blog. Here's a strong sandwich from last year that received 8.75/10. Looking forward to seeing what M&S bring to the table this year.