I’m mixed heritage but born and brought up in London and I had so many feelings reading this, swinging from wildly defensive to also conceding with a nod that a cold Sainsbury’s chicken sandwich is a pretty sorry affair. I guess everyone knows the meal deal is a little bit shit and that’s part of its charm? Without the culture of stopping for lunch (many eat on the go or work through their lunch break), it’s just the means to an end - I can see how this would be problematic for many!
Italian living in Scotland here - having just passed my Life in the UK test I feel this so much! I think one of my first culture shocks when I started working full-time here was indeed the quality of food people have for lunch and the lack of time to eat a proper meal. I try whenever I can to have some home made food to carry with me. Cheaper and more fulfilling than these cold sandwiches. I honestly can't cope, would take a soup deal any day!
Lovely piece - but you should try the Waitrose (I know). There are options with a surprisingly high food content - edamame beans, not completely horrible sushi, some reasonable sandwiches and salads (though the cold samosas are best avoided), expensive smoothies - and although the £5 cost is more expensive than most, it is possible to make incredible savings (I have saved over £6 on a £5 spend). And as I think most of us accept, it is in the savings, rather than the taste, where the real joy of a meal deal is to be found.
As a Brit living in the US, the lack of the meal deal (or any cheap, quick lunch) was a huge part of the culture shock for me. I guess the expectation is that you bring lunch in, but it's not like American workers tend to have any more time for food prep. I see a lot of ham sandwiches and frozen meals at work, interspersed with expensive restaurant salads. The idea that food can be better than miserable but worse than delicious seems quite foreign in the US—there's a kind of British joy in mediocrity that I miss here.
Also: *love* this piece but no mention of the meal deal valuemaxxing culture? As a Brit, when that “you have saved £8:34” comes up on the self service screen I really do be feeling patriotic
I'm Irish, born in England, but the first time I tasted feijoada it was a Proustian moment. Obviously I had sausage and beans casseroles as a child, but equally obvious, not with the same spices. Also, I know that chicken hearts aren't unique to Brazilian cuisine, but it's now one of my other favourites. Welcome to London.
Excellent exposé. Has the government not yet realised that Brit productivity is on the floor because people don’t eat properly.? Pappy ‘fake’ bread sandwiches will not help afternoon industry and you can bet most Brits just grab a weak semi skinned latte for breakfast and a cheap croissant - I can feel my arteries clogging up just thinking about it.
The best sandwich I ever ate in The British Isles was on the direct train from Dublin to Belfast. (Yes actually made in Ireland not the UK). Real brown bread, a light spread of Irish salted butter and thick slices of roast chicken. No mayo, no dressing. I don’t even recall a leaf of lettuce. But it was good, filling and
Nutritious.
I have no idea why the majority of workers fall for the meal deal. It’s no deal! it’s daylight robbery in return for bringing forward your death day by a few years. (That’s no joke). Well at least you can save on pension contributions too!
Love this, Vitoria! I moved to Brazil from London in my mid-20s and experienced the reverse of this. I was used to having a quick sandwich (or jacket potato with beans and cheese) for lunch, but in Sao Paulo all my colleagues took a 1.5-hour lunch break to eat a full feijoada with multiple desserts at an all-you-can-eat shopping mall buffet. I really struggled to find sandwiches for lunch in the mall, so I would secretly eat misto quentes at the Casa do Pao de Queijo franchise, and – to my shame – I even occasionally went to Subway. 20 years later, I would kill for a por quilo lunch (that probably cost less than £10 then) with quality meat, rice and chocolate mousse and pudim for dessert, but that's because I am now a more fully integrated Brit with Brazilian soul... So, maybe you'll get there eventually with the meal deal too ;)
American who moved to Scotland 10 years ago here - I think what you get where matters most. Boots is for pasta or maybe even a wrap, Tesco is for sandwiches and sometimes sushi, I mostly go to Sainsbury's when I'm willing to drop a little extra on their 'premium' sandwiches. The only time I'm in Pret for lunch is when I'm stealing condiments to put on the sandwiches lol. This was a great read!
I loved the piece! I really miss work canteen food for lunch- for roughly the equivalent price of a meal deal, the john lewis I worked at sold giant scones, spare ribs, curry, chips, and cakes. Nailed the joy of making an ecclectic collection of food for lunch, but it was hot, and you ate it inside on proper plates! Nothing compared to your real lunch though, your mother sounds like such an incredible cook
Loved this piece! I'm an American, and I remember being awed and a bit intimidated by the vast selection of prepackaged sandwiches when I visited the UK. (In the US, we also eat cold sandwiches for lunch, but until more recently they tended to be a homemade "sack lunch" kind of thing.)
Loved this article! The fact that you tried different places and got yourself out there says a lot about you! Congrats for that. In the other hand, I am someone who can’t even try. Even if I decide to eat a cold sandwich as you did, I would prefer to bring mine from home. I honestly need to feel happy with what I am eating, and mostly this means: healthy, natural and tasty. And I don’t feel that when I’m eating the meal deals… I just feel it’s food for my subsistence.
I agree about the sandwiches but Waitrose does do sushi and some reasonable salads as part of its £5 meal deal. There are also decent salads and soup at Pret though not as you say a meal deal and pretty expensive. I’d say the real problem is that we aren’t expected to take a proper lunch break but rush out to grab food and eat it at our desks.
I’m mixed heritage but born and brought up in London and I had so many feelings reading this, swinging from wildly defensive to also conceding with a nod that a cold Sainsbury’s chicken sandwich is a pretty sorry affair. I guess everyone knows the meal deal is a little bit shit and that’s part of its charm? Without the culture of stopping for lunch (many eat on the go or work through their lunch break), it’s just the means to an end - I can see how this would be problematic for many!
Italian living in Scotland here - having just passed my Life in the UK test I feel this so much! I think one of my first culture shocks when I started working full-time here was indeed the quality of food people have for lunch and the lack of time to eat a proper meal. I try whenever I can to have some home made food to carry with me. Cheaper and more fulfilling than these cold sandwiches. I honestly can't cope, would take a soup deal any day!
Lovely piece - but you should try the Waitrose (I know). There are options with a surprisingly high food content - edamame beans, not completely horrible sushi, some reasonable sandwiches and salads (though the cold samosas are best avoided), expensive smoothies - and although the £5 cost is more expensive than most, it is possible to make incredible savings (I have saved over £6 on a £5 spend). And as I think most of us accept, it is in the savings, rather than the taste, where the real joy of a meal deal is to be found.
As a Brit living in the US, the lack of the meal deal (or any cheap, quick lunch) was a huge part of the culture shock for me. I guess the expectation is that you bring lunch in, but it's not like American workers tend to have any more time for food prep. I see a lot of ham sandwiches and frozen meals at work, interspersed with expensive restaurant salads. The idea that food can be better than miserable but worse than delicious seems quite foreign in the US—there's a kind of British joy in mediocrity that I miss here.
Putting crisps inside the sandwich adds textures and taste. Irish and Northern people have done this for years with our sandwiches.
Also: *love* this piece but no mention of the meal deal valuemaxxing culture? As a Brit, when that “you have saved £8:34” comes up on the self service screen I really do be feeling patriotic
I'm Irish, born in England, but the first time I tasted feijoada it was a Proustian moment. Obviously I had sausage and beans casseroles as a child, but equally obvious, not with the same spices. Also, I know that chicken hearts aren't unique to Brazilian cuisine, but it's now one of my other favourites. Welcome to London.
Excellent exposé. Has the government not yet realised that Brit productivity is on the floor because people don’t eat properly.? Pappy ‘fake’ bread sandwiches will not help afternoon industry and you can bet most Brits just grab a weak semi skinned latte for breakfast and a cheap croissant - I can feel my arteries clogging up just thinking about it.
The best sandwich I ever ate in The British Isles was on the direct train from Dublin to Belfast. (Yes actually made in Ireland not the UK). Real brown bread, a light spread of Irish salted butter and thick slices of roast chicken. No mayo, no dressing. I don’t even recall a leaf of lettuce. But it was good, filling and
Nutritious.
I have no idea why the majority of workers fall for the meal deal. It’s no deal! it’s daylight robbery in return for bringing forward your death day by a few years. (That’s no joke). Well at least you can save on pension contributions too!
Love this, Vitoria! I moved to Brazil from London in my mid-20s and experienced the reverse of this. I was used to having a quick sandwich (or jacket potato with beans and cheese) for lunch, but in Sao Paulo all my colleagues took a 1.5-hour lunch break to eat a full feijoada with multiple desserts at an all-you-can-eat shopping mall buffet. I really struggled to find sandwiches for lunch in the mall, so I would secretly eat misto quentes at the Casa do Pao de Queijo franchise, and – to my shame – I even occasionally went to Subway. 20 years later, I would kill for a por quilo lunch (that probably cost less than £10 then) with quality meat, rice and chocolate mousse and pudim for dessert, but that's because I am now a more fully integrated Brit with Brazilian soul... So, maybe you'll get there eventually with the meal deal too ;)
American who moved to Scotland 10 years ago here - I think what you get where matters most. Boots is for pasta or maybe even a wrap, Tesco is for sandwiches and sometimes sushi, I mostly go to Sainsbury's when I'm willing to drop a little extra on their 'premium' sandwiches. The only time I'm in Pret for lunch is when I'm stealing condiments to put on the sandwiches lol. This was a great read!
I loved the piece! I really miss work canteen food for lunch- for roughly the equivalent price of a meal deal, the john lewis I worked at sold giant scones, spare ribs, curry, chips, and cakes. Nailed the joy of making an ecclectic collection of food for lunch, but it was hot, and you ate it inside on proper plates! Nothing compared to your real lunch though, your mother sounds like such an incredible cook
Loved this piece! I'm an American, and I remember being awed and a bit intimidated by the vast selection of prepackaged sandwiches when I visited the UK. (In the US, we also eat cold sandwiches for lunch, but until more recently they tended to be a homemade "sack lunch" kind of thing.)
Proud to say I have NEVER eaten a meal deal despite doing an office job in London for nearly 30 years. ¡Viva la revolución!
Loved this article! The fact that you tried different places and got yourself out there says a lot about you! Congrats for that. In the other hand, I am someone who can’t even try. Even if I decide to eat a cold sandwich as you did, I would prefer to bring mine from home. I honestly need to feel happy with what I am eating, and mostly this means: healthy, natural and tasty. And I don’t feel that when I’m eating the meal deals… I just feel it’s food for my subsistence.
Lovely piece
I have been here for most of my life, originally from the Asian subcontinent.
I have never understood why "Brits" enjoy cold sandwiches!!
It's not in my cultural vocabulary, we eat warm food, for breakfast, lunch & dinner.
Just the thought of cold food makes me shudder.
Your plate in Brazil looks superb, enjoy
I agree about the sandwiches but Waitrose does do sushi and some reasonable salads as part of its £5 meal deal. There are also decent salads and soup at Pret though not as you say a meal deal and pretty expensive. I’d say the real problem is that we aren’t expected to take a proper lunch break but rush out to grab food and eat it at our desks.