I used to go to Pret a lot when I lived in London and I absolutely loved their sandwiches (I wasn't into salads back then.)

There's a Pret here in New York (Midtown - 39th St & 7th Ave) which is great! I just had a BLT sarnie for lunch and it was almost as good as a London BLT.

This just reminds me how much I miss British style sandwiches, which is not something I thought I would miss to be honest.

I used to eat at Pret in NYC years ago. The UK ones are better tho!

Yay! Mark's found his way to the regional forum....

Eh, sarnies don't really blow my skirt up. Tho Pret had some good ones

Hehehehe. I've been keeping an eye on you guys for a while, but my "region" is now NYC, US of A.

Wow, the guy in that photo has terrible posture. That's not you is it?

LMAO

He didn't say no....notice that peeps!

Is Pret A Manger the place where the sandwiches, salads, etc. are all 'pre-wrapped' and lined up on the shelves, ready to go?

If so, I think we ate in one of those in London and it was pretty good....

I must lead a really sheltered life cause I've never heard of them

I've never heard of them either

Dawn.

Well.... 95% of them are in London and 5% in other places (Oxford, Cambridge, Brighton, Glasgow....New York )

So unless you're a Londoner... (mags, where are you? )

Ooh yes, I'll miss those; the British are delightfully creative with sandwich fillings. And crisp flavors. I'll miss those little triangular sandwich packages *everywhere*. So convenient for a meal on the hoof.



York only got its first one a couple of years ago, well after Starbucks established a firm toehold in the city. We have more Starbucks now than we have McDonald's restaurants in the city, I think.

I've been in the Isle of Man for 5 and a half years, but was born and lived in North London for 32 years.

Don't get me started on what this Island does and doesnt have.....no.....sainsburies....no trains......no Burger King...no Starbucks.....ugh...


Dawn.

Sorry, not a big fan of Pret sandwiches -- too much mayo, and I love mayo. My company has an account with Pret and it's what we get if we're having a lunchtime meeting or seminar. There was some report a few years back saying that their Super Club sandwich had more calories and fat than a Big Mac!!!

I like me some EAT sandwiches -- think EAT is still mostly in London, with a couple in Brum and Manchester, and one definitely in Edinburgh Airport, if I recall. However, I'm not too picky and will miss picking a sarnie up just about anywhere. I have a feeling that when I leave for America I will have recurring bittersweet dreams featuring dancing triangular sandwich packets...

Mmmm, I love Pret. Might go there in a minute, in fact - it must be about lunchtime and there's about (let me count) five... possibly six, even... branches within two minutes walk of here. They do fantastic soups as well as sandwiches (the chicken curry one is loooovely)... oh, and has anyone had their Love Bars? Stupidly named, but they're soooo nice.... a kind of flapjack thing with a layer of caramel topped with pistachios and pumpkin seeds & chocolate chunks (and probably other things I'm forgetting now). Must have about 1000 calories per bar, but they're very very very good indeed.

I miss Pret's chocolate pots (a bit like those little Gu things you can get, if anyone's had them - really dark chocolate, um, stuff, in a pot) and the ginger cakes they used to do. And the thai chicken sandwiches they stopped selling in about 1999.

Damn, I'm going to miss Pret... I've seen the one in New York, and was wondering if there were any more about... can't see them expanding as far as Cincinnati anytime this decade, though.

Another vote against Pret I'm afraid. There's such an excess of wonderful places to get lunch, why go to a tourist joint?

I miss Borough Market for chorizo sandwiches, Camisas for the pasta, and Gaby's on Charing Cross Road for the best falafel ever. Ahh...office lunch times were the best. The Taj Bengali supermarket on Brick lane is sorely missed by me too.

In my case, because when I have 5 minutes to run out and grab lunch, the 'tourist joint' is a damn sight better than most of the alternatives (crappy work canteen, a few mediocre sandwich shop/cafe places, Greggs, Benjys, Starbucks, Subway...). Oh, and because I like the sandwiches. And I'm not a 'tourist', either, and am well aware that there are more interesting and individual places to eat out there (god knows I spend enough of my cash in 'em), but.... I like the occasional lunch from Pret, too.

Wow, didn't know you'd take it so personally, and didn't realise my post was directed at you. Apologies if you think it was. There is nowt wrong going to Pret if you like it, but I was just expressing it wouldn't be on my list to miss when there are so many wonderful things that you can't get over here.

5 mins to get lunch? Ouch, that's another thing I wouldn't miss.

Oops, sorry, that must've come out wrong (reading back, yep, I'm sure it did!) - didn't take anything personally, was just typing quickly while pretending to be working! What I actually meant to say was that I agree with you entirely about the excess of wonderful places to get lunch (well, if you have more than 5 minutes, anyway), but that I enjoy my Pret lunches when I have them, too.

Oh, and I also meant to say 'mmmmmmmm' a lot about Brick Lane (hmm, do I have time for a Brick Lane visit before I leave on Saturday? No, I don't think I do.... ). And about falafels. Mmm, falafels.

Sorry for sounding grumpy - didn't mean to be!

Hey no problem. I thought my comment could be interpreted that I was snapping at you so we both had crossed lines.

You're leaving on Saturday? How exciting! Although I do remember having such bittersweet feelings about leaving. I'm sure you're making the most of your last days. Cherish them.

Pret is ok but EAT is better. Did anyone ever try the pie and mash shop inside Selfridges? I think it was called Square Pie?? They did a beefsteak pie with mash and mushy peas that was just to die for. Saw so many celebs regularly there too. Of course Selfriges was (and always will be) the centre of my world. They also had a krispy kreme and a gorgeous deli.

Hmm, must be nice. We don't have any of that in York except for one Pret A Manger that's usually closed anyway. People who live in London just don't understand.

I'm not a fan of shop made sarnies, too much mayo. I do remember that I used to look at the calorific content of one of those sarnies and think "how on EARTH do they manage to get the calories so high??? It's JUST a sandwich!!".

I'm still puzzled, to this very day. Well, to be honest I'm puzzled by many things, but let's not go down that route!

Well... I love mayo

Anyway, I think their salads are better than their sandwiches, at least here in New York.
Organic as well.

I want a sammich and some cheese & onion crisps. Why did you all have to remind me? *sighs* Will visit London in the fall again I hope.

I LOVE their salads!

Now I'm feeling hungry!

England do have nice sandwiches, it must be down to the bread. Only sandwiches I'll eat here are on toasted bread as it seems to kill the texture/smell.

I walked down the bread aisle yesterday here and it has this mouldy preservative smell... puts me off bread altogether. I've decided to invest in a bread maker. At least I'll know what's in it then.

Granary bread sandwiches from Pret were always my favourite.

Fresh loaves from a bakery oh how I miss you!

HUbby was annoyed the other day when the (99p in the UK) grocery store French baguettes are $2.29 here (in LA) & not even fresh! Fresh food should not cost more!

Well....99p is worth almost $2.29 anyway.

california lemons cost more than the UK too - which is odd because you can grow and pick them in your own back yard

not really a fan of the pre-packaged sandwich myself but prets are good. Especially a fan of the salads.

Not quite:
0.99 GBP = 1.98 USD


You can't think of it like that, silly (& you know that)!

I have a bread maker, I make a loaf a day. No preservatives, no excess sugar and, most importantly, NO HFCS!! It tastes like bread SHOULD. I highly recommend it.

But do you make ketchup? I cannot stand how sweet US ketchup is!

PS: I rarely eat bread, too many carbs!

I thought it was a bit strange at first, but eventually I got used to the taste, and now
it seems perfectly normal! I reckon the Yanks are on to something with this corn syrup thing
(besides mass obesity, of course )

I can't stand ketchup, so no!

I never make a white loaf, always a wholewheat one and I add Flax seed to it aswell, excellent source of Omega 3. I probably eat about two slices a day, the rest (about 6 slices) gets eaten by my son and hubby.

I don't count carbs personally, no real need to, so if I want a slice of delicious home-made bread, I'll bloody well have one!

Heh, ever been to Yorkshire? Londoners are the thinnest people in the UK; I think people who live in London may have a distorted image of how obese the UK has become in the last decade. You haven't caught up to us yet, but you will.

Seriously, though; if the price of corn keeps going up the way it has, they may switch back to sugar. Some soda manufacturers are already making noises about it.

When I first came here Hershey's Cadbury fake bars were made with HFCS. Now they are made with sugar (and taste much more like REAL Cadbury's may I add). A sign of the high prices perhaps?

Edit: I think Birmingham is now the most obese city in the UK. More muffin tops on view than anywhere else!

Years ago, I couldn't imagine buying a pre-made, pre-packed sandwich, and I was a bit dubious of them when I first saw them in the UK, but I loved Pret. However, if you live in the North East US, especially New York or Philly, you should buy your sandwiches, freshly made, from a real Italian deli, someplace that gets fresh rolls in all day or bakes their own. Prepackaged bread in the US is for the most part horrendous, though my husband's discovered the delights of real rye bread, which isn't hideously sweet or fluffy.

The thing I'm continually disappointed with in the States is the lack of veggie sandwiches. It seems as if just about every place I go offers one option that contains more cheese than I should eat in a week. And the ketchup is like candy. I avoid it when going out, but have found a few organic brands I use at home that contain much less sweetener.

And corn syrup is evil.

The birmingham diet consists entirely of Lager and Curry, with some Cadbury's chocolate thrown in, so its hardly surprising. I speak as someone who lived there for 7 years, and had to cycle past the Cadbury's factory to go to work. Mmm... the smell of chocolate. I had to eat a Cadbury's Caramel every time I got to work.

I visited CadburyWorld a few years back. I was most amazed by the big bags of broken chocolate bars you could buy in the shop. I bought a few...

Poor you, eating that Caramel every day must have been SUCH a chore!

Possibly, or they may have caved to customer demands for sugar because they think sugar is 'healthier'. HFCS is junk, no doubt about it...but so is milk chocolate of any brand. I do prefer Hershey's to Cadbury's, but I prefer Green and Black's to anything. Best in the world IMHO!



Wouldn't surprise me, though Hull is also quite chunky.



When I lived in the US I usually went to Subway or Quizno's if I had a sandwich jones. York just got its first Subway a couple of years ago and I could murder a veggie delight right about now....

I once bought a crate of Creme Eggs at the CadburyWorld shop. Yes, a crate!

Subway has gone massively downhill in the USA in the last few years IMHO. I think its due to the fact they now have too many types of bread. Before when they had 2, you always got fresh bread because they baked it more often. Now they have more it seems the bread is always stale and the sandwiches limp.

My person favorite right now for sandwiches is Jimmy John's, especially their wheat bread.

Subways are franchised so I'm guessing they haven't ALL gone downhill.

I think the rot has set in at a corperate level, personally. They all seem equally bad, and I'm comparing Subways all over. Quiznos are still good though!

If the rot has set in at the top how come they're not crap in York?

I don't think you can really compare, I'm sure that they are differently run in the UK than the USA. Even McDonalds, the most generic thing in the world, is different in the UK to the USA.

Look, maybe you won't find this issue. All I know is that I used to love Subway, but these days they are invariably stale, and limp. I noticed this drop while living in California, and since moving 2500 miles to Pennsylvania to a town with 6 Subways, the quality is the same here.