Pret A Manger vs Eat

[subversplat]

Pret (with a hard t) used to give all their previous day's sarnies to the Big Issue office to give away to the mag sellers which, to be perfectly frank, was the only way one of those sorts of sandwiches is going down my gullet. So I vote for them by default

 

[subversplat]

Or Subway or Benjis or Boots or M&S or Tesco Metro or Sainsburys Central or.......

So that makes it all OK then? I'd probably hang myself if I woke up in your utopian UK.

 

[PacificOcean]

So that makes it all OK then? I'd probably hang myself if I woke up in your utopian UK.

Different strokes for different folks. There is no need to be nasty.

 

[subversplat]

Different strokes for different folks. There is no need to be nasty.

It's OK, I was only suggesting I'd kil myself, not you. You'd be free to frolick in the land of homogenised corporo-nosh as much as you like!

 

[May Kasahara]

Boots could really learn from this. The hopeless way they manage to turn a few customers into a long queue puts me off buying any food there, despite their 'meal deal'.

Also their sandwiches taste like puke.

 

[SubZeroCat]

Subway does six subs that have less than 350 calories and 6g of fat

Eating a subway everyday for lunch 5 days a week does not constitute a healthy diet. How much salt and sugar is in them? What chemical preservatives/colourings are in them? What nutritional value do they have?

It's not just fat and calories.

 

[PacificOcean]

Eating a subway everyday for lunch 5 days a week does not constitute a healthy diet. How much salt and sugar is in them? What chemical preservatives/colourings are in them? What nutritional value do they have?

It's not just fat and calories.

You can say the same of "local" sandwich shops.

 

[tarannau]

To be fair, Eat and Pret are barely better. Lots of low quality ingredients in all of them, mostly centrally sourced and low in nutrional content. They all use hefty quantities of sloppy chemical mayonnaise and deskilled staffing practices to achieve consistently dull results.

None of them consitute food you should anything other than in moderation and rarely. Unlike the burger revolution in the UK, where McD's succeeded Wimpy through cheaper and arguably better products, the big sandwich chains seem to be increasing costs and keeping quality the same, whilst benefitting from standarisation and controlled processes . You still can't beat a freshly made sarnie for freshness, texture and taste.

No wonder McD's was so keen to invest in Pret, Whitbread to get out of pubs into coffee and snacks. The profit margins are tremendous

 

[tarannau]

You can say the same of "local" sandwich shops.

What all of them? Take Camden for example - Rosie and Jacks with a fantastic range of fresh ciabattas, everything from simply marinated basil chicken to pig out mounds of cheese and escalopes. Or Leon's down Parkway with proper rye bread, freshly picked salad leaves, home made potato and lamb cakes with no preservatives. Or Tupelo Honey, or Fresh and Wild, or a whole host of other places

Subway doesn't make one product without chemical nastiness. Indeed even their own 'baked' bread is little more but chemicals and air. Food comes from central stores, refrigerated and long stored to an inch of its nutritional life. That's a world away from what a good local sandwich shop can offer you.

 

[Orang Utan]

Why are people so lazy? Why don't they make their own?

 

[Cobbles]

There's always an alternative to the orthodoxy of the multiple branch sandwich (although I do like a wee tray of Pret Sushi from time to time).

Just about every locale has at least 2 local ethnic restuarants and a cafe with a lunchtime special where, for the price of a sandwich, coffee and perhaps one of the accessories like a bar cake or slab of chocloate, you can actually sit down on something that wasn't designed specifically to move you on in 10 minutes and eat something that's been made just for you.

They'll be delighted to see you.......

Of course you don't get to take away any packaging but that's life.

 

[fogbat]

I avoid Pret because of its ridiculous "LOOK OUT! CHEMICALS!" sales tactics.

 

[pogofish]

Eating a subway everyday for lunch 5 days a week does not constitute a healthy diet. How much salt and sugar is in them? What chemical preservatives/colourings are in them? What nutritional value do they have?

Eating your height in Subway sandwiches seems to be a popular new competitive passtime amongst kids here. I suppose it is in some ways better than following football but not in others?

 

[subversplat]

Why are people so lazy? Why don't they make their own?

They don't make their own because they are lazy. And they're probably lazy because they aren't getting properly rounded nutrition and lack energy because they only ever eat warehoused fast food for their dinners

 

[catrina]

pret is the only fast food place i will eat at. i know they're Horrible Corporation and all that, but the food is fresh, healthy and it actually tastes really good. i even made one of their recipes once from the bag, and that was good.

my problem with pret is more the expense - unless you go for the egg mayonnaise every time, it really adds up.

i once went to eat, bought one sandwich, it was disgusting. so i bought another thinking it was just a one off. the other one was disgusting, too. i don't go back there anymore.

i used to like subway, but one of the girls i share an office with brings a large subway in every morning, she eats 1/3 for breakfast and then snacks on the thing the rest of the day. our office smells like subway onions 24/7, it's gross.

 

[Bob]

Bit of a difficult one, this. I think I may have voted Eat before, but both have their merits.

Pret:
Superior coffee
Fine almond croissants
Overpriced but nonetheless extremely tasty ham/tomato breakfast pastry things
Reliable lunchtime sushi
Carrot juice
Pastrami sandwiches

Eat:
Tasty pies
Ham and Jarlsberg baguette with no gloopy sauce
Vanilla chiller –
Iced mocha
No lifestyle jazz playing in the background
McDonald's don't have shares in them

I like both in equal measure. What's a girl to do?

I alternate between the two each lunchtime. I like the Eat soup & gazpacho a lot. But the Pret salads and sushi are pretty good. And the almond croissants.

 

[Pie 1]

Never been to EAT.

But Pret's All Day Breakfast sandwich is the bloody dogs for a hangover.

 

[EastEnder]

Neither
I don't get why people spend money in those places
Waste of money I tell ya!

I wholeheartedly concur.

Total waste of money on poncy overpriced crap.

What's wrong with an economical packed lunch?!?!? ay? AY????

 

[Cobbles]

I wholeheartedly concur.

Total waste of money on poncy overpriced crap.

What's wrong with an economical packed lunch?!?!? ay? AY????

Indeed - the pleasure of a couple of nicely filled pittas and a Sigg bottle with a nice drop of Vino.

 

[SubZeroCat]

They don't make their own because they are lazy. And they're probably lazy because they aren't getting properly rounded nutrition and lack energy because they only ever eat warehoused fast food for their dinners

Yeah of course...

Actually I do most of the cooking in the house and because I want to eat a tasty and healthy meal I spend 40 mins to 1hr + preparing and cooking. Thing is, I get home just before 7pm after having travelled for just over an hour and there's other stuff to do like eating, showering, cleaning, food shopping etc and I do need *some* time to sit on my arse so when it comes to 10:30pm and I'm falling asleep on the sofa, unless I've made enough dinner for tomorrow I just cannot be bothered to make a sandwich (just fall into bed and deep sleep).

 

[SubZeroCat]

You can say the same of "local" sandwich shops.

I don't eat a sandwich 5 days a week though, especially not one with meatballs and strange things

Sometimes I have leftovers from last night's (healthy) dinner, sometimes I have a salad and sometimes I have a sandwich. Not perfect I know.

 

[Nixon]

I've eaten at Eat once and my sandwich was really dry and not very...nice.

Pret i've eaten at a fair few times and each time its been good.

 

[chio]

I popped into an Eat in Birmingham last year and later that night I was quite violently ill

Never going in one of their places again, while Pret is decent enough stuff.

 

[Treebeak]

Eat sangers fall apart and the boxes are badly designed. Pret all the way but I have eaten so many of their sangers they are starting to bore me.

The barrista at my local pret does give one of my items free every time I go there though, so I guess I'm biased.

 

[Errol's son]

If Pret is so good how come it is doing so appallingly overseas?

Its New York stores are simply not pulling in the bucks.

The reason is that Americans know what a good sandwich is and how much you should pay and there are many, many, stores in New York already supplying good sandwiches. That is why Pret does badly. In England though, too many people are prepared to eat utter crap and bang on about how OK it is.

Anyone who pays £2.50+ for a pre-packaged semi-fresh sandwich where you have no idea where the ingredients come from obvioulsy has more money than sense.

 

[MBV]

Never been to EAT.

But Pret's All Day Breakfast sandwich is the bloody dogs for a hangover.

EAT do a breakfast ciabatta which they will toast for you - this beats the Pret ADB sandwich IMO.

 

[Skim]

Anyone who pays £2.50+ for a pre-packaged semi-fresh sandwich where you have no idea where the ingredients come from obvioulsy has more money than sense.

I'd like to support independent sandwich shops when possible, but sadly there are many occasions when I've paid £2.50+ for a semi-fresh sandwich from an independent sandwich shop. Independent doesn't necessarily mean better quality.

The lure of places like Pret and Eat is their consistency, a certain standard. People like to know what they're getting, that's partly why they're so popular.

 

[Agent Sparrow]

Anyone who pays £2.50+ for a pre-packaged semi-fresh sandwich where you have no idea where the ingredients come from obvioulsy has more money than sense.

I used to work with someone who once worked in a sandwich packing factory (not Pret I should point out). I never really found out all the details but after then they never ate pre-packaged sandwiches again!

Have to say my inherent laziness is sumplimented quite well by local gov (and beforehand NHS) subsidised canteens. The place I worked inbetween had the nicest little local sandwich shop down the road, so I guess generally I've managed to avoid sandwich chains, but not really out of much effort.

As for the original question, I've never been in EAT but I have eaten a few times in Pret (find it a bit "meh" tbh), and I guess one thing which does stand in the favour of specialised sandwich chain shops is that the choice of veggie sandwich isn't just limited to plain cheese or egg sandwiches. If you pop in a smallish general shop or many canteens, if you're veggie that somehow gets interpreted as meaning "must substitute with eggs!" As a result fuck knows what my cholestorol is going to go up to unless I can start being bothered to make my own sandwiches/lunches for work.

 

[Errol's son]

I'd like to support independent sandwich shops when possible, but sadly there are many occasions when I've paid £2.50+ for a semi-fresh sandwich from an independent sandwich shop. Independent doesn't necessarily mean better quality.

The lure of places like Pret and Eat is their consistency, a certain standard. People like to know what they're getting, that's partly why they're so popular.

I agree that some (in fact quite a few) independents in London are far from great. Many just serve up that sludge (such as rawn cocktail) from stainless steel bowls and pack it between some sliced bread and many British people seem content to eat that shite too. But it is still easy to eat well and cheaply in London at lunchtime rather than resorting to these crap independents or the blandness and excessive expense of the chains like Pret.

When I worked in the City and then the West End I had menus for about 30 restaurants that did takeaway food at lunchtime. I would simply put a call in, place an order and go and pick it up. No waiting around at all. And you should be able to find a decent independent sandwich shop relatively near your place of work for times when you only want a light lunch.

Also what about complaining? If you go to an independent (or indeed a chain too) and they serve you crap take it back and demand a refund for God's sake! Loads of posters are slating Eat over Pret saying that Eat's sandwiches are manky. But how many of you go and complain and get a refund? This British attitude of not complaining is one of the other reasons why Brits eat such utter foul crap.

 

[Structaural]

So you had one sandwich from Eat and that's enough to condemn the whole chain? Wow, that must've pissed you off some!

As for this whole 'local sandwich shops' - the ones that are good and provide decent sarnies will always survive - witness (despite what Pacific Ocean says) the profusion of little sandwich places in Soho (in fact, all over central London), usually with their trays of flaked crab stick, a few escalopes, coronation chicken etc etc...

That's all it takes, like most Englishmen, you piss me off, I never come back to your shop. It was proper hairy mould, mind.
You seem very supportive of these 'franchises' on the other hand. Do you big up Wimpey and McDs?