Skip to main content

Sandwiches on the go! Central Belt, Scotland


I grew up with Marks and Spencer as an exclusively high end clothing store, so it was to my great surprise that you can get all sorts of sandwiches and jaffa cakes en masse at any M&S store along with cheap tees and anything else you would need.

This selection of bite size rolls including British ham salad, British chicken salad, and egg salad, was a nice little treat on a busy travel day, and their other snacks and wraps have been not so bad. The packaging is simple, though not ideal for travel.

(A side note: A Glaswegian told me that she finds it comforting when she sees a M&S, to know one is nearby, and I can only possibly relay the same affection for Shopper's Drug Marts, though their sandwich selection is nowhere sufficient.)


There are boxed sandwiches everywhere you go, especially in Edinburgh, and this lemon chicken salad concoction was from the cafe at the Royal Botanical Gardens, which paired with their homemade soup, was a bit of a disappointment. I've had worse, but that's not really a compliment. The packaging was also flimsy, as was reflected in the stacking of the sandwich, was did not hold together well. Poor form overall.


Now, a bagel sandwich is something I never go for, but as the boxed sandwiches were consistently disappointing, I lined up at the Bagel Factory for a freshly made sandwich.

Surprisingly decent bagels with interesting options, including this spicy halloumi filling, the packaging was also of note as it was incredibly sturdy and kept the bagel sandwich warm and intact by the time I opened it on the train, and it came with a drink for a very reasonable price. They may need to work on their marketing though, as they're selling these bagels as America's best kept secret to staying healthy . . . are they so secret that even the Americans don't know about them?

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Monty’s Bakehouse wrap, Air Canada

I’d rate this wrap as strange. Its packaging created expectations of a more appetizing experience, which it was not. After a vastly superior egg salad sandwich from London Heathrow, I could not greet this airplane freebie with serious interest, but at least it was hot, and  at least I could review it for this blog. Steaming contents were oozy and largely undistinguishable, but suggested some kind of red pepper or sundried tomato origins.

Specialty Sandwich, Amtrak train dining car

Advertised as the "Specialty Sandwich" on board the Oakland to Los Angeles Amtrak train, this $9.75 grilled cheese seems a safe vegetarian bet, just as a bagel and cream cheese does when faced with weird processed meat choices aboard the VIA Rail in Canada. The specialty allegedly features gruyere and smoked cheddar, however each cheese was tasteless, plastic, and greasy, cooling to reveal six slices of highly processed cheese product. The crisp, somewhat grainy bread absorbed cheese sweat from inside, completely obliterating any relief that the mustard or tomato could have provided, and was thoroughly saturated in a meaty residue from the grill on the outside. This sandwich leaves the kind of mouthfeel that a glass of water cannot wash away. Note: pack toothbrush in carry-on.

Kim Anh Subs, Calgary

It's no secret I'm a fan of the Vietnamese sub. Hell, they've prevented my vegetarianism . But I do enjoy the vegetarian option now and again, especially when it's warm marinated soft tofu rather than the shredded fake meat variety. In Calgary one weekend, a friend and I found ourselves stranded in the city due to a snow storm, so lounging around 17th Avenue, cold, tired, hungry, and near broke, we popped our heads into Kim Anh Subs where he had ventured once before. Offering a whole wheat sub bun option, Kim Anh's subs were a bit more expensive than what I'm used to for a sub of this style ($3.50 is my price range), but it's Calgary, so what can you expect.