It was pouring rain and blowing a gale. The weather forecast for the Bank Holiday weekend was no better and Team Chronicle were not a happy bunch. Comfort food was the only answer as long as someone was prepared to travel to the big city to pick up the order.
We regularly review fine dining establishments in Chester and beyond, places that have top ratings on Trip Advisor, or even a mention in a Michelin guide but we often forget those high street staples that provide workers and shoppers with a lunchtime snack day in, day out.
So I plumped for Greggs on Frodsham Street, the largest bakery chain in the UK which specialises in savouries like pasties, sausage rolls and sandwiches with a sweet treat for pudding.
Greggs has been serving the great British public for more than 60 years, when your only option was to walk in to a high street shop. Greggs 21st century involves an easily manouverable website that is picture-led, making it simple to make your choice.
Less easy is driving into town and tackling the roadworks near Gorse Stacks, parking near Greggs, managing an umbrella and four bags of goodies but by just after 1pm the Chronicle kitchen table is laden with food and we tuck in to what puntastic reporter Fran Barrett termed our ‘al-desko’ lunch.
We all made individual choices with a selection of mini yum yums, a Greggs staple of bite-sized iced doughnuts, and Belgian buns to share if we finished our main course!
Starting at the top, executive editor Michael Green chose a ham and cheese baguette, a sausage roll and orange juice. He said: “My 12-year-old son is a big Greggs fan and absolutely loves the ham and cheese baguette so I decided to give it a try myself. By and large (and it was pretty big!) it was delicious although perhaps a bit heavy on the ham (less is more for me). The orange juice was lovely if a bit tangy. And I just had to round off with a delicacy that never fails for me: a wonderful Greggs sausage roll!”
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The company has recently introduced a Balanced Choice range, which it claims has ‘All the taste. All under 400 calories.’
Chief reporter and Yorkshireman David Holmes opted for the peri peri chicken flatbread on the Balanced Choice menu. He said: “I have a hot and spicy palate having been brought up on Bradford curries.
“I’ve got to be honest and admit that being healthy wasn’t top of my agenda on a Friday afternoon ahead of a bank holiday weekend, but I guess it’s a bonus.
“The flatbread is eaten hot and while Greggs are happy to ping the microwave for you, the task fell to me on this occasion ie someone who can burn water. Anyway, I guessed the number of seconds which may account for the bread being fairly chewy.
“But the chargrill flavour chicken breast was tasty and the peri peri creme fraiche with sliced jalapenos gave it the spicy zing I was seeking, complemented by the coolness of the accompanying baby leaf spinach.
“It was all washed down with Fairtrade pure orange juice – what I can I say, it was perfectly fine fruit juice. Nice to know the growers are getting a fair rate for their produce.”
Punny reporter Fran is a vegetarian. She said: “‘For my al-desko lunch, I plumped for a Thin and Crispy Margherita Pizza which tasted better than it looked with its sweet but not too sweet tomato sauce on sourdough base, although that was a bit on the chewy side. The Caramel and Pecan Greggsnut had all the makings of a sugar coma and didn’t disappoint. I washed it all down with a Balanced Choice cloudy lemonade which actually tasted nicer than its lower-calorie-claiming counterparts.”
Reporter Mike Fuller described his tuna crunch bloomer as ‘a solid sandwich’ although saw red when it came to the filling.
He said: “It lived up to the crunch in its name with the lettuce, cucumber and onion. Not sure what the red pepper salsa adds other than making the tuna mayo taste a bit strange. The Yum Yums were delicious and everything you should not eat at your desk.”
Over on the production desk, Anthony White was another who chose from the new healthy menu. He said: “I plumped for the Chargrill Chicken Oval Bite. Part of their healthier menu, it was slightly smaller than I expected, but looked to be ample to fill a lunchtime hole. The bread was nice and soft and there was a kick of wholegrain mustard in the dressing. There was a plentiful portion of chicken, which had at least a hint of the chargrill flavour and avoided being dry (something that is quite often a cardinal sin in a pre-prepared sandwich), as well as a good amount of lettuce without there being too much. My only complaint would be with the slices of tomato, which seemed a little watery and wan for my taste.”
Colleague Mark Dowling went for tradition but was less impressed with his steak bake. He said: “The actual steak content within the Greggs beef and gravy steak bake was a little miserly for my tastes. However, the quality of the steak went some way to make up for the lack of quantity. The surrounding pillow pastry had been cooked well, was not burnt, and tasted very fresh. I had no complaints about the accompanying drink – a Greggs FairTrade orange juice – which was refreshing and pleasingly free of bits. I snacked on one of the Mini Yum Yums and found it a bit too sweet – no chance of me having seconds there.”
One colleague gave her lunch top marks. Community content curator Leah Jones said: The Roast Chicken Salad Bloomer was a lot bigger than I expected it to be!
It was packed with decent-sized pieces of chicken coated in a creamy mayonnaise, lettuce and large pieces of cucumber and tomato.
“The bread was fresh so lived up to it’s statement on the packaging – “freshly prepared today.” All in all, the sandwich left me feeling full and impressed with the amount of filling it had. The Still Lemon & Lime Water had a lot of flavour to it without being too sickly – very refreshing! I’d definitely have this for lunch again and as I can’t find fault, I will have to give it a 10 out of 10.”
As resident Chronicle coeliac I was less than impressed with what Greggs has to offer for the gluten intolerant amongst us. I was told on the phone that even their hot chocolate has gluten in it, so I ended up with a carton of fresh fruit and a packet of ready salted crisps. The fruit was tasty and the crisps as expected but I certainly won’t be going back for my lunch. Hats off to them for introducing a healthy range but next on the To Do list must be to investigate how to serve the nation’s intolerants. Even their salads were all pasta based!
And it was one of the Mexican Chicken Pasta salad from that range which Sally Bell opted for, along with a soup.
She said: “I had spiced beef and rice soup which was very tasty. Good consistency (not too thick) with a little bit of spice. Lovely on a cold day and would definitely buy again. The Mexican Chicken Pasta was tasty but it could have done with a little more chicken. It had three small slices placed on the top and would have been nicer if mixed in with the pasta. Fairly spicy but I probably wouldn’t buy it again.”
She enjoyed her Forest Fruit drink, which she described as ‘lovely and very refreshing’.
Each Chronicle staff member score their meal out of five. An average was taken and the overall score was 3/5.
The Greggs 'Scores on the Doors' rating is 5/5.
