Sandwich review: Chicken & Bacon Caesar from Waitrose 'Good To Go' range

The official description for this sandwich is -

Chargrilled chicken with caesar dressing, cos lettuce, bacon and Parmigiano Reggiano cheese shavings in dark rye bread.

Having been a fan for some time of chicken & bacon caesar wraps (I have not mentioned this before, as I do not view tortilla wraps as being included under the 'Sandwich Review' parasol - this may change at some point, but not as yet), I was interested to try this sandwich version.  I am very much a fan of this combination of ingredients, and so it was with great anticipation that I tucked into this sandwich.

The only part of this sandwich about which I was dubious was the use of rye bread - much as I enjoy a fancy bread in sandwich-making, I had misgivings about this as I had remembered rye bread as being rather heavy and dark, with an almost bitter taste.  Thankfully, though, my reservations came to naught - the potential bread problems which I had foreseen failed to materialise.

There were, however, other problems with this sandwich...  The flavour of anything 'caesar' relies on the dressing - and in this case, there simply wasn't enough.  Not only did this have the effect of leaving the sandwich a little dry, it also detracted greatly from the taste - put simply, this Chicken & Bacon Caesar sandwich just wasn't caesary enough!

It's easier to put enough dressing into a Caesar wrap - the enclosed nature of a tortilla wrap means issues of dressing spillage are lessened.  Of course, I recognise the inherent issues with dressings in sandwiches - it is a fine line to tread between having not enough, and having too much.  (Not enough will leave the sandwich dry and bland, but too much will result in a sandwich which ends up soggy and a dressing which dribbles out as you try to eat, and ends up all over your hands instead.)  It's a tough balancing act - but Waitrose ought to be able to manage it.

Sadly, they didn't, and despite the otherwise excellent nature of this sandwich, I was left disappointed, and will therefore not be buying this sandwich again.

Sandwich review: Chicken & Bacon Ranch by Sainsburys

The official description for this sandwich is -

British chicken breast and naturally smoked British bacon with ranch mayonnaise and apollo lettuce in a white sub roll.

As you can see, this is the first time I have reviewed any sandwich which comes on what we might call "non-standard bread" (in this case, a sub roll). It is disappointing, therefore, that this novelty bread was actually the high point of a sandwich which can best be described as "bland".

The roll was indeed very nice. The rest of the ingredients, however, failed to live up to my expectations - the "ranch mayonnaise", in particular, was something of a let-down. If I hadn't been told that it was specifically "ranch mayonnaise", I would not have known for myself - in a blind tasting, I would've guessed standard mayonnaise for sure (and pretty cheap standard mayonnaise, at that)!

The chicken, and the "naturally smoked" bacon also had very little flavour to them. This sandwich has clearly been put together with the cheapest possible ingredients, with little attention being paid to the flavour of the sandwich as a whole.

I would not buy this sandwich again.

Sandwich review: Taouk Chicken Salad from Waitrose' World Flavours range

The official description for this sandwich is:

Marinated chicken breast, tomato, apollo lettuce and cucumber with spiced mayonnaise in sliced herb bread.  Chicken from carefully selected British farms.

I was unsure, when I bought this sandwich, what "taouk" actually meant.  After reading the description and ingredients, I was no wiser.  The illustration on the packet was similarly unhelpful - a man in a hat appears to be offering me an ornate lantern and an urn containing his ancestors' ashes, on a tray.

Having eaten it, I thought it might be something Moroccan - but was still, basically, ignorant as to the nature of a "taouk".

In spite of this, I enjoyed this sandwich.  As we so often see, it was down to the mayonnaise to make, or break, the success of the sandwich as a whole - and, in the case, it was definitely "make"...

The "spiced mayonnaise" was a triumph, with the herbs in the bread adding a nice touch too, and the sandwich overall was piquant enough to be interesting, and to bring to mind the flavours of exotic places, without being off-putting for those who may dislike hot or spicy foods.  The chicken was tender, and clearly of good quality.  The salad was salad.

I later Googled the meaning of "taouk", only to find out that it is simply a Turkish word for "chicken" - essentially, this sandwich is named Chicken Chicken Salad.  Waitrose may make a good sandwich, but there appear to be serious deficiencies when it comes to naming them!

In spite of this tautology, I would buy this sandwich again.

Sandwich review: SuperValu Chicken & Bacon Club

The official description for this sandwich is:

Chicken breast in mayonnaise with sweetcure bacon, Cheddar cheese, vine ripened tomato, lettuce & a chipotle salsa mayonnaise on malted brown bread.

The poorly-spelt SuperValu is Budgen's own brand range of, well, almost everything.  None of it is very good (only marginally better than the spelling) and I'm afraid to say that this sandwich follows suit.    As a Club sandwich, it is packed full of multitudinous ingredients - the description makes it all sound very sophisticated, with its sweetcure bacon and vine ripened tomato and chipotle salsa mayonnaise - yet you barely notice their presence at all; that's not to say that it tastes bad - it's just so, so bland!

There's not a whole lot else to say on this topic, I'm afraid.  "Bland" pretty much sums up the whole experience of this sandwich - it is lacking in flavour, the packaging is boring, and nothing about it interested or excited me in the slightest.

This is a sandwich concept which has already been done fifty times better, by fifty other companies - so no, I would not buy this sandwich again.

Sandwich review: Chicken & Bacon Club from Sutherland Deli

The official description for this sandwich is:

Chicken breast, mature cheddar cheese with smoke flavoured sweetcure bacon and seasoned mayonnaise topped with tomato and lettuce on malted bread.

Overall, this sandwich delivered on its promise.  All the ingredients were there, and noticeable - the bacon was nicely flavoured, the cheese actually had some tang and bite to it, and the chicken was nicely tender.

The salad was rather wilted, unfortunately, but at least the sandwich was not too over-mayonnaised.  (I've spoken before, in previous reviews, about my frustration with sandwiches that are so mayonnaise-sodden it spoils the rest of the ingredients completely.)

The only issue I have with this sandwich is the fact that it's a "Club" sandwich - that is to say, a sandwich with three slices of bread in each half.  While I don't object to large amounts of bread on principle, I find that the middle slice of bread (which has filling on either side of it) can often end up getting quite soggy.  I don't really understand what the extra slice of bread adds to the sandwich (apart from an increase in carbohydrates, and an increase in width) so I can't see why the sandwich makers don't just put these same filling ingredients in between two slices of bread, as per a normal sandwich - what would you lose, by removing the middle slice of bread?  It doesn't seem, to me, to be an integral part of the sandwich.

Having said that, I knew it was a Club sandwich when I bought it (the packaging proclaims as much) and I enjoyed it nevertheless.  I would buy this sandwich again.

Sandwich review: chicken and bacon comparison

Today, I shall be comparing two sandwiches.  Both describe themselves as chicken and bacon sandwiches - however, they are from different shops, and made by different companies.  How different can they be?

The first sandwich tackled is Morrison's Eat Smart Chicken and Bacon.  (Eat Smart is Morrison's range of "healthy" or "low-fat" sandwiches, and this review takes that into account.)

The official description for this sandwich is:

Chicken breast and smoke flavour sweet cure bacon with mayonnaise on malted bread.  30% less fat than Morrison's standard chicken and bacon sandwich.

My first impressions of this sandwich were very favourable.  Being a "low-fat" sandwich, I was expecting eating it to be quite a bland, uninteresting experience - I am pleased to say, however, that this was not the case!  Despite its attempt to be "healthy", this sandwich was still flavourful and enjoyable.  The chicken wasn't dry, and it combined with the bacon to make an excellent tasting filling overall.

There were a few small niggles with this sandwich.  The bacon, when tasted on its own (a piece fell out of the sandwich as I was eating it, so I had a chance to eat it separate from the other ingredients) had a slightly burnt flavour - I'm all for bacon being "smoky" (as this sandwich claims its bacon to be) but I think there has to be a distinction between "smoked" and "burnt", and this bacon, unfortunately, erred on the side of the latter.  When combined with the chicken, bread and mayonnaise, this was barely noticeable, and so it is not an issue that effects whether or not I would buy this sandwich again, however I felt it was worth a mention.

The only other negative thing I would have to say about this sandwich is purely a presentation issue.  The packaging is an entirely plastic carton - acceptable in the '90s, perhaps, but less and less so these days - and there were one or two blemishes on the meat in the filling.  None of these things affects the taste of the sandwich, nor enjoyment one gets from eating it, though, so I don't count them as problems with the sandwich.

The sandwich with which I shall be comparing the Morrison's Eat Smart sandwich is a Deli Club Chicken and Bacon Triple.

The official description for this sandwich is:

Chicken and bacon mayonnaise on malted brown bread.

It is with regret that I confess I could find very few positive things to say about this sandwich.  Unlike the Morrison's Eat Smart version, this sandwich's description fails to mention that the chicken is breast meat (indeed, it does not specify what part of the chicken this meat is from at all) and the makers' reticence in disclosing too much about their chicken meat becomes all too understandable once one begins to eat.  The chicken appears to be shredded (in some places, almost mashed) and the bacon is barely noticeable.  The chicken and bacon filling swims in a vast quantity of mayonnaise, which threatens to take over the entire meal.  (A quick glance at the ingredients list on the underneath of the packaging reveals that mayonnaise is the second most common ingredient - second only to bread - in the sandwich.)

The combination of the shredded meats with the extraordinary amounts of mayonnaise give this sandwich a strange, squelchy texture (which is really rather unpleasant) and also serves to remove any serious flavour which may have been in the ingredients to begin with.  If given this sandwich in a blind tasting, I would be hard-pressed to decided whether I was eating a chicken mayonnaise sandwich or a tuna mayonnaise sandwich - and the idea that there might be bacon in it would not even enter my mind.

This sandwich scores more highly than the Morrison's version on its packaging, coming in a much more modern, cardboard packet.  The designer of this packaging, however, can't have had much of eye for detail, as he failed to notice that the graphics on the back of the sandwich packet were actually upside-down!  See?

Overall, my comparison concludes in favour of the Morrison's Eat Smart sandwich on almost all counts.  The Deli Club Triple was not enjoyable to eat, and certainly didn't taste like a Chicken and Bacon sandwich should, while the Morrison's Eat Smart surprised me with its value for money, and better-than-expected general flavour and enjoyment.  The Morrison's sandwich, I would buy again; the Deli Club Triple?  Not a chance!

My thanks go to Alex Demetriou for assisting with research and analysis during the writing of this review.

"My pleasure, Kit" - Alex Demetriou, chief sandwich quality control for Regal House.

Sandwich review: Tandoori Chicken, from Tesco "Handmade" range

The official description for this sandwich is:

Tandoori chicken, tomato, yogurt and mint dressing, red peppers and coriander on malted brown bread.

It sounds like a good recipe, and I had high hopes for this sandwich.  Sadly, though, I was disappointed. 

The majority of the ingredients are bland, and devoid of flavour.  (I would expect slightly more spice from "tandoori" chicken, and I would hope to taste mint in a "yogurt and mint dressing.)  But this lack of interest isn't even the main problem with this sandwich - in fact, it's difficult to discern at all, at first, over the prevalence of the coriander.

This sandwich is absolutely stuffed full of coriander, and the result is that it massively overpowers everything - not just the other ingredients in the sandwich, but the taste any food product within a half-mile radius of this sandwich is masked by its all-consuming coriander-y-ness.

I'm not saying that I don't like coriander (I do) but this sandwich take the concept of "too much of a good thing" to a whole new level!  And once I had fought my way through the dense coriander jungle, and was hoping that the rest of the sandwich, once coriander-free, would provide a good balance of flavours, I was again let down by its blandness.

So, on the one hand, too full of coriander for its own good, while on the other being bland and uninteresting, suffice to say I was not impressed by this sandwich, and I shan't be buying it again.