Sandwich review: Turkey Club from Waitrose 'Good To Go' range

Apologies for the photo quality - I was so hungry at this point that I ate the sandwich straight away, before I thought to photograph it.

The official description for this sandwich is -

Smoked turkey, Emmental cheese and ranch dressing with vine ripened tomatoes, bacon and apollo lettuce in bar marked white bread.

A club sandwich is never quite such a good idea as it seems when you buy it - the extra slice of bread in the middle adds nothing but extra bulk, and quickly turns soggy (and therefore not very nice) if it comes into certain other ingredients (tomatoes, in particular, tend to have this effect).  Sadly, plenty of perfectly viable sandwich concepts have been spoilt by having been turned into 'club' versions, rather than just sticking with a standard 'filling between two slices of bread' approach.

Having said that, this sandwich was very enjoyable.  I still felt that it would have worked just as well (if not better) as a standard sandwich, rather than a club sandwich - but leaving that aside, the filling was excellent.  The salad was fresh and crisp, the turkey was not dry (this can often be a problem with this particular meat) and the ranch dressing was full-flavoured without being greasy or overpowering.

Despite my reservations about 'club'-style sandwiches in general, I would buy 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.