Sandwich review: The BLT from Pick Of The Pantry

The official description of this sandwich is:

Slices of Grilled Dry Cured Bacon, Tomatoes, Lettuce & Mayonnaise on Malted Wheatgrain Bread

I had never heard of this sandwich brand before, but even in the packaging this looked promising – two well filled sandwiches, and a good colour to the bacon which seemed to suggest quality ingredients.

I was not disappointed.  BLT is a classic sandwich recipe – almost every sandwich brand makes one.  I have tried many different BLTs over the years, but this is up there with the very best of them.  The bacon is crispy, but not tough, and nicely flavoursome; there is a good balance of ingredients, and no overmayonation; the salad is fresh and the bread is not soggy.

Overall, this was a very enjoyable sandwich experience, and I would buy this sandwich again.

Sandwich review: deli2go Triple BLT

The official description for this sandwich is:

Bacon, curly lettuce and tomato with mayonnaise on malted wheatgrain bread.

I enjoyed this sandwich.  The deli2go range is sold in Shell garages, and on the whole, I have found them to be surprisingly good, for petrol station fayre.

The ingredients are all there, although the bacon is possibly slightly bland.  On the front of the packet, it is described as "smokey" - I'd like to see a bit more of the smokey flavour in the bacon, if I'm honest.  I'm pleased to see that the mayonnaise has been kept to an appropriate level, though - I have spoken before about the dangers of over-mayonnaising a sandwich, but luckily we don't have that problem here.

The aspect of this sandwich with which I was most impressed, though, was the excellent forethought exhibited by the makers in placing the tomatoes right in the middle.  Cushioned by the bacon, to one side, and the lettuce and mayonnaise to the other, the tomatoes are kept well enough away from the bread - tomatoes left too close to the bread will it soggy and damp, causing the whole sandwich to disintegrate all too easily.  This has not been allowed to happen here, and for that I am very grateful.

My main criticism of this sandwich is not actually to do with the sandwich itself, but with the packaging.  Aside from the minor issues with the bacon, which I have already mentioned (it could do with being a little more flavourful) it is the packaging which has impressed me the least...

This is a triple sandwich - that means it's 50% as big again as a normal sandwich.  The cardboard packet in which it is served, however, is not 50% bigger than normal sandwich packet; at best, it is about 25% bigger.  This means, of course, that the sandwich is squeezed into the packet so tightly that it's quite difficult to grasp any one of the three individual pieces - with the pressure of being packed into such a small space, the three pieces of the sandwich have almost become fused together, and are actually rather hard to separate.

In spite of these problems with the packaging, and the resulting issues involving actually getting into the sandwich to eat it, I would buy this sandwich again.

Sandwich Review: BLT, from Morrison's "The Best" range

The official description for this sandwich is:

British sweetcure streaky bacon with vine ripened tomato, slow roast tomato mayonnaise and salad leaves on malted wholegrain bread.

I enjoyed this sandwich.  To name it "the best" is perhaps a little presumptuous - but the overstated moniker aside, it was a triumph of taste and flavour; the bacon was succulent and flavoursome, and the salad crisp and fresh.

What I was most impressed with, though, was the "slow roast tomato mayonnaise" - this dressing was, in all honesty, the highlight of the sandwich for me.  Although the addition of roasted tomatoes into the mayonnaise gave it a flavour of its own, this managed not to take anything away from the balance between the main components of the sandwich filling, but instead added to the overall combination of tastes.  It has long been my opinion that dressings can make or break a salad - both in terms of taste (too bland) and texture (too greasy, too runny, etc.) - but this dressing has certainly made the sandwich for me.

However, despite having enjoyed the sandwich, I had a few gripes with the way it was packaged.  Ostensibly, there is nothing wrong with the green cardboard box the sandwich comes it, nor the little window of clear plastic that lets you see what you'll shortly be devouring - but sadly, this packaging ended up really irritating me.

Y'see, this is one of those sandwich packets which opens backwards - it splits in the middle, down the "spine" of the triangular cardboard packet, and makes it rather difficult actually to access your sandwich.  Here is a picture of the packet once open, from the back, to illustrate what I'm saying -

Once you have split the package down the middle, and opened it slightly with your hands, the two halves of the sandwich contained within divide, and start to lean over in opposite directions.  The result of this is that they end up "hiding" from you, inside the two bits of cardboard which are left once the middle strip has been removed, and are consequently very difficult to get at.  This is obviously quite an annoyance, and is made even more so by the fact that, once you can actually get to it, this sandwich is very tasty indeed.

In conclusion, therefore, I would certainly be tempted to buy this sandwich again.  I very much enjoyed eating it, and would be happy for it to be a staple part of my diet.  I would hope, however, that the packaging is soon redesigned, as the idea of having to grapple with that every time I fancy a delicious BLT from my local Morrison's is not a very savoury one.