Pret: terrific if you can afford to buy lunch! (Pret a Manger)

Member Name: gemzeh

Product:	Pret a Manger
Date:	22/01/09 (181 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Varied menu. great coffee, salads and crisps, do deliveries

Disadvantages: Too expensive for me at the moment, seats not as comfy as Starbucks, limited toilet facilities

Over the last few years I have eaten at Pret a Manger (Pret) quite frequently for lunch as there is a shop close to my office that is convenient enough to run to when there is no time for a lunch break! I have also used their catering service for monthly meetings where I work. This means I know their menu pretty well as I have tried most things from it!

Is the range of food on Pret's menu any good?

Overall I think Pret sells a good variety of foods for people with various dietary requirements. In my office everyone is always on some sort of diet, and they tend to still be able to find something from Pret, whether they are on Weight Watchers, low carb diets, vegetarians, or can't eat dairy, etc. Each store sells a selection of different sandwiches, salads, soups and even sushi and vegetarian sushi. There are also a selection of cakes, fruit bars, fruit, and hot and cold drinks available. I also really like it that Pret sell half sandwiches (as well as normal sized ones), which my colleagues and I often eat when we aren't quite hungry enough to eat a whole sandwich!

I'm pretty sure that anyone could find something they fancied eating at Pret, which makes it a great place to go and get food for lunch.

What is the food and drink like?

The food is generally really nice, with the salads in particular often gaining fans amongst the ladies in the office. The salads tend to be jam packed full of stuff, and Pret tend to update the ingredients with a seasonal twist so that you shouldn't get bored if you eat something quite frequently. I got quite obsessed with Pret's 'Health and Houmous salad', which has had many ingredient changes over the last few years, and I have liked them all. The only thing to be careful of if you're buying a salad from Pret is that, if you go in over the busy lunch period, some of the boxes tend to be only ¾ full of salad (presumably because the staff are in a rush when they prepare them), so it is worth checking the other boxes just to make sure you're not being sold short!

Although the ingredients changes are mostly great, sometimes they are a bad thing, as I've found that the morning granola breakfast pot went from being nice and crunchy to really soggy! So be aware for ingredients changes if you're going to eat at Pret fairly frequently like myself and my colleagues!

The sandwiches are usually nice and varied, although I tend not to eat these too much as they are usually too full of calories, and I prefer Marks & Spencer sandwiches as they tend to have nicer tasting sandwiches for fewer calories.

Pret do tend to make things interesting with their food, so instead of selling 'standard' crisps, they tend to sell handbaked potato crisps, or parsnip crisps - which are gorgeous!

The drinks tend to also be interesting. Although they do sell standard diet coke, they also mix things up a bit with their drinks and have things like a 'yoga bunny' drink, which is very refreshing, and also fiery ginger beer. If you are buying a bottled drink from Pret though, these can be quite expensive. I prefer to get drinks from Boots Shaper's range (for example, the ginger beer), as they tend to taste better and are less calories than Pret's range of drinks in my opinion.

The hot drinks, however, are terrific. In particular, Pret's latte is just beautiful, and is so much nicer than the one they sell at Starbucks. If you are watching your calorie intake, Pret also have the 'skinny' option for hot drinks and their granola breakfast, which means you get reduced fat milk.

What about Pret's delivery service?

As I mentioned earlier, I have often used Pret when catering for big monthly meetings as they tend to provide a good range for various dietary requirements, and it's easy to book online. The full range of platters provided can be seen on Pret's website (http://www.pret.com/deliveries/platters.htm), and you can also see the full delivery menu and nutritional information there. It's really easy to order food, and the platters are brilliant as you can order vegetarian and meat sandwiches, sandwiches with seasonal ingredients, and little platters of cakes (which are extremely popular)! The delivery food is of good quality, although they always seem to include way too many tuna sandwiches, which are always left at the end!

The deliveries I have ordered have always arrived on time, and have always contained what I've ordered, so I have no cause for complaint there.

What are the facilities available in store?

Each Pret shop is different, but most have the 'eat in' facility and will provide tables and chairs if you want to sit somewhere whilst you eat and drink. These chairs are okay to sit in, but aren't anywhere near as comfortable as the armchairs you find in Starbucks!

They do usually have toilets in store, but they are hidden and are not generally used by the public, so you would have to ask if you needed to use the bathroom! I think this is far from ideal, and as if you have little ones or are going with people that are likely to need to use the loo, this could be a nuisance.

Is Pret good value for money?

Pret do use fresh ingredients in their food, and do provide nice variety and healthy choices for the money. I think they provide good value for money when it comes to their food, although it might be too expensive for some, particularly in the current economic climate. Salads, for example, can cost around £4, but they do tend to be really filling and contain lots of exciting ingredients, so I would say they are good value for money.

Summary: A great selection of food for all dietary requirements.