I don't normally pre-buy pasties and pies. I will on occasion pop into Greggs or similar whilst shopping but that's about it. They are as far as I am concerned an emergency food only!

My major downfalls are the end of the aisle special offers - whilst wandering around Sainsbury's a couple of days ago, I was tempted to purchase a Ginsters Chicken and Mushroom Slice.
Half price the sticker was calling out to me!
Originally sold at £1.59 (quite expensive for a pasty in my opinion), they were now on special offer at 79p.
I bought two and a peppered steak slice - might as well try the range!

The 180g individual slices are sold in a dark brown wrapper depicting a pasty oozing with chicken and mushrooms. The red Ginsters logo is in the upper right hand corner.
Once opened, the slice sits in a cardboard sleeve. The pale brown latticed slices are quite sizeable, I have quite a large appetite and one was enough for me.

The product can be eaten hot or cold. I heated mine in the oven for 20 mins, gas mark 4 as per the instructions on the rear of the packet. The slices can also be microwaved for 1 minute 20 seconds. I find pastries most disappointing when microwaved and usually try to avoid this option.

The slice goes into the oven quite flat and pale brown, it comes out of the oven slightly raised and a little for bronzed. In other words it doesn't look a great deal different.
I did leave my slice to stand for a good 5 - 10 minutes but still found it had retained too much heat for my liking, burning my mouth slightly.

Cutting into the slice does not bear much resemblance to the picture on the packet. There is no great ooze, the slice is however quite tasty. There are noticeable chunks of chicken although I did find the mushrooms to be quite thin and lacking in substance.
I couldn't say that the slice had a lovely chicken taste as it didn't - the chicken and mushrooms are coated in a creamy sauce, so the overall flavour to me was that of a chicken and mushroom soup combo heavily seasoned with pepper!
I like both chicken and mushroom soup so that's ok.

The lattice pastry is above average for this type of product. Not too dry, a little crispy on top but also retaining moisture. If eaten with fingers it's best to use kitchen roll to avoid grease marks!

Unfortunately, each slice contains a whopping 439kcal. I would consider this as something of a treat. The taste really doesn't warrant the consumption of calories. I think I would rather have a cream cake!

Further nutritional information per slice:

Protein 15.0g
Carbohydrate 34.4g
of which sugars 1.7g
Fat 26.8g
of which saturates 12.5g
Fibre 3.3g
Sodium 0.77g
Salt Equivalent 1.98g

The product contains Milk, Wheat, Gluten & Egg and is obviously not suitable for vegetarians.

I can't see me buying this product again. At 79p it's quite good value but I prefer something a little lighter for lunch and something more substantial for dinner!
I can just about justify eating something like this whilst on the go but as a planned snack at home it's definitely a no go.