The best take-away Christmas lunch: From Benugo’s hot roast turkey sandwich to Itsu’s “aggressively disgusting” pot of chicken
December is upon us and it’s now perfectly acceptable to buy a take-away Christmas lunch – our sandwich committee checked out some of the most popular.
Fred’s at Tesco Thanksgiving Sandwich
Turkey, vegetable crisps, tomato, lettuce, cucumber, brie
★★★☆☆
Full marks for presentation but zero for practicality; trying to fit this in your mouth without dropping the filling everywhere is a near impossible task. If you can get it in your mouth, though, you’re rewarded with a fresh, tasty sandwich that isn’t so heavy you’ll be asleep at your desk by 4pm.
£4.50
Pret A Manger Christmas Lunch
Turkey, stuffing, cranberry and port sauce, bacon, spinach, mayonnaise
★★★★☆
We thought this was the one to beat. The textures are all there; the bird has substance, the bread is malty and the stuffing is crispy. It does get a little sickly, but generally Pret has balanced this one well. It’s a sandwich that doffs its cap to Christmas, rather than trying to pack an entire Christmas dinner between two slices of bread.
£3.60 (5p goes to charity)
Eat Full Festive Works in a Hot Roll
Turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, mayonnaise
★★★☆☆
Not the looker of the bunch. This sandwich suffered from a poor distribution of filling, stuffing that’s loaded with too much sage and meat that’s a little on the dry side. Having said that, it hangs together well and tastes far better than it looks. A perfectly acceptable Christmas sandwich.
£4.85
Benugo Hot Roast Turkey Sandwich
Stuffing, spinach, turkey, bacon, cranberry and horseradish mayo, rocket
★★★★★
Artisan deli Benugo’s festive effort packs some serious meat, with salty strips of crunchy bacon lying on top of warm roasted turkey. It’s assembled in front of you, with pork and sage stuffing, cranberry and horseradish mayo and rocket to give it a pleasant kick. You won’t find fresher, better quality meat in a take-away sandwich.
£4
Pod Christmas Feast
Stuffing, spinach, turkey, cranberry sauce, mayonnaise
★★★☆☆
Health-conscious Pod is pretty much the only place you’ll find Christmas in a baguette. While it may be grainy, it’s still a lot of bread to contend with. Thick-sliced sagey stuffing is the star, accompanied by just the right amount of cranberry sauce, mayonnaise and spinach. But it’s let down by the turkey, which comes in soggy shavings rather than meaty chunks.
£2.99 (10p goes to charity)
Itsu Its’mas Potsu
Sprouts, lardons, roast chestnuts, orange zest, cranberry relish, chicken, rice
☆☆☆☆☆
☆☆☆☆☆
An overwhelmingly negative reaction, ranging from “aggressively disgusting” to “one of the worst things I’ve ever put in my mouth”. It gets points for effort, attempting to combine virtually every festive ingredient, but it tastes like someone has pushed their Christmas leftovers into a blender and served them with rice. Worse still, everything is pervaded with the taste of mulled wine, which will haunt you long after you’ve disposed of this stodgy bucket of misery.
£4.99