Pret A Manger

This Pret is quite small so it gets pretty cramped at lunchtime. The best plan (if the weather is favourable) is to get a takeaway and go and sit in Buchanan Street to eat your sandwich. But if you do decide to stay in, the turnover is pretty high so you should be able to get a seat without too much waiting.
I discovered a new wrap on this visit; Mexican avocado with beans and chipotle sauce, which was pretty darn tasty I have to say. I’ll be looking out for that one again on future visits. Together with my usual cup of miso soup and a packet of vegetable crisps, my lunch was sorted.

I dread to think how much money I spend in Pret A Manger. I tell myself there are so many more exciting places to go but I end up here nearly every week! Mostly it’s because my workplace is right between this branch and the one on Queen Street otherwise I promise I wouldn’t be here so often! I think I’d go to indie cafes more often if they had decent seating. But I rarely want to spend my lunch hour perched on a stool so Pret it is.
All Pret’s in Glasgow city centre are the same. Same food, same level of service, same décor. I find the food at Pret to be reliably good, there’s lots of options, healthy stuff too. Here’s my Pret Top 5:
1. Brie, Tomato and Basil Toastie
2. Chef’s Italian Chicken Salad
3. Proscuitto Mac and Cheese
4. Cardamom and orange milk chocolate
5. Pain au raisin
Avoid the quinoa pots and bowls unless you want to eat more quinoa than any human should in one sitting. The hot wraps are also pretty dissapointing and tend to fall apart in a gloop of melted cheese and sauce. Coffee conniseurs probably wouldn’t agree but the coffee in here is really good. The downside is that it’s quite expensive for a sandwich and coffee, especially if you sit in. And despite their much touted ethics they go through a hell of a lot of packaging. I’ve now invested in a reuseable coffee cup so I can keep having lattes here!

Nowadays I know how to make sandwiches but when I was an 18 year old student studying and working in the city centre I wasn’t sober enough often enough to learn such a skill. As such I would often buy my lunch from this branch of Pret A Manger. I was a particular fan of the freshly made soup as it was always something a bit bizarre but delicious, chorizo and butterbean for example or Thai corn on the cob (yes that is a soup), yum yum!
The staff are very friendly but one day one of them was a bit too friendly. I’d come in nearly every lunchtime and get served by the same guy. One day he gave me my order and said, «Would you like anything else with that?» winked and done a sexual type hand gesture. It was round about then that I learnt how to make sandwiches. I’m sure he has moved on from Pret A Manger in the 6 years since but I have still never been back!

Good coffee, no arguments.
This place just seems so. ach. I don’t like it in here!
It just feels like one of those places that people shop in purposefully so they can walk around with the bag and advertise that they go to Pret A Manger.
A dear place, and one that seems to attract certain types I dont mix well with.
Clean and tidy inside, with hard-​working staff but it all just feels a bit ‘off’ for me.

Pret A Manger is a place I’ve never really frequented very often, until recently. I have to admit, I’ve been missing out!
To tell the truth, I think it was the high standard of the cheese ploughmans baguette I devoured just last month. Since then, I’ve been going back for said cheese ploughmans as often as I can. The cheese is outstanding, really creamy and moreish, the pickle is delicious and the cress garnish is the cherry on the top. All sandwiches are made fresh that day and are priced between £1.50 — £3.50. You can also choose from a selection of sushi, soups or paninis.
Pret A Manger are a pretty environmental bunch as all packaging is allocated to its’ own bin which is labelled clearly and I think is a pretty good idea, more places should follow in their footsteps.
Oh, and try their fizzy orange juice, it’s very refreshing and comes in a really cute can with a picture of a fish made out of orange peels on the front.
The staff are also great in this branch, definitely deserving of 5 stars!