Philpotts

So, ever striving for better food at work, last weekend I suggested we order from a different place to the usual. I’m not implying the usual doesn’t do a valiant job, the sandwiches are large and full of fats. I like that, I really do, but I felt a touch of class could be added to the Friday morning lunch order.
Well, don’t I look a mug.
They deliver, oh do they.
I ordered at 9am, via fax no less! Yes, they «Can’t accept telephone orders». Sorry is this 1982? Fax?! What on earth…
Oh well, the food sounds delicious, I’ll go down, use the fax machine (23, never actually used one before).
The food is ordered, they phone us very courteously to inform us of this.
An hour later we call back…“where on earth is it?“
‘Oh, the delivery boy set off half an hour ago!’
«what the dally oh?!»
a further hour later, a call saying he couldn’t find us. Bearing in mind I work in the largest building on one of the largest roads in Leeds. Yes. well
A further 30 minutes later, a taxi turned up (which they happily offered to pay half for). Seriously, half?
The food was cold, the orders were wrong. I give in. Seriously.
I’m ordering an Arabian house now.

In the heart of the business district, this Philpotts on St. Pauls Road may not be quite as attractive as its sister branch at Bridgewater Place, but the quality is just as consistent.
An independent sandwich chain with the majority of its outlets in Northern England, there is quite a magnificent range of lunch time choices at Philpotts. It has an old-​fashioned feel and image to the business, with the staff wearing long aprons and bow ties.
Personally, I think if prepared food has spent any length of time travelling around the country; not only does it lose freshness and flavour, but often my custom too. It is a real bugbear of mine, there is little excuse for food not being created on the premises. Thankfully, Philpotts agrees and they prepare everything on the day.
There is an excellent range of sandwiches and salads, pasta and soups available in the shop, but Philpotts has en elevated status in my opinion, for one further reason. On a dreary day, what is more desirable to devour than a roast. The shop stocks a couple of juicy joints daily, from a delicious selection of beef, gammon, crispy duck, lamb or pork. The succulent meat is generously decanted onto fresh bread and served with a variety of accompaniments. It doesn’t quite capture the taste of love that your own mother’s does, but it’s a close second and a worthy substitute.
Philpotts is a charming deli and sandwich shop to have in the vicinity. They seem to care about their food and are adroit in their field. I consider Philpotts to be reason enough for a saunter down to the business district.

I ventured into the Bridewater place Philpotts yesterday, after at least a year of walking past the park square one and wondering what it was like.
I wasn’t let down when i walked in — the place actually flabergasted me! It took me about 15 minutes to fathom what i wanted. There were shelves full of snacks, a hot food area, at one side of the shop there was an area to pick up the base of a salad (bowl of pasta or salad or rice), to which you’d go to a fresh counter and pick out what you wanted on top of it. There was then a sandwich area where the fridges were just full of all sorts of ingredients — fresh smoked salmon and mackrel, salad items, hams, cheese — i couldn’t take it all in to be honest!
I decided to have a sandwich.
For my friends sandwich, I opted for a strange looking mixture which turned out to be pastrami, stilton and chilli’s (she didn’t warn me about the chilli’s though!). I then got myself the daily special at £3.80 which was chicken, avocado, bacon, cheese and a lemon mayonnaise. I was given the option of butter or olive oil — i choose butter but liked the idea of olive oil.
I was a bit dismayed to see that the chicken, avocado and bacon sandwich wasn’t made with chicken breast, fresh avocado and bacon slices though to be honest! It looked like a mayo mush filling that went in there. I thought at £3.80 i’d get proper hunk of meat in there like what you get at appetite. I also had to pay 60p extra to have the sandwiches of a soft roll with a few seeds on. If it was a full on baked baguette or ciabatta i would be happy to pay more, but it was just a soft sub roll? I was also told that if i wanted more than 1 type of salad filling i’d have to pay more as well.
The total bill for 2 sandwiches came to £8.04. Yes, that is really expensive!
The sandwiches did taste good, and the shop was clean, the food fresh and the servers were really friendly and happy and chatty. I just can’t get over the fact that it cost £4 for a soft bap filled with mush (tasty as it was, it was mush) and lettuce! I’d eat there again, but only if there was no where better open in the vicinity. That sounds a bit mean, but i think that you can get a lot more than that for £4 in leeds city centre. I could go to Wokon and get a massive pot of noodles freshly made infront of me for 95p more, or a whole hot meal from wetherspoons! Or for £1 less i could go to boots and get a nice enough sandwich, snack and drink. For £2.80 i could get a hot potato filled with chilli and cheese! So i find £4 for a mush roll hard to justify.
I’ll stick to the subject of sandwiches anyway — Appetite on wellington street charge the same prices just about for thier luxury sandwiches. But they give you actual chicken breast, fresh bacon and veg, choice of cheese, choice of sauce and awesome bread. I think its easier to choose what you want there as well, as they have choice but not too much choice.
I also noticed on my way out that Casa Mia have opened a little shop next door as well called Pronto or something — selling hot pasta and pizza and icecream and so on. They have a fantastic looking cake fridge as well — really impressive! So i actually felt aggreived that i’d not spotted it first, as you can get a lasagne from them for £2.95! Or spinach and ricotta cannelloni for £2.95 as well. A cooked course, that would have been £1 less, and that i could have taken away.
Philpotts, your sandwiches are nice enough but you’re being greedy with your prices. Chop em down and i might come back.

Ah, Philpotts. Phil’s pretty much summed up his namesake. They have the perfect balance of excellent sandwich making skills combined with broad northern accents and just the right amount of flirting to send you back to the office with a feeling of warmth and contentment. Like any top quality luxury: champagne, single malt whisky, truffles, caviar, philpotts is well worth the extra pennies to make you feel that little bit more special. Just beware of your wallet if you go regularly!

Reassuringly expensive. Reassuringly popular. Reassuringly nice soups. Yes, this is the place you could easily spend 6 quid on lunch and only come away with a sandwich and a soup. In the north of England! Ridiculous, but, at the same time, amazing. It’s all about custom made sandwiches you see. In fact, a certain A N Hunter (covered elsewhere) is actually famed for not being able to eat sandwiches that were not prepared in front on him. If he ever went to The North, he’d love Philpotts.
My personal faves were:
— rare roast beef and horseradish
— ham, egg and mayo
It’s worthy of note that the girls here first convinced me to try mayo on a sandwich. I have never looked back.