Christmas Sandwiches 2024 - leftovers & vegan [@NLi10]

 It's that time of year again - discount Christmas sandwiches!

To reduce waste I've been lucky enough to be able to pick up yesterday's sandwiches for a while at work - and the Christmas ones have already started to appear.

First up is the multi-meat feast - Boxingday Leftovers sandwich

And it's stacked! You need to enjoy coleslaw, and mad mix of flavours - and the meat isn't as chunky as I'd maybe have liked - but this one is a hit and I'll be picking more up.  Odd that the chicken isn't turkey - but that's fine.

This one has no turkey too - because it's vegan!

It does have the turkey vibe though and loads of great flavours.  I did enjoy this one although it's never going to pass for meat it does certainly pass the taste test and I hope to get a few of these before they disappear in Jan.

Costa Christmas Sandwich - Vegan Turkey & Trimmings - at the Odeon [@NLi10]

 We went to the cinema to see Marvels & the projector broke.  Before that we had lunch in the Costa - as eating a toasted sandwich during a film is a bit mad.  I did take my Chai Tea latte in with me - and then back out.

It's OK - we went back the following day to see the film and enjoyed it.

I didn't really fancy any of the cakes - so figured giving the vegan Christmas sandwich a whirl would be a nice idea.

And it looks good - I mean those lines were on before, but still it adds to the vibe.

And while it's not quite as solid and meaty as some of the versions I've reviewed so far - it's actually quite nice.  The texture was wrong, but the flavours were pretty good - and it wasn't dry like I'd feared.

Again - not one to rush back for (unlike the film) but certainly worth a try whether you are vegan or not.

And as a bonus - here is a Jammie dodger brownie from the cafe in Manchester museum - this was amazing and worth a trip back for :D

Co-Op British Chicken, Boxing Day Feast Christmas Sandwich [@NLi10]

 Christmas Sandwich number 3 has appeared - and it's another themed one - Leftovers!

It's not in the premium range like the Christmas market one so is far less filled 

But it's a charity themed one which is nice - why should just Christmas Cards benefit good causes when there are plenty of other seasonal things?

The ingredients are as usual not simple, there are so many things going on! Spiced fruit chutney?!

Ah - there it is - spread on the bread.  This does indeed look like leftovers. No turkey mind.

Thing is - this one is awesome.  If you've had boxing day dinner with the extra sauces and all the cold bits of Christmas Dinner then you know what to expect here.  And because they've focused on the sauces spread on the bread it really works.  Although this is a lot less filling and exciting than the German market sandwich I think this is a lot more 'lunchy' and certainly easier to eat on the go.

Co-op have done great so far this year and I'm hoping to see them more through the month before they disappear again forever.

Co-Op Christmas Market Sandwich - currywurst & sauerkraut [@NLi10]

I've had great luck picking up the Christmas sandwiches early this year from the discount  section - and here is number 2!

Unusually this isn't the boring side of Christmas - it's the exciting Christmas market - and a German one at that!  Short of including a sausage grilled on a fire pit and some Weissbeer this is as close as you can get.

So much seasoning! And pickled cabbage!

Colours are awesome too - that's likely to add to the nutrition as well as the textures and tastes.

A decent amount of filling, and smells great - no extra chilli flakes needed here.

While the flavours are a little muted compared to an actual German market, this is pretty much as close as you are going to get in a UK Supermarket and everything is very high quality.  The curry isn't too strong for lunch time either.

I'm looking forwards to spotting this one more often and getting the tastes and textures of Germany throughout the run up to Christmas.

Tesco Christmas Sandwich - Pigs UNDER blankets & Chick/Bac/Stuff [@NLi10]

It's luxury Christmas Sandwich time again! Halloween has been and gone, and now the orange packages give way to red and green.

First to hit the reduced section was this one from Tesco - which is actually two Christmas Sandwiches in one.

The Pigs are under blankets for efficiency, and the other sandwich has all the meats.

That's a lot off effort to simulate a Christmas lunch at my desk - no wonder this should be £3

The sausage and bacon pair is pretty good - the seasoning was added by me.  A decent amount of filling and as long as you don't want any vitamins you are sorted.

Here we see the premium poundshop peri peri grinder in all it's glory!

Bacon again! This time with a bit of chicken and the stuffing used as spread.  This side needed cranberry - but was again suitably festive.

Can't wait to be fed up of this before actual Christmas which seems very very far away.

GRO Vegan Christmas Sandwich - No Turkey Feast (Co-Op) by @NLi10

After the disaster of the Christmas Pot Noodle on Sunday I wasn't really looking forwards to trying this Co-Op Vegan Christmas themed sandwich.

Turkey-style soya protein doesn't sound that amazing- but the Co-Op aren't known for disappointing me.

On a side note the calendars came! Not sure how I'm going to do them when I'm not always at home - but here they are. One Cat & one huge charity Oxfam choc one.

Co-op are also donating loads from these sandwiches to charitable foundations which is good.

And as far as pre-made sandwiches go - taking out the meat and adding other goodies in can only be healthier - so how does it stack up?

 

As it turns out - it's actually quite nice!  It's a little dry - which is oddly realistic for a turkey sandwich - but if you had some gravy or just a nice festive drink along side then you'd be fine. 

The soya protein has a good texture, and the added ingredients work really well. A definite win.

Given the opportunity I'll choose this one again - even though I'd quite like to try the meaty versions at some point this year too.

Pret’s Festive Lobster Roll (Pret) By @Cinabar

We had a busy day doing some Christmas shopping and we stopped to pick up a bite to eat using Pret takeaway. They did have a traditional turkey based sandwich on their menu but I also spotted this Festive Lobster Roll. I’m not sure how a lobster is festive but it is a luxury, so it certainly sounded indulgent and I couldn’t resist. The baguette is so ‘special’ that unlike most of their other sandwiches this one come in a posh box, which was Christmas red and looked rather smart.
When you are eating a Lobster Roll you can’t help feeling a little posh, pretentious moi? The sandwich is on a white small baguette and the filling consists of lobster, dressing, cucumber and spring onion. The flavour is actually fantastic. The bread is fluffy but with a light crunch on the crust. The flavour from the lobster is nicely enhanced by the dressing which is both cooling and fresh with lemon and has a gentle warmth from some chilli. The cucumber slices add loads of lovely crunchy texture, which really made it enjoyable to eat. I liked the spicy tang from the spring onion slices that were generously sprinkled inside this Festive Lobster Roll.
It may not be a traditional Christmas sandwich but as seasonal ones go this is one of the best. I think this might be a little posh for a every day take out sandwich, but after Christmas shopping we felt like we needed a treat.

Lobster & Prawn Thermidor Sandwich (M&S) By @Cinabar

I have to admit that Marks and Spencer did have the traditional turkey sandwiches available and my hand did hover over one of them, but then I spotted this Lobster and Prawn Thermidor Sandwich. Firstly I could’t get over just how posh the sandwich sounded and secondly, as a seafood lover, I couldn’t wait to give it a try.
The sandwich isn’t too big, but it is packed with plenty of filling. I could see lots of creamy sauce and salad stacked up within it. The bread is a brioche bun which gives it a firm but satisfying texture. The lettuce has  a lovely sharp acidic taste, that counters the seafood perfectly. There is lots of texture from the prawns and the lobster, and the seafood tastes wonderfully fresh too. I really enjoyed the sauce it was creamy, but the brandy within it added a good warming element that held all the elements together. This is far from being a traditional Christmas sandwich but I still loved it, and it is the sandwich I will miss the most when they are reducing the menu in the new year, for the dieters.

Turkey and Bacon Club Sandwich (Costa) By @Cinabar

Tiz the season to be jolly, and the season for the Christmas sandwiches to hit the shops. This year I thought I’d start off by trying out the new Club sandwich from Costa. As a club sandwich there are three slices of bread and two layers of filling, the first one being sausage and bacon, the top layer being turkey, stuffing and spinach. Not sure where the spinach fits in on the usual Christmas dinner, but I was pleased to see some green in there and I would have been more wary if it turned out to be Brussel Sprouts!
Thankfully the bread on this sandwich was smaller than regular bread, which meant that the tower of sandwich before me was more manageable. The sandwich was toasted by Costa, and this gave the bread a lovely texture. This was still a very indulgent sandwich and a meat lovers dream. There was turkey, bacon and sausage all making themselves known, and it had a very substantial feel. I loved the meaty taste, and it was filled with the flavours of Christmas. There was a lovely aftertaste of stuffing and cranberry and both added a good hit of herbs and sweetness. As someone who loves a mix of textures I felt the toast and all the ingredients made this very enjoyable to eat. This is my first Christmas sandwich of 2017 and it is going to be hard to beat!

A Greggs Christmas - Christmas Lunch Toastie And Festive Bake (@NLi10)

As it gets colder and the shops cotton on to the fact that some people want Christmas to start at Midnight on Halloween we see the festive variations creep onto the shelves.  Gregg's started their viral advertising early and hard this year by putting a sausage roll into the nativity instead of aliens and otters like my family's ever expanding Playmobil version contains.

I assume this was to announce the following - we do a Christmas Toastie - and a Festive Bake now!

I'm sure they have done these previously, and I may have even reviewed the bake, but I don't remember the toastie and it's quite a cool proposition.  A hot turkey and bacon sandwich doesn't need festive branding to get me interested.  This is £3.

The Festive Bake is half the price - but it's just chicken and bacon which isn't quite as festive.  Also the chunks are smaller and less recognisable.

As you can see the sandwich is quite stuffed - with big quality chunks of meat and actual recognisable ingredients and flavours.  They have decided that it needed cheese on top - because toasties can't exist without it?! This kind of ruins the festive flavour a bit, but luckily the rest is good enough to overpower it.  Well worth it if you like all the ingredients and want a hot sandwich.

I had the Festive slice for pudding (unremarkable compared to the sandwich, but certainly edible).  And an egg custard for starter because the sandwich takes a little while to toast.

Festive Feast Sub Sandwich (Subway) By @Cinabar

This is the first year in which Subway have brought out a Christmas special sub. It is described as a Festive Feast, and consists of turkey (which I guess we could see coming), sausage, bacon and cranberry sauce. Of course when you order this sub you still get the usual offerings of salad, and I added lettuce, tomato, cucumber and olives… yes I know olives don’t sound like they’d go, but I was thrown by the already strange combination. This sub needed gravy, not salad! The cranberry sauce looked very runny when it strewn across the filling, it also looked like a very bright shade of dark pink and not so appetising.
I tucked into the large Festive Feast Sub and realised it was not for me. There is too much meat, and the mix of flavours just meant it felt heavy and mixed up. I know people have mini sausages wrapped in bacon with their turkey dinner, but pig pieces of bacon, a full sausage and turkey sandwich was jut too much in each mouthful. The salad seemed really out of place, although all the parts were fresh and crisp. As already stated I didn’t do myself any favours with the olives, but heck I have them on their chicken tikka!
Now the major problem I had with the Festive Feast Sub was not just the overload of meat, it was the cranberry sauce. It wasn’t very sweet and seemed more acidic and vinegary. Not a flavour I wanted in an already over complex sandwich. Did I mention it was runny, it was running down my fingers, by the end of the sub I wanted to take a bath, but had to suffice with washing my bright pink fingers in the sink at work. Next ones a Big Beef Melt.

Zum Glockenspiel Pork Steak Sandwich (Birmingham) [By @SpectreUK]

I always try to make it to the German Market each year when it visits Birmingham for a month or so before Christmas. Over the last couple of years it's been a bit more difficult as I was working outside of the city. This year I'm back at university and was able to wonder over for a quick bite to eat one lunchtime. I usually hang around the busiest part of the German Market, which is in Victoria Square around the huge fountain there. This year to save my legs I had a look around some of the stores nearest the big bronze bull outside the Bull Ring. The large store called Zum Glockenspiel first caught my eye. It had a barbecue side and a bar side with tables at its centre. Being rather hungry and smelling the fine cooking spicy meaty smells I headed towards the barbecue side.

I could see fizzling away quite happily on the grill lots of pork steaks, which seemed a grand change from the usual hot dogs I buy in Victoria Square, so I just had to try one. The red pork steak had been heavily seasoned with paprika and was served in a brown roll. I added a little ketchup and German mustard which was available on the side of the store and waited for it to cool. The succulent barbecued pork steak had a flavoursome paprika spice to it. As I bit through the soft brown roll the meat almost melted in my mouth. The whole compact style of pork steak in the bread roll was easy to eat and not messy at all, so it was good to munch on the go for a quick lunch. Perfectly cooked and spiced this pork steak was heavenly tasty, moreish and quite filling too. I desperately wanted another one once I'd finished, but realised I was probably being over greedy!

Zum Glockenspiel also sells half metre long Bratwurst hot dogs, and to wash it down they sell beer or hot chocolate drinks. I shall definitely be back before Christmas!

By Spectre