What should I get from m&s food?

[34plus4]

I've never been before, it's far too fancy for us! But going today just to try it.
Is there anything that you really love that I should try?

I like all their salty snacks - anything from a cheese taster to a chipstick via an haberdas Fritas or whatever they’re called. I also like the mini cheeses but only on a train journey.

Fish pie. Any pie actually. Mash.

Their fruit is always very good quality.

Honestly? It’s expensive and over rated. Convenience food with fantastic PR! I’d go to Morrison’s.

Tins of their hot chicken curry. Gorgeous stuff!

I also think it's overrated. Most of the stuff you can anywhere for cheaper.

They do excellent garlic dough balls. If you eat meat (which I don't) they do huge hog roast pizza which DH says are spectacular - they were on offer for £10 including 3 sides.

Watching this with interest because I've never bought anything from a m&s food hall!

I love their pasta with spinach and pine nuts, in the salad section. M+S food usually is great! Yummy!

Duck liver parfait and fresh baked sourdough. Indian curries. Duck spring rolls.

I think it got the reputation for being good at a time when most convenience food was pretty grim, and maintained the reputation through snobbery. “We never eat convenience food- but M&S is different, of course” People don’t realise that other shops have caught up.

Kids love their crispbakes, their frozen triple cooked chips are fab (but v v bad for you!), I love their iced fruit buns

The smoked bacon and davidstow sausage rolls.
They reeled me in with an offer on a pack of 6, then upped the price and changed it to a four pack. The cheeky beggars.
But they are delicious!

Iced and spiced buns. Frozen bake-at-home pain au chocolat. The ‘posh cheese on toast’ spread is quite good too.

Their picnic food is excellent, especially the hog roast sausage rolls, mini scotch eggs, red pepper houmous and the quiche Lorraine in the black packaging.

Agree that their salty/bar snacks are great, also their charcuterie selections. Good Bombay Mix and their Italian lager is a good Peroni tribute.

Swerve the ‘international’ ready meals, all too sweet, no complex flavours.

Cheddar and Red Leicester cob bread from the bakery counter.

Wine - even the cheap stuff is reliably good.

The pasta and pine nut salad is excellent - other supermarkets' versions are weird greasy imitations.

Roast veg quiche.

The pastries, especially the apple turnover. Even Lidl's lovely smelling bakery isn't a patch on them.

Avoid the veggie sausages though. I don't know what they were thinking but they should have hired someone from Linda Mccartney to help with those.

Percy pigs.

If it’s on offer, their stir fry sets (sauce/carb/protein/veg) is, I think, usually slightly tastier and nicer than what I can get elsewhere. And the extremely chocolatey cake treats in tubs are nice. But as a PP said, although they were the first to do this sort of thing, most supermarkets have a version now.

Go fresh, everything I've had from their chilled section has been great! Go for stuff that you can't but generic good quality elsewhere (eg olive oil)

Unusual sandwich fillings
Unusual trifles/puddings (profiteroles!)
Cornish crunch cheddar if you love strong cheese
Unusual flavoured crisps and snacks (cheese and jalepeno flavour snacks are amazing)
You know where I'm going... any flavour combination or a product your couldn't just make yourself from the raw ingredients. Like I wouldn't buy their vegetable side dish of sprouting broccoli - but I would but their creamed spinach.
Great gluten free section
They recently changed their sushi for the worse though.

Avoid the tinned stuff, not amazing for the price in my opinion.

Percy pig sweets!

If they're doing dine in for £10 that's usually worth it.

I second the stir fry sets being nicer than others (although I do grump because it's more expensive too, and it's... stir fry.)

Their fresh pad Thai noodles with sauce. And nougat chocolate.

Their Thai green chicken curry is awesome

Some stuff is delicious, some is rank - so definitely good to get recommendations! I think their fruit, bakery and deli sections are good. I once bought a milk shake from there which had chunks in (on purpose) - that was disgusting!!

I like the deli stuff too. It can get expensive though to pick up lots of bits. Often end up spending about £20 a meal when I go there!

Cornish cruncher cheddar.

Percy pigs 🐷

Cornish Cruncher Cheddar. If you like a strong, tasty cheese, it's the one.

Ooooh, loads!

Strawberry & Cream meringues, steak lasagne, cheese croquettes, own brand wine, red velvet cake, their milk chocolate is yum and no palm oil, chipotle salsa, gluten free cheese snacks, cod fillets, the little steam packs of fresh veg stay fresh for ages.