To think this ‘valentines’ m&s meal is rubbish?

[Dawbie]

Would you be disappointed with this as your valentines ‘cheap’ meal? When you ask for steak, asparagus and escalopes and come back with this instead 🙄think the main is horrendous.

I don’t think it’s "faux misunderstanding", I think people know what an escalope is (ie bit posh chicken nugget). They are suggesting that the OP didn’t mean she wanted steak and an escalope (which would be a bit odd together) but rather that she actually wanted steak and scallops, but asked for the wrong thing, so ended up with, what is effectively, an escalope...

I always choose something like dauphinoise potatoes or cauliflower cheese that's more time consuming to make and has more value as we normally have something like broccoli in anyway.

Yeah me too.

Sometimes it is possible to serve a meal without any vegetables at all.

Im not sure you're allowed to say that on here 🤭

I don’t understand your complaint OP. If you ( or someone else )bought something you didn’t want of course you will be disappointed
This morning I got
leek tarts ( which I will use as a main course another day )
steaks with peppercorn sauce
mixed green vegetables
millionaires pots
nice red wine

All look good.Might have it tonight ❤️

I definitely think the M and S Valentines meal deals have gone downhill.
We got a Tesco one last year and it was pleasantly surprising.

What’s wrong with it?

I agree

Strange thread because we don't know the reason why the OP has this meal.
I don't like the look of it because I don't like chicken, Prosecco or prawn cocktail but I also think steak and asparagus sounds revolting too because I don't like steak or asparagus either.
I'm not quite sure of the point the OP is making 😂

Who exactly are you disappointed in though, your title seems to be blaming M&S but someone bought it for you?
As far as the meal deal goes you pick and choose from multiple items, it doesn’t need to be a beige buffet.

In terms of your partner, you ‘requested’ steak but you also say it needed to be a cheap meal yet you had several more expensive requests.

I have a feeling op's dh got the meal, and picked up the wrong thing?

£20! U cld get a nice takeaway for that, including a cheap wine (depends where u are in the country Ofcourse). It's expensive for what u get and I agree the main doesn't look good at all!

If I was in a good place with my partner who bought it? I’d be more than happy so long as they were cooking it / cleaning the kitchen afterwards.
If things were rocky and I was looking for a row? Then I’d be upset about the lack of steak, bemoaning no veggies (to be fair I would want something green with that meal) and feeling like he doesn’t know me at all.
It’s all a matter of perspective, and celebrations like valentines holding a mirror up to your relationship. (Or if it’s an unwanted substitute on your shopping order, just hand it back and ignore me!)

Where are you ordering a takeaway and still having a bottle of Prosecco for £20??

I agree with @Blablablablaba I'd opt for an Indian or Chinese takeaway probably instead! M&S is glorified micromeals

TBF, it didn't occur to me that the OP meant scallops (Coquille St Jacques??) when she said escalopes. I'd have probably picked the chicken cordon bleu, only I wouldn't because I would have said 'you can have steak or chicken, which do you want' or just made a decision based on knowing the person making the request.

But the more I look at that red and pink packaging, the less it looks like a treat, just really unappealing.

My husband is doing me a steak with all the trimmings, he'll go to the butchers and pick the steak. If he returned with that sad looking bit of chicken he'd be back out to find me a steak, I'd expect a large fillet for my inconvenience.

It's a mistake ordering the valentines meal deal valentines weekend, every other lazy lover will be doing the same! Just be glad you weren't left with the crappy vegan option, imagine 🤣. Get down your local butchers they'll have plenty.

Not if that is the Ocado/MS meal deal. There are no escalopes to select and there are scallops so its a typo.

I'd be unhappy with those substitutions if I'd ordered the items the OP lists and I've have sent them back.

M&S meal deals are hugely overrated IME, the Waitrose deals Ocado used to carry were better quality and better value.

Oh scallops! That makes more sense 🤣

You can always get similar quality prosecco (other fizzy wines are available and usually nicer) without the meal deal mark up for about £7, leaving £13 for a takeaway. Portions are so massive that £13 would easily buy the same amount of food. Or you could get the M&S £12 Gastro Pub deal.

I presume you mean you had ordered the 'Coquilles St Jacques' (scallops in a sauce) as the starters, not Escalope's which are something different and aren't on the M&S valentine's dine in?

But I don't understand the complaint either to be honest. Understand the disappointment - but why not just send it back if it came in a delivery? If they were out of stuff they were out of stuff at the time the order was picked? Some people would be very happy with what you got. Our tastes are all different, which is why the stores give you a choice?

Or did you send someone with a shopping list and they weren't able to get you what you wanted? In which case, they should have phoned to check with you first, I would agree

M&S have got other options though - this just happened to be what was brought home.

I think it looks alright, or it will with some veg. I can only assume that you'd dispatched someone to get what you wanted from the M&S deal and they didn't have stock so you've got this?

My DH would have probably got what I asked for (so steak, asparagus etc, then a dessert, Prosecco all separately) and found himself in the doghouse for having spent £50 instead of £20.

Did you express 'can you grab that deal please, but only if they've got X, Y and Z in stock?'.

It will be nice

DH is working away during the week so I used some M&S vouchers (we have their credit card) to buy DD(15) and I the M&S Valentines meal. The key to these meal deals is usually to mix and match over multi meals.

Coquilles St Jacques will probably be a light lunch for me and DH tomorrow with some salad (and probably the Prosecco).

Like others upthread, I can't be bothered to make Dauphinoise so DD and I had that with the chicken OP bought (it was going to be that or the cod as I am not a fan of steak) with some tenderstem broccoli, babycorn and beans I had in the fridge. The chicken was okay and not something I would make.

DD loves a profiterole stack; this year's has pink topping and a bit of raspberry in with the cream. I've not double checked but I think we might have left DH a couple.

I didn't really fancy cooking and I am sure that a takeaway would have cost me far more.

I agree with others that steak is best purchased from a decent butcher.

Not that I particularly enjoy a steak, but OP's partner did have a bit of an epic fail there (DH would have phoned to check what would be the least bad compromises).

And agree with others, if you'd asked me to go for 'escalopes' and the options on the shelf were steak or that chicken thing, I'd have picked up the chicken thing. Wouldn't have realised you meant scallops, especially if that starter wasn't in stock.

I think she must mean scallops -because the item that looks like it has been bought instead is prawn cocktail.