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M&S food - what was good and what wasn’t?

174 replies

Oppositioblue · 26/12/2023 10:03

Beef Wellington overall was good. The duxelle was a bit strong but the beef was delicious. Wouldn’t buy again though. Very expensive. It was £70 and only fed 3 of us with just pastry leftover.

We also had the prawn and lobster cocktail to start. The fish was delicious but the cocktail sauce M& used wasn’t nice. We had a bottle of cocktail sauce in the cupboard thankfully so we scrapped off the sauce and added our own which was much better. The tomato balls in the starter weren’t nice. This is a definite no as a repurchase next year.

We also bought a Christmas colin to have over the coming days. He’s good!

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JMTWords · 26/12/2023 10:18

Stuffed turkey crown on the bone turned out well, DH commented on how nice it was more than once.

We had ordered the pigs in blankets/stuffing balls set, as we usually do. I thought the stuffing balls were mushier and so hadn't held their shape as much as previous years, I gave them a bit of a roll when I put on the tray. Cooked up fine though.

TheRealKatnissEverdeen · 26/12/2023 10:26

Lamb gravy, added to my own, was good.
Deli style coleslaw was delicious.

Will report back later after family have arrived and consumed various party starters, roast potatoes, desserts, cheese and crackers and magnum rose prosecco!

Mumaway · 26/12/2023 10:27

We had the crown on the bone too and it was fab. Potatoes meh, parsnips with honey mustard glaze delicious. The jar of seafood sauce was lovely watered down with natural yoghurt and served with mix of normal and king prawns. Cauli cheese really awful, very processed sticky sauce that tasted like UHT milk

Springbaby2023 · 26/12/2023 10:27

Parsnips were delicious!

LadyMacbethWasMisunderstood · 26/12/2023 10:41

Christmas pudding was excellent. Tasted like home made. Salmon en croute was excellent (though not really enough to serve 4). Potato dauphinois nice enough though a bit bland. I have given up buying their vegetarian Christmas food after 3 successive really disappointing years.

qpalbfy · 26/12/2023 10:42

We dithered between Sainsbury's and m and s for beef wellington and opted for Sainsbury's, it was £40 and just about fed a family of 4 (youngest didn't eat very much, grown ups would have happily mopped up more!) it was delicious though, and recommend it if you want something a tad cheaper next year!

twistyizzy · 26/12/2023 10:44

@qpalbfy agree about Sainbury's Wellington. We had it and I was concerned about the quality of the beef but it was beautful, just melted un the mouth and I don't think M+S would have been any better at nearly twice the cost.

Gardeningtime · 26/12/2023 10:57

I also had the stuffed crown on the bone and honestly can say it was the nicest turkey I have had, very moist and the stuffing was lovely. Usually I am not a fan.

their Camembert sauce and turkey gravy was also great. I just added the turkey juices to the gravy and heated through, was very tasty.

the other stuff was general fare, so for example their stuffing (additional ) pigs in blankets , Camembert, all good, but but fairly standard.

i will buy the crown again definitely.

70isaLimitNotaTarget · 26/12/2023 11:02

Did anyone manage to get the gingerbread man mug hangers ? (Little biscuits shaped to hang in the side of your hot chocolate mug)
I saw empty shelves and the shelf label in several M&S stores . Then nothing .

I did wonder if I dreamed them !

Poblano · 26/12/2023 11:03

M&S turkey crown was nice but took longer to cook than the instructions suggested (this could just be my oven).

Pigs in blankets and stuffing balls were a bit uninspiring. The sausages seemed to shrink more than the bacon so the "blankets" fell off. Stuffing balls were very soft before cooking but nice once cooked. I have a pack of the more expensive pigs in blankets with treacle bacon in the fridge, they do look nicer.

Vegetable selection: sprouts with bacon and chestnuts were very good but carrot and swede mash was very runny. Potatoes and parsnips were fine, eating the red cabbage and cauliflower cheese today so will report back.

Also have their ham joint and a winter berry cheesecake today.

WelshNerd · 26/12/2023 11:07

We’ve had the same thing for the past 5 years. Turkey crown with bacon, veg selection, pigs and stuffing balls, gravy, profiteroles. Added a Rodney reindeer cheesecake this year. Personally I thought the food this year was the best it’s ever been.

ChimneyPot · 26/12/2023 11:08

I tried their Brussels sprout gratin as an experiment and won’t be repeating it. I will do some normal sprouts with bacon and chestnuts today for having with leftovers. DH who doesn’t actually like sprouts quite liked it though.
Also had their Christmas red cabbage. I thought there was too much apple in it, I prefer their normal one.

CheersToAMerryChristmas · 26/12/2023 11:10

Pigs in blankets wet bloody awful. Slimy, flabby, fatty, and the miserly sliver of bacon fell off.

Jury's out on the fresh cranberry sauce.

brawnthesheep · 26/12/2023 11:11

stuffed crown here too - delicious. Loved the brussels with chestnuts & bacon. Parsnips delicious. Roasts good but not the best, didn’t like the swede mash thing.

brawnthesheep · 26/12/2023 11:12

Had separate stuffing & posher pigs n blankets which were good just not the best i’ve had. Have the usual pigs & stuffing balls today

brawnthesheep · 26/12/2023 11:12

Love the buck’s fizz

Aworldofmyown · 26/12/2023 11:14

70isaLimitNotaTarget we have those in the cupboard, you've just reminded me!!!

Aworldofmyown · 26/12/2023 11:15

We had a fancy, huge pork pie which was amazing. It had cranberry jelly.

Floralnomad · 26/12/2023 11:16

Turkey crown was lovely , gammon was lovely , parsnips were lovely , the GF garnish pack was lovely . The chocolate wreath is very chocolatey and you only need a tiny portion .

StragglyTinsel · 26/12/2023 11:17

I had a crown. I thought the stuffing was absolutely meh. I didn’t make my own because it came pre-stuffed, but my stuffing is far nicer.

gettingolderbutcooler · 26/12/2023 11:18

Potato dauphinois was lovely, as was the sprout gratin. Porchetta roast was amazing! Choc pine cones delicious!

hby9628 · 26/12/2023 11:18

Beef gravy was amazing
Profiteroles were very good too

Langsdestiny · 26/12/2023 11:19

The very Merry Munch (pretzels, nuts, chocolate) was a disaster. I have eaten the whole tin and people are having to pry it out of my hands.

Easipeelerie · 26/12/2023 11:19

We went to a large one at 2pm on Christmas Eve. The yellow stickers were out in force and the customers were buzzing round them.
We got a half price bronze Turkey- very nice. We paid £2 for celeriac in cheese sauce, perfectly pleasant but it was originally £10 - crazy pricing. Also £2 for a prawn and salmon platter- really fresh prawns.

Madickenxx · 26/12/2023 11:20

Turkey crown was lovely but took it out earlier than the time stated on it as it would have been overcooked. The veg selection was overall good but had to throw out the roast potatoes as they'd clearly been frozen at some point and you could wring the water out of them. Red cabbage was delicious, the carrot and swede mash was also nice but a bit watery, the brussels were lovely and I forgot to cook the parsnips so we'll have those tonight.

The triple Yule log with popping candy went down a treat although I found it a bit sickly.