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

[Oppositioblue]

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!

We had the lamb crowns yesterday, which was a bit meh.
Today, we have the beef and bone marrow pie, which looks and smells amazing (currently in oven).

The salmon platter starter was lovely. Didn't look much but very filling and tasty.

Had the veg sides (meat from local butchers.)
Roasties spot on
Sprouts not liked here
Cauliflower cheese very tasty
Carrot mash quite watery but went down well with the kids as nice and sweet
Parsnips very nice but needed an extra 10 mins at a higher temp.
Red cabbage not touched
Butchers pigs were better than m&s. Stuffing much better on Boxing Day after an extra 10 mins in the air fryer.
Couldn't get fresh bread sauce and as I'm the only one who eats it didn't bother with making my own, m&s packet stuff was by far the nicest I've had.
Haven't eaten the choc pine cones yet - too full still!

Whereabouts are you? I got some great lovely sticker deals but none of the turkeys were marks down despite their best before date being 26th December.

I got the slow-cooked turkey thighs on spec, and they're super yummy! Would definitely get them again.

Agree about choc pine cones, much smaller and too expensive now. Bought some in sale after last Christmas and froze them individually - scrummy and very good value so will look this time. Party food very beige and samey. I got sucked in to 4 for 3 but we were so stuffed we didn't really want much.

That sounds right re the parsnips. We bought both the veg pack and the honey mustard parsnips separately. They were identical but the separate individual packet did indeed require a higher cooking temperature.

Turkey crown was perfect
Sugar baked gammon perfect
Parsnips lush
Sticky Brussels sprouts were OK
Posh red cabbage with cranberries and a sauce were Nice.

Didn't like the collection stuffing with cranberry on top and pigs in blankets. They were nothing special.

From sainsburys we loved:
prawn cocktail with spicy tomatoe jelly if they sell it next year I'd buy it again. At £10 for 4 a fraction on the price of the m&s lobster ones we've had the past few year and at £28 s rip off and bland too.
Poached egg and salmon billinis with hollandaise sauce (£10 for 4). DH and I had them christmas morning (2 each) and enjoyed them. Only took 7 mins in the oven with no mess either
Coquilles St jaques, roughly £10/14 for 4.really nice, flavoursome and the scallops were lovely.
Wasn't hung up on the raspberry pannacotta but we've got a chocolate house thing to eat today, and dm bought the sticky toffee ring so we will test them this evening.
Think next year it will be just meats and a couple of veg from M&S for us and the rest sainsburys.

@70isaLimitNotaTarget yes got the mug hangers. Haven't opened them yet.

Merry munch delicious. Opened before Christmas and had to refill twice. Oops

Jelly munch not so much would nit re purchase.

Chocolate squirty cream not just for Christmas amazing.

Truffle cheddar yum yum waiting all year for it to re appear. And it has not disappointed.

We used to have the crown but for the last 4-5 years have been ordering the Oakham joint and have to say year after year it's a winner, never any issues. The price however has gone up massively over those years, first one was just £18 and now it's £31, they shrunk it too, did feed 8-10 back in the day but now only 6-8 but as there is only four of us its perfectly fine. We also had the classic veg selection and found it all to be lovely, particularly the roast potatoes, yummy. The suede and carrot mash was however a little on the watery side though, same as last year but it was still enjoyed. Brother said the sprouts were fab, hubby and brother also said the parsnips were scrumptious and I enjoyed the red cabbage and cauliflower cheese. The pigs in blankets seemed okay, I don't like them but son and hubby loved them. Still yet to try the Winter Wreath cake, although judging by some responses its going to be rich. We are not really fussed on chocolate cakes as richness seem to be a theme with them but thought we'd give this one a try as it looks so good. We didn't bother with the Potato Dauphinoise this year as it along with some other dishes ended up getting wasted last year. All in all, very happy with this year's M&S Christmas food order.

The cranberry topped giant pork pie was the star of the show. Devoured by Teens & DH who 'reserved' ~hid~ the last slice. Exceeded expectations.

Also worthy of a mention, the mushroom, brie & butternut squash Wellington - really nice.

We still have pork & crackling joint, sausage garland and nut roast to eat but they look good 👍

Just tried a frangipan mince pie - lovely

You see this is why MN should be shut down. I didnt even realise that you could get refills for the Merry Munch. I will make myself very poorly.

We went to M&S to buy our food and ended up sacking it off and going to Aldi as the prices were just not worth it. We did get the panna cotta though and that was excellent.

One of the things I miss the most since giving up gluten is the Collection pork pies. So delicious.

We have the cranberry topped pork pie for later so I'm very happy that's getting good reviews.

The citron tarte was really lovely, we took this round to friends on Saturday and it all got eaten. The Winterberry Cheesecake we had for Xmas dessert and that also went down well, although the base was quite hard to get through with a spoon. I got the crackling yule log for my cheesecake hating kids and the crackling just didn't live up to expectations. The cake was good though once you get through the thick chocolate.

I was silly enough to order the Lobster to have Xmas Eve. What there was of if tasted fine, but just not enough to justify the exorbitant price. We also had pork garnish selection (pigs & stuffing balls) which came out well although I always cook them a bit longer to crisp them up a bit. Potato Dauphinoise we enjoyed too.

Brie en croute - amazing but as a result we couldn't eat our beef and marrow pie which we are having later.

The girls thought the plant based ham joint was nicer than Quorn roast.

Haven't started the chocolate torte as yet.

Our Turkey crown on the bone was delicious. I'm not a fan of turkey but I've got to say it was lovely.

We went low maintenance for this year's Christmas dinner to free my husband up more to play with the kids and it was 100% worth it.

M&S veg platter, all a thumbs up apart from the carrot mash that was a bit watery. Dauphinoise potatoes were nice but a bit bland. Parsnips really nice and there were plenty of chestnuts in the sprouts.

Porchetta was lovely, we had that on Christmas Eve.

Still have gammon in the fridge (it was for today but we still have lots of leftovers).

Turkey was a bit of a pain as the butcher's we ordinarily go to closed unexpectedly so we had a Sainsbury's one, it was a great price and tastes great.

My favourite though was a chance purchase of an Aldi 2 bone rib of beef I happened to get on Christmas Eve when I popped in to taket toddler for a wee.

All in all lots of lovely food.

We got the Oakham boneless crown with bacon and stuffing for 8-10. No way would it have feed more than 6, 7 at a push.

Carrot and Swede mash tasted ok but very watery and no one had much.

Roasties were great. Red cabbage good.

The bacon fell off the pigs in blankets when cooked, first time that’s happened so must be different quality.

Winter berry cheesecake tasted beautiful but was handed to us upside down in shop when collected so the berry topping was all over the cardboard box and a mess.

I've been enjoying the Fruit & Nut Butter all month long - it's peanut butter with dried fruit and Christmas spice. It was reduced last week so I've now got 2 extra jars.

Brown Butter mince pies were delicious but only managed to buy one box mid December and then they were never in stock again in my local store or on Ocado. Very disappointed.

The only party food item I've liked has been the butternut and feta quiche bites. Pretty much everything else was disappointing.

Posh Profiteroles also a big disappointment. The chocolate tops were on any side so they didn't stand up properly and the cream inside kind of watery and bland. Definitely not worth the price.

I went with the Aldi specially selected range. It came in store on the 19th, went in the morning and got everything I needed - turkey crown, ham, pigs in blankets, stuffing balls, fresh gravy and fresh cranberry sauce. Would recommend. All delicious and much cheaper than M&S.

Did anyone dare to try this? (fingers hovering over the sensitive image button)

Really appreciating this thread since after slaving over brined turkey, homemade baked cranberry sauce, Jamie’s homemade gravy, homemade cake etc that no one gives a shit and extended family huffy with me for being so busy in the kitchen. Going to save up and spank it on pre-made everything possible next time I’m hosting!

Their whole duck was superb, bread sauce delicious and fresh veg excellent. The pigs in blankets, as others have said, did not cook well and their sloe bucks fizz tasted like cough medicine!

Turkey Crown - excellent
Prepared parsnips with honey and mustard - good
Red cabbage - Good
Profiterole dessert - excellent
Yule Log - good
Cauliflower four cheese gratin - excellent
On Xmas eve we had some of the party food. Beef en croute, mini buttermilk burgers were very disappointing, def won’t be buying again. Loved the miso chicken with satay , halloumi fries and mini pies.