Page 8 | M&S Christmas Food hit and misses

gbpaln · 2025-12-29T07:27:53+00:00

I'm always taking notes for next year so interested in thoughts on M&S Christmas food hits and misses. Ours were: Hits Chateaubriand beef with peppercorn source Sticky toffee trifle (was sceptical but delicious) Christmas sourdough (made the most amazing Boxing Day sandwiches) Misses Dancing through the Snow dessert (it was fine and looked amazing when on the table but very.expensive for a couple of spoonfuls of mousse) Pigs in Blankets Mac 'n' Cheese Appreciate it is all down to personal taste but always wonder what delights I have missed.

Itslookinglikeabeautifulday · 29/12/2025 23:53

Best Ever Yule Log was very aptly named. Indulgent and delicious. Considering the size of it, it wasn’t a bad price (even better that I got it half price on Christmas Eve).

ScaredSceptic · 30/12/2025 00:05

We often shop at M&S for a few things and enjoy their products. We didn't get much from them for Xmas as not prepared to deal with the traffic/chaos/queues, and Ocado don't deliver here.

However we did get the Best Ever Pigs in blankets which seemed good quality but I just couldn't eat them as they were overwhelmingly herby - it was all I could taste.

We also got the Best Ever Yule Log (after Xmas) which I was really keen to try. I love a Yule Log but the standard supermarket ones are always dry, disappointing, and just taste of sugar rather than chocolate. So I had really high hopes for the M&S one.

Yes, it is the best supermarket Yule Log I've ever had, but still disappointing and really not worth £15. There was barely any cream in it, nothing like the pictures. So little you couldn't taste it at all. The sponge is quite dense, I was expecting it to be light and fluffy given that it's a chilled item. The ganache in the middle is nice but very rich, as is the ganache on the outside.

So it's all just thick, claggy chocolate with no noticeable cream to lighten it or cut through the richness. I wouldn't buy it again.

Katr673 · 30/12/2025 00:58

ChristmasLightsLover · 29/12/2025 08:25

The chocolate cherry roulade was a miss in our house. The outer casing was too hard even after defrosting and it just all went everywhere. Was not appealing visually! And didn’t taste great either.

Agree, found it the same.very disappointing

KTCustard178 · 30/12/2025 01:04

MySilentLions · 29/12/2025 23:04

So you don’t understand food manufacturing at all then …..

Show quote history

watch this video of a couple who bought the identical Christmas meals from aldi and M&S last month same ingredients almost same packaging but different brands - only difference is price

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music that you love, upload original content and share it all with friends, family and the world on YouTube.

https://youtu.be/37AF3wm976w?si=pPEsmXIiuq5WOHok

KTCustard178 · 30/12/2025 01:06

SockFluffInTheBath · 29/12/2025 22:04

Doesn’t mean it’s the same recipe, or the same ingredients though.

eta we jumped ship from Aldi to M&S for our weekly shop back in February, and there’s a significant difference in the food.

Edited

Show quote history

watch this video of a couple who bought the identical Christmas meals from aldi and M&S last month same ingredients almost same packaging but different brands - only difference is price

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music that you love, upload original content and share it all with friends, family and the world on YouTube.

https://youtu.be/37AF3wm976w?si=pPEsmXIiuq5WOHok

KTCustard178 · 30/12/2025 01:07

SpongeKnobNoPants · 29/12/2025 22:27

This is true, but different recipes. M&S also has the freshest fresh ingredients, while Aldi have the the least freshest, which is why you'll find your fruit and veg from Aldi is inedible a lot sooner than M&S.

While I agree that paying more doesn't always equal better (as evidenced by this thread) having the same manufacturing company doesn't mean the exact same ingredients/products/freshness.

You have to try and test. Not everything from Aldi is great. And I'm a weekly Aldi customer. But having tried a lot of their stuff, most of it is great for budget and you can't knock it for the price. But some stuff is obviously cheap and doesn't taste good, and their fresh stuff will never be on par with M&S.

I just find with Aldi's fresh stuff, only buy what you'll need to eat within 2-4 days, otherwise it'll be in the food waste and defeats the point of buying budget.

Show quote history

watch this video of a couple who bought the identical Christmas meals from aldi and M&S last month same ingredients almost same packaging but different brands - only difference is price

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music that you love, upload original content and share it all with friends, family and the world on YouTube.

https://youtu.be/37AF3wm976w?si=pPEsmXIiuq5WOHok

KTCustard178 · 30/12/2025 01:08

MySilentLions · 29/12/2025 23:05

Thank you for explaining when I couldn’t be bothered to deal with it

Show quote history

watch this video of a couple who bought the identical Christmas meals from aldi and M&S last month same ingredients almost same packaging but different brands - only difference is price

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music that you love, upload original content and share it all with friends, family and the world on YouTube.

https://youtu.be/37AF3wm976w?si=pPEsmXIiuq5WOHok

KTCustard178 · 30/12/2025 01:09

IrisPallida · 29/12/2025 22:30

Of course they use the same manufacturers. If you want a chocolate cake made for your supermarket you go to a factory that makes chocolate cakes. If you want a sausage made for your supermarket you go to a sausage manufacturer. There isn't a special M&S cake bakery or sausage factory!

However they use different ingredients and different quality ingredients and different recipes. Each supermarket will have their own recipe made specially for them. The whole production line will switch to the new recipe when making for different supermarkets. And trust me, the ingredients and recipes for Aldi and M&S will be very different as they are made to a different price point.

You can see this sort of thing happening on a small scale if you ever watch The Apprentice on tv.

Show quote history

watch this video of a couple who bought the identical Christmas meals from aldi and M&S last month same ingredients almost same packaging but different brands - only difference is price

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music that you love, upload original content and share it all with friends, family and the world on YouTube.

https://youtu.be/37AF3wm976w?si=pPEsmXIiuq5WOHok

Zanzara · 30/12/2025 04:15

@SpongeKnobNoPants then I can recommend Iceland's Luxury range moussaka. We split one between two of us with a buttery
baked potato and balsamic dressed mixed salad, Really nice and good quality, so I've stopped making my own.

Gluten free for Coeliacs as well. 😊

Cindefuckingrella · 30/12/2025 06:02

Sunshineandrainbow · 29/12/2025 23:35

Ours was all smashed when we collected it, they didn't charge us. Luckily it was just me and DD so not a show piece. Tasted nice but expensive for what it was.
I think as soon as its out the fridge it melts slightly and falls apart.

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i didn t think we would be the only ones with this issue! Back to pine cones for us next year and I suspect this pudding won’t be offered again.
Unfortunately I didn’t really notice anything was wrong until I got home but I phoned up
and managed to get a voucher for its value.

RedRiverShore6 · 30/12/2025 06:55

IrisPallida · 29/12/2025 22:30

Of course they use the same manufacturers. If you want a chocolate cake made for your supermarket you go to a factory that makes chocolate cakes. If you want a sausage made for your supermarket you go to a sausage manufacturer. There isn't a special M&S cake bakery or sausage factory!

However they use different ingredients and different quality ingredients and different recipes. Each supermarket will have their own recipe made specially for them. The whole production line will switch to the new recipe when making for different supermarkets. And trust me, the ingredients and recipes for Aldi and M&S will be very different as they are made to a different price point.

You can see this sort of thing happening on a small scale if you ever watch The Apprentice on tv.

Show quote history

Yes, I worked in QC for a food manufacturer and M&S ingredients were sourced separately and kept in their own area in the warehouse, they were treated differently and everyone knew they were M&S. The company made products for a few supermarkets but there was a difference in ingredients.

noodlebugz · 30/12/2025 07:20

Hits
Our turkey was nice, and the made without butternut and cheddar tarts were delicious. I liked the cranberry sauce. I looked at the desserts and thought god they’re over priced for most of them.

Misses
I’d ordered the brownie wreath to take to work and they were dry.
The pick up was like armageddon this year, we’d perhaps think of somewhere else in the future.

We still have the charcuterie board in our fridge yet to try! Date is 5th Jan - not seen in mentioned in how far I’ve scrolled.

Blankscreen · 30/12/2025 07:28

We didn't like the honey mustard parsnips, otherwise everything was really nice.

mummabubs · 30/12/2025 07:32

ifIwerenotanandroid · 29/12/2025 18:22

Cranberry topped pork pie
DH's favourite! Need to pre-order.

Bao buns. Not a miss, but very 'meh' and wouldn't buy again.
All these flat bao buns are nothing compared to a real, fluffy cha siu bao (see pix).

Was disappointed not to be able to try the cherry & dark choc panettone (even at £22 😱) - it was never on the shelf & apparently they had very few in my store.

If it makes you feel better I did get the panetonne and had really high hopes for it, but there was hardly any chocolate in it so really bland 😅🤦🏻‍♀️

Countmeout · 30/12/2025 08:18

We had the on the bone crown. Cooked it for exactly the time it said. Then sat over an hour and was just perfect.
toffee trifle, loved by all
cauliflower cheese looked lovely - I didn’t get any 😭
Pine cones the chocolate ones - we were trying to guess how much they’d be next year. My son in law apologised for requesting them after he saw the price in store ( we needed 2).
The Queens potatoes ( appreciate these may be a local potato which Marks has started selling here) are now past their best and needed supplemented by some Maris Pipers.
Bought the big frozen prawns £5 which are fantastic and made my own prawn cocktails.

Hashbrown towers were meh.
vegetable tacos were yum. Have yet to try the fritters and the Indian selection. We had a few from Sainsbury’s too.

Snakebite61 · 30/12/2025 08:37

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notnorman · 30/12/2025 09:13

SpongeKnobNoPants · 29/12/2025 21:56

This year decided to upgrade our Prosecco contribution to xmas dinner hosted by a relative. We'd usually bring several bottles of Freixenet rose presecco, but went for M&S's more expensive version this year after putting a few more pennies into our xmas savings.

Bitterly disappointed. Piss in a bottle! Tasted absolutely rank.

Luckily another relative brought bottles of Freixenet, so after forcing down flutes of the M&S shite we all gladly switched to that. Came back home with a couple of bottles of the M&S prosecco vinegar which has been slung down the sink.

Waste of money. Won't be buying it again.

You could probably have given them away

SpongeKnobNoPants · 30/12/2025 09:21

notnorman · 30/12/2025 09:13

You could probably have given them away

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Out of 14 people at the xmas dinner we attended, not a single one liked it. Not one. It wasn't worth giving away.

angela1952 · 30/12/2025 09:44

Redkatagain · 29/12/2025 23:23

I do, but Ocado is permanently out of stock for the party food and was last year as well.
If I have to go in person to the shop to get party food, I might as well get everything in person.
M&S via Ocado has been a total waste of time and it’s such a pity

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I agree, Ocado never had most of the things I wanted, and I booked my Christmas slot in October. I looked online regularly and I do wonder if they ever had some of them at all.

I booked them through M&S for Christmas collection and it was fairly easy, though you had to book in at one till and then go to another manned till (together with the first assistant) to pay the balance. Although I was early for my collection I was the only one there and it still took 10 minutes. By the time I left there was a queue forming.

Nocookiesforme · 30/12/2025 10:13

I can't believe how many of you managed to actually get a Big Mix Chocolates tin!!!! I have been trying since the beginning of October at the 3 (yep 3!!!) M&S stores that I can get to and they've been out of stock constantly. I managed to get 3 of the £7 boxes but they've been OOS since mid Nov here as well. We seem to have awful stock issues here in South Hampshire because the Light Up Forest chocolate box, the 3 Merry Munch tins and big chocolate boxes all were constantly OOS from November onwards.
I have to say that everyone loved the Big Mix chocolates more than QS, Heroes etc.
My DS26 did say that he mourned that M&S no longer do what he calls a proper Christmas cake - not a fruit one but the iced decorated ones that M&S used to do. He fondly remembers the last one we got which was a North Pole theme with penguins, polar bears, santa etc made out of icing with blue/white iced covering - it was beautiful. Sad that M&S no longer do them.

Westfacing · 30/12/2025 10:23

SpongeKnobNoPants · 29/12/2025 21:56

This year decided to upgrade our Prosecco contribution to xmas dinner hosted by a relative. We'd usually bring several bottles of Freixenet rose presecco, but went for M&S's more expensive version this year after putting a few more pennies into our xmas savings.

Bitterly disappointed. Piss in a bottle! Tasted absolutely rank.

Luckily another relative brought bottles of Freixenet, so after forcing down flutes of the M&S shite we all gladly switched to that. Came back home with a couple of bottles of the M&S prosecco vinegar which has been slung down the sink.

Waste of money. Won't be buying it again.

For future celebrations you might try this M&S cava - really enjoyable!

M&S Prestige Cava Brut - Ocado

JulesJules · 30/12/2025 12:32

Just hits here:

Ease of shopping, we went early on the Monday morning, the shop wasn't busy and we didn't have to queue at all at the checkout.
Butternut and Brie wellington - really delicious
Organic chicken - so much nicer than turkey
Red cabbage
Cremant
Fresh fruit and veg

LighthouseLED · 30/12/2025 12:41

I’m now wondering if I got a different red cabbage to everyone else as you are all listing it as a hit whereas it was a miss for me!

Splendidlydidy · 30/12/2025 12:42

I bought their prepared sprouts to save time. They were dirty and needed peeling.

IrisPallida · 30/12/2025 13:07

KTCustard178 · 30/12/2025 01:09

watch this video of a couple who bought the identical Christmas meals from aldi and M&S last month same ingredients almost same packaging but different brands - only difference is price

Show quote history

Hey, it is obviously important for you to believe in this M&S and Aldi sell the same food thing. That's OK, but I have to tell you, no-one else will believe it based on the 'evidence' of a youtube video, particularly this youtube video.