The sandwich shop in the University of Manchester precinct has acquired something of a legendary status amongst its patrons. Admittedly I have passed it many times, and occasionally purchased a panini from their numerous, greasy toasting presses, but I cannot tell you the name of the establishment – it’s situated next to the ‘Happiness’ Chinese restaurant you cannot miss it.
Aimed at the student population you get a lot of sandwich for your spending money. A (possibly) chilled glass counter displays approximately twenty varieties of sandwich meats all doused in mayonnaise and other such creamy sauces. Coronation Chicken, Cajun Chicken, Chinese Chicken, Mexican Chicken – they’re all there. For £3.65 you are allowed two of these, some cheese, all the standard salads and finally a selection of three cold meats such as bacon or salami. As you might have gathered, in order to get your monies worth it is frankly impossible to organise a conventional set of flavours within your sandwich. Two cold meats would in fact suffice, the additional creamy fillers are simply unnecessary but you take them because it’s polite and the ladies that work there are quite frightening.
Panicked, I chose Cajun Chicken, Cheese, Salad, Bacon and Ham. It shouldn’t work, it didn’t really work, but it fuelled me for the next 72hours and provided a far tastier lunch than many conventional packaged sandwiches will provide.