Here's What Happened When We Ate Dinner At Pret

    Pret a dinner.

    by
    Ailbhe Malone
    by Ailbhe Malone

    BuzzFeed Staff, UK

    ,
    Matthew Tucker
    by Matthew Tucker

    BuzzFeed Staff

    1. Pret's latest experiment is called Good Evenings, and it serves a full dinner menu.

    Pret

    Offered at a Pret outlet in central London, the evening menu is available from 5pm-10.45pm Monday-Saturday, and 4pm-8pm on Sundays.

    2. Essentially, it's still Pret, but there are some restauranty touches after 6pm.

    Matt Tucker/ BuzzFeed

    The cutlery is by Nick Holland and comes tucked into a paper napkin. There are big glass water bottles with stoppers that can be filled up at the tap, and giant bottles of Tabasco by the waiters' station. There are special Pret Evenings coasters, as well as tea lights on each table.

    3. The special evenings Pret is slightly tricky to find.

    Pret

    It's one of three Prets in about a one-mile stretch, and we stomp up and down the Strand, peering in each Pret's window until we find the right one. We feel a bit less stupid when we realise that The Observer also got mixed up when they visited.

    4. It's not especially cheap.

    Pret
    Ailbhe Malone/BuzzFeed

    "Small plates" like smoked salmon and sourdough, or falafel, are around £4 each, while sandwiches are about £6 each. The most you'll pay for one dish is £6.75 for the sweet potato and cauliflower curry.

    There are two types of white wine (a Touraine Sauvignon or a Pinot Blanc) and two types of red wine (a Pinot Noir or a Merlot), each coming in at £16 a bottle, or £3.95 a glass. If you want to splash out, a bottle of prosecco is £25.95.

    The wine is affordable for a central London location. At a wine bar around the corner, a glass of "reliable" house wine is £4.75, and a bottle is £19.

    5. There are regular Pret items on the menu, just served in nicer containers.

    6. But there are also special evening-only dishes, like sweet potato wedges.

    7. The staff are all pretty pumped about the concept.

    Pret

    It's about 7pm on a Wednesday when we visit, and people are still eyeing up sandwiches in the chiller cabinets. A mâitre d' warmly greets us at the door and explains that if we'd like to get a sandwich, then we can. If we'd rather sit in and enjoy the evening menu, that's an option too.

    The menus are printed on cream paper, and are clipped to weirdly heavy wooden boards (see above). We choose a corner booth and decide what to eat.

    8. You pay at the till, and are given a marker to bring back to your table.

    Matt Tucker/ BuzzFeed

    Despite the order-at-the-till system, there is still the eternal problem of which queue to join in Pret, which means we muddle about either side of the nuts stand for a bit.

    9. They make an effort with the presentation.

    Matt Tucker/ BuzzFeed

    We had half-expected a sandwich unwrapped on to a plate, but a cauliflower and sweet potato curry (served during the day as a Hot Quinoa Rice Pot) comes with a generous dollop of raita and a nudge of mango chutney on the side.

    Meanwhile, smoked salmon is piled on a plate and has a side salad with finely sliced onions, herbs, and capers.

    10. In fact, they made an effort with the design in general.

    Matt Tucker/ BuzzFeed

    Blinds draw down over the big windows saying "Good Evenings at Pret", and the walls are decorated with Ikea-like touches. There's a big wooden clock at the back of the room, which lights up in the evening.

    11. The sweet potato wedges have been the most popular item on the menu so far.

    Matt Tucker/ BuzzFeed

    Served in a little dish, with two kinds of dip (a yoghurt mayo and a chipotle ketchup), the sweet potato wedges are more baked than fried. They've been the biggest hit, according to Pret's press officer Alice.

    Alice tells BuzzFeed Life that their new salads have been popular too, like their Chicken and Bacon Cobb Salad served with "sous vide lemon & rosemary chicken, grilled bacon, Cashel blue cheese, free-range eggs, avocado, and mixed leaf salad. It comes with Pret's Dijon dressing and just about leaves you enough room for dessert."

    12. There are only two puddings on the menu.

    Matt Tucker/BuzzFeed
    Matt Tucker/BuzzFeed

    They're definitely for those with a sweet tooth. The Cookies and Cream (left) has got vanilla ice-cream, honey roasted cashews, sweet and salt popcorn, chocolate chunk cookie, Belgian chocolate sauce, and whipped cream. The brownie (right) is served warm with vanilla ice-cream and Belgian chocolate sauce.

    Alice adds, "Our Brownie bar has become quite iconic amongst our daytime customers, and is being served warm with ice cream and a Belgian chocolate sauce in the evenings now too!"

    13. The portions aren't especially large.

    Matt Tucker/BuzzFeed
    Matt Tucker/BuzzFeed

    Between the two of us, we order smoked salmon and sourdough (left), lemon and rosemary chicken (right), cauliflower and sweet potato curry, and sweet potato wedges. The meal comes to £37, including a glass of wine each. We still had plenty of room for a pudding each, and were maybe even a bit peckish afterwards.

    The salmon is our favourite – though it could be a bit smokier, it's fresh and yielding. The pistachios and pomegranate seeds on the lemon and rosemary chicken salad are appreciated, but it's just not big enough to have for your dinner.

    14. The crowd is pretty mixed.

    Matt Tucker/ BuzzFeed

    Over the course of an hour, we see a few couples come and go, one or two businessmen in suits eat a curry quickly by themselves, some tourists take a break with their guidebook and a plated-up sandwich, and a German tourist couple come in and have a three-course meal. All this, as well as people buying sandwiches and salads from the chiller cabinet.

    Overall, it feels like a place where you'd stop to have a quick bite to eat, rather than a full sit-down meal. Not unlike, well, Pret.

    15. There are no plans to open other branches.

    Matt Tucker/BuzzFeed

    Alice adds, "The response so far has been really positive. Customers are loving the value for money, the quality ingredients, and the friendly, speedy service. We're learning from customer feedback each day and tweaking the service as we go. For example we brought the start of the evening menu forward to 5pm as we were being told by theatregoers that they wanted somewhere they could grab a fresh and fast meal and a glass of wine with friends before going to see a show.

    "We still don't have any big roll-out plans while we concentrate on perfecting the trial, but watch this space!"