This is part 2 of a series of two opinions on “Prêt A Manger” (PaM) and “Benjys”. This part of the Series will look at Benjys, a chain of take-away restaurants in the West End. So far we have seen that PaM is a more upmarket place, I shall now look at Benjys with the ... Read review
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Advantages: Value, choice, hot food Disadvantages: Inferior in terms of class compared with Pret, inferior beverages, condensation inside packaging
This is part 2 of a series of two opinions on “Prêt A Manger” (PaM) and “Benjys”. This part of the Series will look at Benjys, a chain of take-away restaurants in the West End. So far we have seen that PaM is a more upmarket place, I shall now look at Benjys with the same criteria as the ones I looked at PaM with in the other opinion.
-Appearance of restaurant-
The emphasis here is on efficiency and space, ... ...or scent like Prêt, but there is a smell of oil. There is a lot of space so that customers basically do not bump into each other and the queues for the cash tills are as long as possible. The décor is basically “bog standard” (I like to be current and controversial) a general grey feeling to it. At one end of the shop is basically a “hot food” corner where you order hot beverages and hot food or can have your food reheated, ... more
This is part 2 of a series of two opinions on “Prêt A Manger” (PaM) and “Benjys”. This part of the Series will look at Benjys, a chain of take-away restaurants in the West End. So far we have seen that PaM is a more upmarket place, I shall now look at Benjys with the same criteria as the ones I looked at PaM with in the other opinion.
-Appearance of restaurant- The emphasis here is on efficiency and space, once you are near the door, there is no odour or scent like Prêt, but there is a smell of oil. There is a lot of space so that customers basically do not bump into each other and the queues for the cash tills are as long as possible. The décor is basically “bog standard” (I like to be current and controversial) a general grey feeling to it. At one end of the shop is basically a “hot food” corner where you order hot beverages and hot food or can have your food reheated, just don’t look in, it’s a mess! (but not too bad). The emphasis here also seems to be on the fact that they donate their unsold food to the homeless, a very good cause if you ask me, PaM also do this.
-The staff- Not as smart as PaM staff, but just as polite, some are more cheery than others. Also they are very efficient, especially the cashiers, the other day, someone commented on them being “like robots” and I think that is a fair comment.
-The presentation- Full marks to functionality here, no emphasis on the art side of food, sandwiches come in plastic boxes which are easy to eat from, desserts come in polytheneish packaging, drinks come in rather “cheap” cups and hot things come in paper wrapping and a paper bag.
-The food- This is where Benjys loses out, there is no focus on freshness or quality, but the food is fresh though, and tastes okay. There is a larger range than PaM, there are easily more sandwich varieties, but mainly more downmarket varieties, but I have no qualms about that. There is a good desert range, but I don’t like it too much, I think it’s a little cheap. Where Benjys beats PaM is the rolls/baguettes, here there is a large choice once again. Another place where Benjys wins is the warm food, you can get toasted sandwiches, torpedos with breakfasty fillings, omelettes, chilli-con-carne and have things like samosas and Cornish pasties warmed up. One thing I hate though is the refrigerators are turned on too cold, this means that there is condensation inside the packaging and your sandwiches are usually soggy,
-Beverages- Large selection once again, tea, and coffee, etc not as good as PaM as I said earlier, but here the cups are GIANT, and costs much less, I think a large tea is like 60p. There are obviously no fancy juices here, just standard reliable drinks, and soup too (for 80p), choose from 2 (canned) “soup of the day” which I sometimes do.
-Prices- No need to stumble here, Benjys is probably the best value in London, soft drinks are naturally around the 50p / 60p mark. A BLT sandwich is around £1.30 a toasted sausage and egg sandwich is £1.60 and a roll will set you back around £1-£1.60, you cannot complain too much.
So a summary, Benjys is the “stripped down” sandwich shop offering a budget meal of good quality, it is a shame that sometimes their food is soggy. Compared to Prêt, the food is not as inferior as the price differential suggests, maybe it reflects the wages paid to the staff or the packaging and the décor.
-So what is better?- Like the answer to every question in the world that is worth asking, IT DEPENDS, it depends on your needs, I am a student, who just wants to eat something nice for lunch, not too greasy, not too plain. As you can see from the slightly less detailed opinion in PaM, I visit Benjys more often, and Benjys is usually more busy than Prêt. Both chains have all sorts of customers, maybe Prêt is more feminine relative to Benjys, I am not sure. Also the construction site worker is less likely to go to Prêt. At the end of the day, it is a matter of taste, it is wrong to say the prices of PaM are ridiculous in my opinion, you should go to sandwich shops or Burger Kings at train stations. This concludes this series of opinions, as I said, it would be better if Starbucks was included, but I don’t think my opinion will be very trustworthy, I hope this series has been of help to some people, thanks for reading.
Advantages: Improving food, good range, smart card option, charity donations Disadvantages: Still not as good as Pret
...this, I didn't realise that Benjy's was not a household name - I apologise. Benjy's is a chain of sandwich bars. They usually don't offer sit-down options the way Pret a Manger does, it is strictly take away only.
Benjy's seem to be on every second corner in London, but clearly not everywhere else! I have just checked their website, and it is true they only have outlets in London, although they seem to have over 60 branches here. Their website says ... ...I first visited Benjy's 2 or 3 years ago, and was not particularly impressed. The sandwiches were very cheap - under a pound in some cases, but the range was extremely limited, particularly if you want brown bread and healthy fillings. They were also one of the guilty parties selling sandwiches made several days previously! I recently was forced to head for my local Benjy's in desperate need of a quick bite, and was pleasantly surprised. Walking ...
kam76 24.02.2005 (25.02.2005)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Benjy's
Advantages: Tasty food, good prices Disadvantages: Gets cramped, small takeaways
...with a green banner with Benjy's in white/cream. Here is where some of my colleagues and I head regularly for our fix of warm sandwiches and friendly staff, not to mention tasty food.
At Benjy's you will find a small takeaway shop usually run by three to four staff members, most of whom prepare and package the sandwiches and one tending the till. The stores are normally clean and well laid out, although some may be slighly cramped. The sandwiches ... ...sandwiches be brought in from Benjy's as I am assured of the quality of preparation. There is even a selection of breakfast items on offer as well which ranges from eggs, muffins, coffees, teas, bagels, fruit salads, crisps and drinks. I have had at least one quarter of the variety of meals that Benjy's offers and I am yet to find one not to my liking.
One striking thing about the Benjy's experience is that the smell of the food does not permeate ...
ttspud 03.12.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Benjy's
Advantages: Very efficient, tasty Disadvantages: none
...the back look as though they need a wash, but everything seems to be clean. Generally, Benjy's is fast, tasty(ish), efficient and cheap. My usual egg mayo sandwich and pecan pie only costs me £1.65, and with a banana it's only 5p more ...
danmania 25.02.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Benjy's
Advantages: Healthy, classy, good atmoshpere Disadvantages: Odour, relative prices with Benjys, packaging a compromise
This is part 1 of a series of two opinions on “Prêt A Manger” (PaM) and “Benjys”. You may or may not have heard of either, but basically they are two chains of sandwich/coffee shops in London, I guess PaM is nationwide and Benjys is London only. Basically they are like Starbucks but seem to specialise in food rather than coffee (Benjys more so). I would have included Starbucks too but I do not visit that much, hence my opinion will be rather sketchy or misleading.
This part of the Series will look at PaM, I will write another opinion on Benjys with exactly the same criteria.
-Appearance of restaurant-
PaM is a large chain of coffee shops/restaurants, first of all one cannot notice the trendy looking décor. The place is a sea of chrome and purple, I think it is very tasteful. The seating is not plentiful but ...
Modena 20.02.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Pret a Manger
Advantages: The stuff they sell is good, admittedly; attractive if poncey surroundings Disadvantages: A bit too 'gourmet' for its own good; too expensive; too concerned with style than making it affordable
I have a personal aversion to Pret a Manger. You can tell right from the outset that they go for style over substance - they seem more concerned that the cafes are all 'prettified' and that the sandwiches are nicely 'packaged' than actually making the place affordable.
Contrast this with Benjy's which is the total opposite. They've gone for a simplistic style with the bare minimum spent on superfluous and unnecessary decoration, instead concentrating on making cheap but tasty products.
The way I see it, Pret a Manger is for people that are either rich and so don't care how much things like this cost (or don't notice?), or for people that are too self-conscious to go somewhere cheaper or for people that are snared by the snazzy design and rubbish about 'no added preservatives...blah blah blah' that's plastered all over the windows ...
nikeair 18.12.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Pret a Manger
Advantages: A massive taste experience Disadvantages: Not enough in the packet!
Usually I like to eat my breakfast when I get to work, which means that I can usually have a few more minutes shut-eye before having to face the world (which is even more depressing in this wet winter weather). My fav breakfast is porridge with a little bit of sugar and salt, just to set it off. I keep my porridge supply in my filing cabinet at work and regularly troop to Tesco to stock up!
Sometimes I run out and instead of going hungry, I drop in to Benjy’s on the way to work and pick up one of their cereal bowls. (These are very handy things that consist of a polystyrene bowl, a plastic teaspoon, which is too small for eating cereal, half a pint of milk and an individual portion-pack of the cereal itself – all fro the bargain price of 95p!)
So I normally choose the one with Kellogg’s Luxury Muesli and I buy ...
