Somewhere down West London, when the hours of 6pm strikes. A particular Pret branch at the Strand transforms the shop into a casual dining affair. There are staffs greeting you at the door, with the evening dining menu and there’s even wine and prosecco available.
The Good Evening menu at Pret is about small plates, and believe me with plates under £10 you be feasting on a few dishes. Nick Sandler challenge with pleasing the CEO was to create a menu that showcases what Pret is all about, fast delicious and fresh that can be cooked within 5 minutes from the moment a customer orders.
They wanted customers to come in and have a sit down to enjoy some proper food. Not a lot people realise is that there are actual kitchens in each and every branch of Pret.
Tempted by almost everything my friend and I started off with Pret’s spicy meatballs, baked sweet potato wedges, and falafel.
The baked sweet potato wedges were created with Nick’s secret recipe, adding brown sugar to crisp the outer edges and skin whilst biting into a smooth soft potato.
Pret’s spicy meatballs packed a punch, mighty big balls, with tangy herbal tomato sauce with shavings of Italian cheese. These so-called small plates were moderate in size and can easily fill you up before getting onto mains.
Lucky for me I chosen a nice healthy vegetarian, with buffalo mozzarella from Italy, beautifully crafted filled with green leafs, baby plum tomatoes capers and Dijon mustard dressing.
My friend also got a buffalo, avocado toastie, crammed together with filling.
The bowl of falafel was filled with all the healthy stuff, kale, and roasted seed mix and pomegranate seeds.
The quinoa hot pots are worth trying. Our bowl was filled with shredded BBQ Korean style tender pulled pork smothered in Gochunjang sauce.
If you still have room in your belly, there are also desserts to tackle on. A classic of a chocolate brownie with warm chocolate sauce, or the cookies and cream.
I think Good Evenings at Pret is here to stay, a fantastic price point delivered fast and served fresh. Now let’s hope they roll it out in more shops.
https://www.pret.co.uk/en-gb/good-evenings-on-the-strand
The evening menu is available from 6pm – 10.45pm Monday – Saturday, and 4pm – 8pm on Sundays.