German equivalents of UK's Boots Meal Deals

Oh jesus. I just defended Germany. Shit. I apologize for the lapse in concentration. Damn.

what! i love germany. its not like i just want english food and english tv and all that. im just saying i miss boots meal deals. dont you miss anything from home?
anyway i problem is solved. my friend has promised to bring a weeks worth of meal deals for me when he visits! now theres a good friend, that understands what is important in life.

Now, I can agree with you that there is no real substitute for the quality sandywitch here in Hermannland, and that the Boots meal deal is good value with good options and was a staple of my London diet. What bothers me tho is that they'd last an entire week without spoiling...what are these sammies made of? Would you make a sammie with chicken or any kind of meat in it and then eat it a week later?

I am guessing these Meal Deals are going to taste well rank once they have sat in the fridge for a week.

They did do a great Breakfast Sandwich on Baked Bean bread when I used to live in the UK. Now that was thoroughly awesome when it was FRESH. I would not be too keen to eat it if it sat there for for than 1 or 2 days.

Kids of today just have no clue

Ummm, ok. I suppose everyone sets their priorities differently.

I do miss stuff from home. But I eat what I can get here and then when I go home I will eat what I can get there (and probably also "miss" some stuff from Spain). Not that big of a deal for me, just part of the whole "different country" thing. I personally am glad there are differences because you learn to appreciate certain things more.

Make sure your friend brings them in a cooler bag or something like that, because if they are with meat I doubt they will survive very long (not a week anyway) if they are not even being properly refrigerated. Even if they are I doubt they will stay good for that long. The sandwiches they have here at Carrefour (also very good) usually expire after a few days.


Please don't generalize.

I guess we'll be hearing from you soon How to know if you've got food poisoning.

no idea about the US and Canadian ones, but compared the the UK they dont to italian or hearty italian bread, they dont make a differnce between any of the chicken stuff, if sweet n sour or terryaki its all the same to them even though they tell you there is a difference, erm nope, terryaki doesnt even taste anywhere close to what it tastes like in the uk, its are rubbish, otherwise its pretty much the same but the one or the other thing might be missing.


boots got more choice than subway? 1st of all you dont have to take the sandwich as they suggest it but can tell them how you want it, even if it isnt on the menu! they do sandwichs and salads and wraps and crisps and cookies and sometimes even brownies ( which might even be known to be world famous, if they are, not like the boots brownie no one ever heard of) but its obviously that the real choice must be the difficulty here. anyway boots sarnies might have a sticker on them saying they won some award but what award was that? the boots sarnie one, whats our best sarnie??? besides they arent that great, you can get the same if not better quality pretty much anywhere, greggs, tesco, asda, morrisons, sainburys, etc... boots sarnies lol ... i only go there to buy my body butter as the sarnies aint that great

I feel this is taking Britness just too far.

When I've been in Germany and fancied a nice sandwich, I've allways been dissapointed that I can't find any decent sandwiches anywhere. Only crusty baguettes I can find, and they are usually cheese and ham and thick lettuce. And not all that tasty. As much I prefer Germany to England, I do miss the English sandwiches when I'm over there.

I've often wished there were something along the lines of Pret A Manger here. Whether you like them or not, at least they offer healthier and fresher "fast" choices than what you find at the usual outlets. Of course we can't expect everything in Germany to be like at home, but let's face it, food-wise this country is extremely limited and well behind the times, and would it really kill the Krauts to broaden their horizons? I can remember how excited I was to finally see smoothies here about a couple years ago--how long have these been around in the UK and US?! As for this nonsense about Germans preferring a hot meal at lunch, all I can say is the crap they serve up in our canteen at work is disgusting, heavy, and b-o-r-i-n-g and the local options for takeaway are no better (greasy kebabs, greasy cod-Chinese or greasy pizza). The more alternatives, the better. There's nothing wrong with asking for different options and maybe someone will even be inspired to fill this gap in the market.

Some people on this board seem to think we should all do our weekly shop at Aldi, shut up and be satisfied with that. I hope I never become that German!

Oh my another food thread...

I find the quality of prepackaged sandwiches in the UK rather poor and only buy them in 'emergencis' as I usually bring my own to work. Pret a manger isn't too bad but rather expensive to go to all the time.

In my home town in Germany I usually rather ate a nice salad for lunch which you could even get from the bakery close to where I worked. Salads here and at my work cantine usually consist of things drenched in majonaise, a few limp leaves and coleslaw.

And without wanting to be accused of defending German food again, I'll just want to tell you the following. Two weeks ago my British mother-in-law-to-be was in Freiburg with me and she absolutely loved the food everywhere we went with her and when shopping in a wee local Rewe she sais that there is so much choice in such a wee shop. Well...

Benjis, Boots, and a million other shops in the UK that do sandwiches with variety. Yep you can get rolls and sammies in Germany...you just better like salami/ham & cheese, because that's about the extent of it. Luckily I do like these things, but from time to time I could really go a thai chicken, or bbq beef sandwich. Where will I get those from Osmachar?

I LOVE chicken thikka sandwiches and all the rest when I'm in the UK and perhaps the day will come when supermarkets will make more turnover from selling sandwiches to office workers at lunchtimes and increase the variety. It's a bit of give and take, supply and demand in a market economy. I could fill a Rossmanns with exotic UK style sandwiches tomorrow and I'd be throwing 90% in the bin a couple of days later. I think TT has a rolw to play at the forefront of new ideas in Germany but I think there is often a delusion that it in itself represents a noticeable market demand.

Didn't say you could get it. But maybe at Subway's.

But why can people still not understand that the food habits in different countries are different (and not better or worse as many people claim as that comes down to personal preference) and that you can't expect things to be like 'at home' everywhere you go.

why wouldn't they debate what a boots meal is. If some american posted why couldn't berlin have a proper denny's or waffelhouse breakfast I'm sure their would be some british discussion on what the hell the americans were on about. This meal sounds boring and unhealthy actually but typical things you would pick up in a grocery store. It wouldn't be too hard to put together something pretty damn similar here for yourself.


My sandwiches are award winning too! I gave my sandwich that I had yesterday one of my top awards. The best beer and sandwich after a long bike ride award. Basically the sense I get from this thread is you really don't care too much about the quality just as long as you get a meal in a box that requires no thought process. Stressing out when they ask you if you want olives and jalopenos? Why don't you right down on a piece of paper what you want on a sandwich and give them the piece of paper. As for chicken tikka sandwich why don't you just pick up patack's chicken tikka marinade and make chicken tikka for supper and put it on two pieces of bread the next day.


I don't think Germany is really that much behind the times. I think they have less total package ready meals yes, but I don't know if that makes them behind the times. Was in a beer garden on Friday with a German couple that had stopped by a local store on the way and put together a meal of olives, marinated vegetables, different types of cold cuts, fabulous bread and other crazy things (cows tung was involved) They went to one store and bought everything pre made and it was damn healthy. I think a lot of the time we see the lack of something that is at home to be behind the times which I think is a pretty odd concept actually. Sure I wouldn't complain if I could buy a proper Newfoundland jigs dinner, fresh cod fish and chips, swiss chalet and tim hortons, but because germany doesn't have that does that make them behind the times?

Yay, smoothies!!! I can't wait until the whole world is a homogenized version of America!! Roll on McDonaldisation!!! Although actually the fruit-juice stands at Viktualienmarkt (among other locations) have been there for years and years; you just didn't notice because they don't call their products "smoothies".


It's not "nonsense" that Germans prefer a hot meal at lunchtime – it's an undisputed fact. The quality of the food in your canteen is a completely separate issue, but then I'm not sure I've ever heard anyone in any country praise the quality of canteen food.

Exactly. Again, in my home town there was a fresh fruit & veg juice shop since the 80s - long before the world called them smoothies.

People can and do understand it's different. What people miss is the variety. It's fab that Hermanns like nothing but salami & cheese sammies, makes it easy for the bakeries and cafes to make each morning, but from time to time, I'd like to be able to buy a sammie with something else in it.

Haven't been there in quite some time, but the Inter Coffee Shop on Dachauerstr here in Munich used to do excellent sandwiches, paninis & wraps. Not much use to someone in Berlin, but seemed like the right place to mention it anyway.

One of the bakeries near me slices an egg and puts it on half a brötchen...that's for when I'm feeling daring and want something exotic.

You completely contradict yourself here; you appear to suggest that you understand that Germans aren't really into sandwiches, but then complain that there aren't dozens of fillings to choose from. That makes no sense.

Wrong. To understand the situation and miss the variety is by no means a contradiction

But if you miss something and keep complaining about it won't change the situation. So my tip of the day is: make it yourself or find something you like and use your energy you spend complaining for something more useful.

I can fully understand that people would love to be able to buy the stuff they're used to - that's only natural. What I don't understand is that some people apparently feel the need to be chauvinistic assholes over the availability of sandwiches. Good god how sad is that? *shakes head, gets sunblocker, goes back to snoozing in the sun*

I can very much understand that you miss things you are used to - I do miss tons of food things from Germany which I can't get here. But I don't spend the whole day complaining about it - got a few more important things to do. When I'm in Germany I just eat all the stuff I miss and bring some things back as well and when I run out I just eat British 'muck' .

Great tip osmacher...I really wasn't aware one could make their own sammies. This thread is exactly for complaining about the lack of sammies option. If you don't have anything useful to add, like where to buy them, or have a valid complaint about the shit selection then fuck off to Boots and buy yourself a chicken tikka sammie and ram it down your pie hole.

you can get a damned sight more German foods in Britain than you can get American or British foods in Germany.

No, you spend your day complaining about other people complaining. Obviously much more important.

Although currently only in Munich, I have to flag up dean&david for their tasty wraps, good curries and really great salads. Not bad pricewise either.
The owner wanted to bring a little NYC salad deli-type outlet to Germany and I have to say that it's really delicious and appears to be very popular with the punters judging from the queue out the door about an hour ago. Not all expats either - the market is there for the right product.

You've got to be joking.

Charming.

Don't think the thread is 'for complaining' as you put it, but I think the one who started it actually wanted useful tips and not just the usual boring comments like 'you can't get anything decent to eat in Germany'.

Don't you find it ironic that your getting on your high horse about someone's inability to make chicken tikka themselves and then you're suggesting a ready mixed marinade?

You can get everything German cuisine has to offer in the UK, even I know that. Just the other day I saw pork, potato and cabbage at Tescos

Yawn.

In a sandwich?

A yawn in a sandwich? I bet you can get that in the UK too.

In the UK, the sandwich is defined primarily by its filling - its normally 2 bits of bread, with a variety of fillings. Here, a sarnie is defined by the type of bread. It is ham/salami and/or cheese, with a variety of bread wrapped around it.

So really, it is all simply semantics, and how one defines a sandwich.

Still, I think that a decent deli-style sandwich shop could work well here, in Munich at least. I think the locals would love it. Labourers that I know certainly prefer a hot lunch as a rule, but office workers here don't have any more time to eat than office workers anywhere else.

no I really don't find anything ironic about it. They are obviously after the easiest option and I simply said here is a very easy option that takes a bit more work than the premade option. However if you want someone who is scared by subway because of olives and what ever else it was to make chicken tikka from scratch then be my guest.

But Subways version of chiclen tikka has about as much to do with chicken tikka as my arse with the mating call of a mature male elephant. It is disgustingly horrible. Not just olives but those horrible overpowering sauce rubbish, salad bar style mix and good knows what. Germans though have no idea what a sandwich is, so can be fobbed off with gunk. In fact they shy away from anything ressembleing the interesting. "Was der Bauer nicht kennt" etc etc etc.

I didn't know subway did chicken tikka. I thought that they only did a very bad teriyaki sandwich.

They don't do Chicken Tikka, only Teriyaki and Roasted Chicken. They also do Roast Beef and Steak & Cheese.

It#s partly to do with the "overtime culture" of the UK that quite a few TTers here seem to thrive on.
An on site canteen means you can get a hot dinner in 30 minutes, quality of the canteen variable of course.

There's half to a dozen places near my office where you can get a quick lunch.
I find the fixation on particular brands of store fascinating.

Creeping in over here aswell mate, but I totally agree on the fact that some people in/from the UK are actually proud of being fucking stupid, and working loads of hours for free. "oooh, look at me, I work 80 hour weeks, I must be well important". Nope, you're a dozy twat who works too much.
Went for an interview once over here though, and was told by some self-righteous blackberry-addicted twazzock in a suit that everyone in the company worked at least 60 hours a week, and I'd be expected to do the same. Meeting ended very, very quickly after that, and to stay on topic, I did not go and get a sandwich from Boots afterwards.

You tell it like it is don riina!

Couldn't agree more.

You want me to work longer hours, either pay me or give me the paid time off later.

If not you can expect the same productivity in as many hours in as many hours as you expect me to work as you would get in 8.

And should I have to work 80 hours in a week don't come around moaning about sick leave, people taking an extra 5 mins at break time and people taking an extra 15 mins for lunch.

Isnt it prohibited under EU law to work more than 40 or 45 hours a week or something? Could be though that there is some opt-out for "leitende oder aussertarifliche Angestellten".

I am totally in awe of the amount of traditonal style canteen food my Ossieland colleagues are able to put away at lunchtime and then do some sort of desk jockey work in the afternoon. I feel bloated and extremely sleepy just watching them (whilst eating my yummy ham and cheese sarnie bought from a local bakery on the way in ). After a giant plate of one of our local specialities, there would be no chance of me being productive during normal working hours - overtime would be an impossibility.

Off by far. German law modelled after EU law: 60 hours max allowed in theory (6 workdays of 10 hours) if these are compensated for an average weekly load of 48 hours in a 24-week timeframe.

And yes, "leitende Angestellte" are excluded.

I think most Germans value quantity over quality of food and don't care what it tastes like, at least as long as it's the old familiar crap. This explains both the limited food choices available and rapidly expanding waistlines On my last visit in Germany last year I did see very few adults who appeared to be at a healthy weight, even teenagers were usually somewhat on the chubby side. On the other hand, many Germans have very strong opinions about Americans and Canadians being 'fat' - hypocrites.

Is your canteen all you can eat? Then that's probably what your colleagues did.

My canteen here at work does a Chicken Tikka sandwich for €3.15. Other than that there is a cheese sandwich and a ham and cheese sandwich, along with a selection of salami and ham rolls.

Needless to say I go for the chicken tikka whenever I can.