Taste

I came by for some lunch and had the roast beef and horseradish baguette £4.50 cheap and cheerful. While l was waiting for my order another customer came in and asked for a baguette and the server guy said «none left» to the woman with no thought of offering her another alternative and l told him that, he said that he never thought anyway it was too late as the girl left. l did notice a dirty apron was used to cover the the rolls in the container on the back shelf. There was no up selling or no offer of a drink, l bought one a couple of doors down. I suppose the place is ok cheap and cheerful but lacks in trained staff who know what they are doing.

Good heavens! So I popped in here the other day on the back of a recommendation from Chris A. The suggestion was to go for the roast beef baguette, but either it wasn’t on that day or my nose parts got a whiff of the hog roast and entirely changed my order for me.
So, one hog roast roll (soft or crispy, or baguette or… something else, cannie mind), with mustard and apple sauce (?) for three and a half of your earth pounds. This roll. The one I had in my hand/​arms, pretty much had ALL the pork in it. Yeah I’m pretty sure it was ALL the pork.
The smell coming from my wee brown paper bag of meat was too good for me to wait till i got to my desk, so a quick dip into the bag for a munch on the run had me chomping into wonderfully sweet and salty pork that pretty much melted as soon as it came anywhere near my gob. Perfect!
This place. This place is a bit of a hidden one. Ok it’s in plain site, but it’s truly the physical embodiment of the ‘don’t judge a book by it’s cover’ cliché. From the outside it looks like another wee generic sandwich shop. Once inside… it looks like another wee generic sandwich shop. It’s only when you spot the hog roast sign or indeed the roast beef one (if it’s on) that it takes a step beyond generic to become splendid!
Is this the healthiest snack to have for your lunch? Nah, probably not. Is it stupidly filling and splendidly awesome on the old taste-​buds? Aye, aye it is.
Unearth this hidden-​in-​plain-​site gem!

Consider this a placeholder for a real review when I finally manage to try the roast beef baguette. It’s a special and only available on some days (definitely Friday, occasionally Monday or Wednesday, I believe) and on those special days, it goes quick! I’ve been fortunate enough to see the beautifully rosey meat being sliced but always just a little too far back in the queue to get any myself.
From what I have tried so far I would say that Taste is a superior lunchtime sandwich shop. Not exceptional but a solid and interesting choice.
A great deal of that interest is generated by the hog roast roll which is available every day and fortunately doesn’t run out as fast as the roast beef. Though, be assured, it does run out. The meat is perfectly cooked and comes in your choice of roll with apple sauce and, I think, haggis. I’d prefer a bit more condiment and some crackling (I’ve possbibly been spoiled by working near Oink in Edinburgh for a time) but it’s an excellent sandwich.
Actually, maybe they serve crackling and extra condiment, it’s hard to tell as the signage in here is a mess, making the place look a little tacky. Worse, it makes it hard to work out what they’re selling, especially when it’s busy. I’m only just getting the hang of the place after four visits.
Back to the food: soup is excellent here and the coffee is good. And they actually they have that rarest of commodities: coffee cups with lids which don’t leak. I wouldn’t recommend the club sandwich: it’s served on bread rather than toast. The bacon is phenomonal but the chicken has no texture whatsoever, as though it’s been cooked for too long at too low a temperature, sous vide style. Nowhere near as good as the rest of the stuff on offer.
Despite the food on offer being generally superior to its many rivals the value here is amazing but if you’re wanting to try the roast beef baguette, get in early!

awesomely amazing roast beef baguettes, with horse radish and caramelised onions, lovely home-​made soups. watching them make up the baguettes is like poetry in motion. The guys here really give a monkeys about the food they sell and it comes across. i’ve yet to venture from the roast beef baguette, as it is like heaven, but will try something different soon.