Philpotts

Just back from another lunch time adventure. This was OK. It’s a big place and I reckon if you’re not turning up in some kind of business attire you will be shuttled out the door. Selling sandwiches, soups, salads, cakes and stews it gives enough variety for your average working lunch however the quality isn’t quite there. I had a Thai Chicken sandwich which was OK although the bread had a weird sushi rice taste to it and was more lettuce than chicken in content. I also treated myself to slab of Carrot Cake, lightly spiced with a hint of citrus, it’s real shining light was the thick layer of icing (far too often skimped on) on top, so thick you can see your teeth marks in it!
Overall it’s quite expensive for what it is, especially the snacks. I’d come back for the cake but probably pop round to Sainsbury’s for a sandwich as it’ll be cheaper and of equivalent quality.
UPDATE: Had to downgrade this review from 3 stars to 1 as within 15 minutes of finishing this review a mild jog to the nearest WC was required. Not cool Philpotts, not cool.

I popped in here to have a look and to get a can of Irn Bru while walking to Viva Brazil. It sells, cakes, sandwiches juice and much more. This place is huge. I think the layout is a waste of space though, as I’m sure the overheads are high. Places here always aim for office staff. They never had any customers in. Maybe the prices are too high, or better places. You decide.

Philpotts is another chain close to the office, that has a variety of lunch options. I am a particular fan of their freshly made, chicken, bacon and avocado sandwiches. However, the price has definitely been going up in the last year or so and I’m starting to feel a bit out of pocket.
I bought a caesar salad today, and wasn’t particularly pleased about having to pay an additional 1.25 for avocado. By the end, my salad was 5.50 which is quite a lot for a salad during lunch, as tasty as it was.
Their baked potatoes, however, are good value for a more filling option.
The soup is good as well. Warning the queues can be long in the lunch rush, especially if you are getting a fresh salad or sandwich.

Maybe I am becoming a ‘Victor Meldrew’ character, by I nearly walked out. The maddening double queue system is… Well… Madness.
For a bacon roll I had to queue to place my order then take the chit to the hot drinks desk where I queued to get to the counter to order a tea and then paid, then had to wait whilst there was a load of barista fannying about with pointlessly complex coffee ahead in the queue.
In the mean time my bacon roll was ready at the other counter and was being repeatedly called out across the room and being kept warm under lights. So eventually the complicated process of putting a tea bag into a cup if boiling water was completed and I had to go back to the back of the shop to get my roll.
The roll itself was decent. Good bacon, reasonable ketchup, so that bit worked, but Christ what a drama!
So if you are looking for a walking up and down the shop ‘work out’ then this is the place to come. If you want quick efficient service then it isn’t.

Although I visit on occasions to pick up patisserie valerie cakes that is about the only reason I could think of visiting.
The food made on site lacks in flavour and quality. It is heavily overpriced and to be honest their lunch deal has far too many provisions to make a the general lay person even want to bother.
It gets worse when you talk about the staff on a couple of occasions I have needed to wait for staff to finish a conversation or on one occasion although there were 10 staff members behind the counter having some sort of meeting another member from behind the deli counter had to come and serve me. This disgusted me as there was no acknowledgement from the original group and seemed very rude. I would say if you are looking for a nice lunch avoid and look to some of the great places within a few doors away.

Really disappointed in Philpott’s. When I started working on Bothwell Street, their fare was reliably good — I only ever got their sandwiches or salads. The portions were good and flavour combos nice and very much what you’d expect from a large deli. Fast forward to now and their sandwiches have halved in size but went up to £3.75 for the meal deal (used to be £3). Also their normal soup is pretty much rank from what I have heard, with the gourmet soups being only slightly better, but pretty expensive. For a grab and go lunch, I’d rather pay M&S £1.40 for a decent egg mayo sandwich — there are far better places to get lunch in town.

Having previously been disappointed by their sandwiches and freshly prepared noodle dishes I thought I would give Philpott’s a second chance to see how their coffee fared. Unfortunately, for me, it fares even worse than their other dishes. None of the rich flavour from the beans’ oils imparted into the drink leaving us only with the bitter notes. Spectacularly poor, if par for the course in Glasgow.

I’ve been slowly making my way through affordable lunch spots in the city centre, and on Friday, Philpotts was next on my list. Unfortunately, I was not overwhelmed. In fact, I wish Philpotts were as great as their prices and site make them out to be. While they have a bunch of tasty choices, I was expecting my chicken/​bacon/​avocado to be a hand-​assembled sandwich, not the usual scoop from a big bowl of pre-​made chicken mayo-​like gunk.
And, for that matter, I was expecting to be able to make a few more choices of additional toppings on my sandwich… maybe it’s because I didn’t specify straightaway at order, but even the blokes at Baguette Express in Renfield Street ask me what else I want on top of my filling after they’ve sorted that bit, *and* their service is less… I don’t know, laconic?
That said, the lattes are good and made with care, the sarnie DID taste pretty good, and there’s something to be said for the atmosphere. Just… I’m not sure if that’s enough to make up for the price and the fact that it’s not as much of a special snowflake as it proclaims.