Spudulike

I have not been in the food court for quite a while, so my first visit here in such a long time, I am sad to say is a negative one as I visit Spud U like.
With it being in the Manchester Arndale foodcourt, it is always mad busy with it being so hard to move around, nevermind find somewhere to sit.
I told my server about me requiring gluten free and the Spud Barista used a seperate knife, I asked her to put on salt, pepper and butter but she didn’t put on salt or pepper.
The pricing here is very high, it cost about £4.79 for my jacket potato especially compared to The Spud Van, who charge £2.50.
As I have said in reviews before, if it is quality I would be less angered to pay for it but honestly my potato was awful, it was overloaded with cheese which really made it seem really greasy, the cheese wasn’t even that nice and it was really stringy and every bite I took they was a mile long piece of cheese going down into mid air and the pathetic cutterly wouldn’t even stop it.
The cheese should be grated more thinner and they should be less of it as added with the beans, it just made the dish seem greasy and look like vommit.
The staff could of been better, but they did show me a dietary card, it didn’t contain details of the 12 main allergens which is required by law now in the EU, just 3 however I can’t blame them for this as they may have other cards also hidden away.
My potatos were also quite hard, I probably could of managed to eat it, if the cheese situation wasn’t so bad but they made it unedible.
The name, I also find is very arrogant, they say «Spud U like», I think this is more of a slogan than a name and gives me an arrogant feel, I feel a more realistic name would be Greasy Vommit Spuds or Spud U find vile.
I don’t know how you can mess up a jacket potato, and charge ultra high end prices for it but Spud U like find a way. I even felt sick after eating here. So a word of advice, support your local burger/​spud van.

While this might be one of the least greasy places to dine in the Arndale Food Court it is also one of the most overpriced and, for me, pointless options. A baked potato with tuna and a drink will easily tip the £5 mark here. Now compare this with KFC, which also has a branch in the Food Court, where you can get the crispy fried remains of almost a whole chicken for that amount, along with a miniature corn cob, a tall watery Pepsi and a paper bag of salty chips. I’m not saying that KFC is preferable taste-​wise to a baked potato (and certainly in terms of nutritional value there is no competition) but value for money wise it just doesn’t add up. Also as stupid as this sounds, I can make a pretty good baked potato at home with very little effort for a lot less than £5 — a bargain bucket is a little bit more difficult to put together from bits left in the cupboard and fridge.

Hmmm, jacket potatoes. Everyone likes them don’t they?! To be honest, I think Spud U Like is generally ok, purely because of the fact that it sits in the fast food restaurant area of the Arndale Centre and it isn’t a KFC or a Subway. When, faced with these options, you could save yourself a few calories and maybe even a heart attack by going to Spud U Like instead. It’s no way near as bad as going to KFC.
You can get a whole range of toppings on your potatoes, but because it’s the Arndale Centre you’ll probably have to queue a fair bit at lunch time to get anywhere near your jacket potato.
My advice would be that once you have your potato with whatever topping you’re having, that you get the hell out of the Arndale Food Court. It just stinks of fast food grease. Don’t get tempted by the seating available! Go and get some fresh air outside during your lunch break.

Do you like spuds? I don’t mean the slang term for a stupid person, I mean a potato, a tatty. You do? Well then this is a place selling many a SPUD U (may or may not) LIKE. They were going to call themselves Spud U May or May Not Like but they decided not to leave in the ambiguity. And if previous Unilocaler James is to be believed then they should have left the name how it was, so as to avoid false advertising. The problem with the things I’ve just said is that I completely made that up, and they never were going to call it Spud U May or May Not Like.
Although I do share James’ feeling that this place could seriously improve, I must say I don’t hate it at all. My main criticism would just be that the little independent business outside on Market Street selling potatoes from a van thingymajig is much nicer.
Having said that, these ones aren’t at all bad in my experience, and with less than 150 calories in most, they’re a healthier option that all the other horrible fast food establishments in The Arndale that emanate grease in unbelievable volumes. Honestly, theres a visible shimmer in the atmosphere around most of the food establishments in The Arndale. One KFC goer told me it’s a ‘mirage’. No mate.

If there is a more offputtingly titled food takeaway place in the country then I’ve yet to come across it.
I know the humble potato is not exactly an avocado or passion fruit but like the advert says ‘give it some respect’ damn it– spud, how unglamourous can you get?
Talk about underselling yourself! I like baked potatoes, they’re versatile, comforting and nutritious– ergo the perfect dinnertime hole filler. But thanks to a company whose business is supposedly concerned with making you want one, I’ll probably never eat another King Edward again.
Even the ‘U’ is infuriating– don’t forget, this company chose it’s name long before mobile phones took off and therefore can’t even blame the text speak culture for this massive display of bad marketing. No, what we have here is laziness and idiocy with a tuna and sweetcorn filling.

Decent jacket, butnothing extravagant or to go crazy about really :)