Sat, 18 May 2013
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'Singaporean in London' Kelvin explores the working lunch and one of the UK's favourite sandwich shops.After my relocation to London, I realised that I tend to bring lunch to work on a regular basis and for good reasons too. The food in London is generally more expensive, though you might just get better quality (not quantity) food if you spend a fiver in the City of London as compared to SGD 11 back in Singapore's Central Business District.
It's just that London does not have the equivalent of hawker centres (food court) that dish out meals for a mere SGD 3.50 (GBP 1.50). Furthermore, my colleagues are all doing it and you know what they say about being in Rome (or London in this case).
Occasionally, when things get a little caught up at work, the last thing I want is to wake up earlier to pack my lunch and I had to rely on this sandwich bar that is just next to my office building.
Actually, it's not just any sandwich bar. Pret A Manger, which was found in 1986 by Sinclair Beecham and Julien Metcalfe motivated by their love of freshly prepared food, has more than 100 stores in London alone. In fact, the sandwiches are said to be freshly prepared in every store although there were recent allegations that it cannot be the case for some of the smaller outlets that do not come fitted with a kitchen.
Pret did in fact open up a branch in Singapore Raffles City offering freshly prepared sandwiches. There was quite a bit of an interest initially as the curious locals cleared it's shelves of sandwiches that cost just over SGD 6 back then. Naturally, the small community of Britons working in the area were delighted. Not only did they have two British pubs nearby where they can stand out in the open and enjoy their beer under the hot humid weather, but they could also munch on sandwiches from home at the same time as well!
Kelvin relocated from Singapore to London in 2007 and is still amazed at how much London has to offer. He likes roaming around the capital in his free time and writing about what to do and where to go in London, and how life in London differs from Singapore. Visit Singaporean in London or Kelvin's London food review site London Chow.
Photo credits: realSMILEY and King Chung Huang (Flickr.com)
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