Manchester Piccadilly Station is as much a part of a trip to the city as the actual destination, in my opinion. I always look forward to seeing what’s new in Oliver Bonas, or picking up a new book at WHSmith.
But it’s also teeming with eateries where commuters can grab a coffee, or shoppers can enjoy a bite to eat before getting on the train. And where there’s food, there’s food waste - but many businesses in the station are attempting to do their bit by partnering with the Too Good To Go app.
Having used the app for a number of years, I’ve bagged tonnes of bargains on the free-to-download food waste fighting service. Everything from cheap cakes and cookies, to nearly £20 worth of food for just a few quid.
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There are currently nine brands located inside Piccadilly Station that are partnered with the app, including Pret, Krispy Kreme, Starbucks and Upper Crust. Every day these businesses upload a number of ‘magic bags’ of food and produce that’s going out of date that customers can snap up for around 70 per cent off the usual retail price to collect either the same, or following day.
So I wanted to find out how many mystery food bags I could pick up in just one evening and was surprised at how many I was able to reserve.
Reserving the bags
To be able to gain access to the very best deals the app has to offer, I found myself sitting and refreshing the page every 15 minutes or so, between my usual Twitter and Instagram scrolling. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t get a little pang of panic when I’d forgotten to check the app once or twice.
The first bag I managed to reserve was from Pasty Shop, who offer collection slots from 6am, 11am, 6pm and 9pm. I opted to collect between 6pm and 6.30pm and hit ‘tap to reserve’.
Not long after I was able to save food waste from Upper Crust who offer 11am, 2pm, 6pm and 9pm slots. Their magic bags cost £3.99 and promised around £12 worth of goods, which was the same price and value as Pasty Shop.
It was around another hour until I came across another retailer offering magic bags to reserve for the following day. I paid £3 for a Costa bag containing £10 worth of goods, hoping that the contents would be better than my last Costa Too Good To Go bag.
Continuing to refresh the page, I thought my magic bag saving luck had run out until 8pm came and a handful of Starbucks bags became available. There was only one left by the time I hit reserve, so I was thrilled to have snapped up the last one.
Last time I got a Starbucks Too Good To Go bag I discovered nearly £20 worth of food inside, so I was hoping to get lucky again.
Within half an hour a Caffe Nero bag cropped up so I copped one of those too - this time for £3.09 for an alleged £10 worth of goods. This was my first time saving a Caffe Nero bag, and it was one of the cheapest I’d rescued - but would it offer me some big savings and delicious treats?
Last but not least, come 10pm, I was able to reserve a £3.99 bag from James Martin Kitchen, which suggested contents worth £12. The Too Good To Go app said it could contain breakfast butties, toasties, pastries and sausage rolls.
All that was left to do was book my train ticket to the station, with an arrival time of 6pm, to collect my haul.
How it went:
I arrived at the station at almost 6pm on the dot, meaning I could head straight over to Pasty Shop, located on the main floor of the station, to collect my bag. The woman behind the counter informed me that I could choose what goes into my bag, up to the value of £12.
This was extremely exciting as I’ve never had a Too Good To Go bag where I can choose what goes in it, which makes a Pasty Shop Too Good To Go bag a great option for vegans, as there seemed to be a few options available.
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I selected a giant chicken and mushroom pasty for £5.99, alongside a large sausage roll for £3.99 and some wedges, priced at £1.99, bringing my total to £11.97 - just in range. Other options I could have gone for included a cheese and onion pasty, vegan vegetable pasty, or a traditional Cornish pasty.
I only had around 20 minutes to get to Upper Crust to collect my second bag, but luckily, it was just around the corner facing the platforms. The couple ahead of me in the queue were also collecting Too Good To Go bags, and the selection looked absolutely mouthwatering.
During my turn, the customer assistant let me choose one item to go in the bag, so I opted for the brie, bacon and cranberry baguette because it sounded, and looked incredible. She then filled my bag with a number of other items before handing it over with a warm smile.
I then had a bit of a wait to go and collect my Costa bag, so I had a potter around Oliver Bonas, WHSmith and Accessorize before making my way over at 7pm. However, when I went to request my magic bag, the kiosk manager let me know that it was actually the Costa between platforms 13 and 14, and directed me to the travellator that leads to the correct Costa.
When I arrived, the shutters were pulled down on the stall. I assumed that the staff were on their break and I didn’t want to bother them, so I waited. I waited until 7.30pm before politely popping my head around the side staff entrance and asking ‘I have a Too Good To Go bag to collect, can I do that here, please?’
The Costa colleague went to grab my bag and passed it through the side door, and while I felt slightly annoyed with myself that I hadn’t thought to do that sooner, I was pleased to have picked up my third food-waste-fighting bag.
I made the long trip back down the travellator to the main station, then up the stairs to Starbucks, taking the opportunity to try out the new Forget-Me-Not Frappuccino while I waited for my 8pm collection slot.
At 8pm, the friendly Starbucks staff made up my mystery bag and handed it over the counter as they finished cleaning up for the night. But as I made my way to Caffe Nero, one of the handles on my paper Starbucks bag ripped, which made carrying my haul a little more challenging.
At 8.30pm, I made my way into Caffe Nero to collect my fifth bag, and the gent behind the till explained that he hadn’t made it up yet, but would go and grab it for me. I waited less than 60 seconds before the bag was in my hand, but on passing it over he told me that he’d thrown in a few extras for ‘leaving me waiting’, which was a real bonus.
My final stop was at James Martin Kitchen, where I did head up to the counter at 8.40pm to ask if there was any chance I could get my order early, in the hopes I could get a slightly earlier train home. Sadly, the answer was no, but I could totally understand why, so I went to sit by the communal piano for 20 minutes.
The original collection time for this bag had been 9.30pm, so I’d booked a 9.44pm train home, however, on my way up to the city centre, the collection slot changed to 9pm. While this wouldn’t be ideal for some people, I didn’t mind the change.
I collected my final bag and headed over to the platform for my train home. Trying to get my train ticket out of my pocket was difficult but I eventually managed. On the train, my spree of Too Good To Go bags took up an entire seat themselves, but thankfully the train wasn’t too busy, so it didn’t inconvenience anyone but me, having to carry them.
Back home I was able to have a proper look inside the bags and work out how much food, and money I’d saved.
What’s inside?
Pasty Shop
As I mentioned before, Pasty Shop was the first time I’ve been to collect a Too Good To Go bag and been able to pick the entire contents. I was able to choose up to £12 worth of pastries that were still warm, including a chicken and mushroom pasty, sausage roll and wedges.
The highlight from this bag was definitely the foot-long sausage roll as I’m not totally keen on pasties, but knew my dad would be partial to the chicken and mushroom. The wedges were a bit of a flop, as by the time I came to eat them they were cold and a little soggy, so I’d have been better eating them first.
That said, being able to choose your own means that next time I decide to reserve a bag from the Pasty Shop, I can pick up three huge sausage rolls and leave pretty satisfied.
Upper Crust
At Upper Crust I was presented with a dozen delicious looking baguettes and paninis, and I’d have been happy to receive almost any of them. I was able to choose my brie, bacon and cranberry baguette - which would usually cost £4.89, more than the price of the Too Good To Go bag alone.
Also included in the bag, and chosen by the sales assistant, was an Italian Prosciutto panini worth £4.99 and a Pain au Raisin.
I enjoyed the Italian Prosciutto panini on my way home, and I had at least expected the bread to be a little hard, but it was still soft and floury despite sitting on the counter all day.
I consumed the brie and bacon baguette the following day for lunch, lightly toasting it in the oven, and it was better than if I’d eaten it straight from the Upper Crust counter. The Pain au Raisin became one of three found in the Too Good To Go bags, and as I don’t like raisins - well documented in my hot cross bun reviews - I gifted these to my mum.
Costa
I’ve previously been left disappointed by Costa’s Too Good To Go offerings and worried I’d be left with a vegan macaroni cheeze and children’s pizzas again, but this visit was slightly better.
In my Costa magic bag I received a tuna melt panini and a tomato and mozzarella panini, both worth £4.50 each, as well as a gluten free roast chicken and bacon sandwich worth around £4.
The total value of the bag was around £13, which was over the suggested £10, saving me a tenner on my £3 spend. However, I wasn’t really keen on the selection as I don’t eat fish, however, it was nice to see something gluten free included as the app doesn’t really cater to preferences and dietary requirements.
This bag was a vast improvement on my previous Too Good To Go order from Costa, but I do think some of the other partners provide better value bags.
Starbucks
The contents of my Starbucks bag totted up to around £20, which far exceeded the promised £12 on the app. First up was an all day breakfast wrap featuring scrambled egg, Monterey Jack cheese, sausage, smoked streaky bacon, spinach and tomato beans, which would cost £5.10 at full price, which warmed well in the oven the following day.
Then there was an egg mayo sandwich which served as a snack on our Good Friday dog walk, as well as a tu-nah vegan sandwich, which sadly had no takers in our house.
I also received some mango chunks in a snack pot worth £3.19, and to satisfy my sweet tooth, not one but two plant based chocolate and caramel muffins which retail at £2.45 each. Almost everything in this bag was consumed by my family save for the faux fish sandwich, which was one of few items that was destined for the bin that actually ended up there.
Caffe Nero
At Caffe Nero my ‘few extras’ thrown in by the barista were three plain croissants, which meant continental breakfasts all round on Easter Saturday. I find that pastry items on the Too Good To Go app last well past their best before, so you can usually give them a day or two before they’re too stale to enjoy. Croissants also toast pretty well, so this also disguises that they’re past their best.
The Cotto ham and cheese toastie, worth £4.75, actually had Sunday’s date on it, so was still two days in date on my collection, meaning I could enjoy that for lunch on Easter Sunday - and I did just that, heating it on my toastie maker.
There was also an all day breakfast box which didn’t look overly appetising, as having rattled around in my bag the beans, seeds and bacon had all mixed together. My dogs did enjoy a little bit of the egg on their breakfast, but unfortunately this one also saw the bin liner.
Lastly there was a fruit pot that I also couldn’t eat, though this time due to allergies, as I’m allergic to kiwi fruit. I spotted a piece in the centre of the pot before I tucked in, so gave this to my dad with which he topped his Weetabix.
James Martin Kitchen
It was at James Martin Kitchen I found myself with two more Pain au Raisins, which were totally outshone by the addition of a Pain au Chocolat - one of my favourite breakfast pastries. I received the biggest gourmet-looking sausage roll you’ve ever seen, worth a fairly respectable £3.25, which I’d have been happy to pay on a commute.
I also got a tuna sandwich, my second tuna item, third if you include the vegan imposter, and a large ham and cheese baguette worth £5.30, which could easily be halved and do lunch for two people with a side of crisps.
Verdict
My total Too Good To Go spend was £22.05, for which I managed to bag approximately £87 worth of food - nearly £90!
Now, I wouldn’t normally spend three hours at Piccadilly station, but it’s surprisingly easy to do. I never found myself bored or without a shop to potter around in, checking out the books in WHSmith or browsing the aisles in the M&S Simply. Though in spending my evening in the station, I was able to discover which of the Too Good To Go bags are worth getting again, and which are best avoided, so I know what to reserve during my next trip.
I found that Starbucks offers the best value for money, offering the most monetary value at £20 worth of food, but it was James Martin Kitchen that provided the most in terms of quantity.
To my surprise, the bag I enjoyed the most was one where the contents were only worth £12, and that was at Upper Crust. While I only received three items, one of which I didn’t like, the two sandwiches were thoroughly enjoyable to eat, full of flavour and would be something I’d have ordered at full price anyway.
Caffe Nero was great for a first visit, and I like that you can choose your contents at Pasty Shop, but I really don’t think I’ll bother ordering with Costa again.
