Last week, we brought you the story of Meat And Bread – a brand new American-style street cart that has taken to the streets of central Bristol to serve up sandwiches with varied homemade fillings. Business owner Ben Warran sources his bread locally and produces his own fillings – including curing his own meats and making his own pickles and sauces – so I was, understandably, keen to give his sandwiches a try!
On a wet and gloomy Monday lunchtime, Ben had stationed himself and his cart by the fountains in the city centre, telling Twitter followers to “look for the red and yellow umbrella”. And so I did.
Ben’s cart may seem basic, but does the job. Sandwich fillings are stored in metallic containers built into the cart itself. Branding is minimal, and it’s the umbrella that stands out and had people standing and watching the sandwiches being made on the day of my visit.
On Monday, Ben had two sandwich varieties available, and plans on rotating the options each day. For the sum of just £4 (a bargain when you consider both the size of the sandwich and the fact that Ben makes so many of the fillings himself), hungry lunchtime customers had the choice of salt beef with coleslaw or sauerkraut, pickles and either mustard or Russian dressing, or smoked pork loin with marinated red peppers, smoked garlic and a herb & buttermilk dressing. Certainly more interesting than a lot of the sandwich options around the city centre!
I opted for salt beef, sauerkraut, pickles and Russian dressing…and I wasn’t banking on the size of the sandwich – they’re enormous!
No complaints whatsoever flavour-wise…but be warned. These are very messy to eat, and the bread in mine did go slightly soggy quite quickly.
The sandwich was so good, in fact, that I headed back over there for today’s lunch (with two completely different varieties to choose from) I’d have gone for the maple cured turkey breast, beer braised bacon, guacamole and crispy onions…but it had sold out, so meatball marinara and Pecorino it was! Again – enormous, the meatballs succulent, the sauce well flavoured. Ben’s warning on Twitter to bring a bib was probably wise…
I’ll definitely be heading back here on a regular basis. The sandwich fillings are delicious and I love the fact that Ben cures his own meats and makes his own pickles and sauces. And even better, the sandwiches are so huge that the £4 pays for two meals for me! Not for those with a tiny appetite…but definitely highly recommended.
Find Meat And Bread on the Bristol Bites Directory…
I popped down to see Meat & Bread today and filled my boots with a braised beef sandwich with rocket, pickled red onions and horseradish sauce. One of the best sandwiches I've had in ages… Ii am loving the rolling menu 🙂
Have had a couple of these sandwiches and can heartily recommend them. To be fair he could put a little less meat in them & you would still happily pay £4!
My office is obsessed with his sandwiches. It definitely puts supermarket sandwiches to shame.