Paddington Lunch Box

Tag: baguettes

  • Bonne Bouche

    Bonne Bouche

    Back from a holiday and I got to the office, and realised that I’d forgotten my pass.

    URGH.

    How are they going to track me now?

    Then I waited forever for a lift. I never waited that long for a beer on holiday.

    Then it was fucking noisy and the guy next to me span around in his chair constantly. Oh why do we have to do this utter nonsense?

    Sandwiches. Mostly baguettes.

    I’d walked past Bonne Bouche who knows how many times since being forced back to the office post-pandemic to be less productive than I can be at home.

    Finally I went. Baguettes – lots of them. Cakes – too many of them. Too many baguettes also.

    In the end I went for the chicken pesto baguette, though it was in more of a crusty elongated roll type of bread – granary style.

    The lady behind the counter recommended toasting the sandwich, which I duly agreed to, and definitely added some extra context.

    Filling was generous – priced at £6.40 including eating in tax, which seems a bargain in 2026.

    Plentiful chicken, all tender, some spinach and a tiny bit of sundried tomato which gave it a little salty edge at times.

    A baguette is hardly recreating the universe and is never really going to wow me, but this was really nicely done, and exceptional value for money.

    Rating of 7.8 out of 10. I’ll definitely be back to Bonne Bouche.

  • Upper Crust

    Upper Crust

    I was a little grumpy, which is not the best mood when you have a first date after work.

    And then I decided that I hadn’t spent enough time on the transport network going to and from the office to sit by myself all day not talking to anyone, except in a 2 hour meeting, that I’d go back to Paddington train station.

    And visit Upper Crust.

    I’ve always thought of these chain places as being pretty shit, you know the other ones like Pasty Co and…well I cannot remember their names, they are probably all called Upper Crust. I had possibly the world’s most miserable ever sausage sandwich at one of these type of stalls in King’s Cross once.

    Anyway, Upper Crust in Paddington has a rating of 4.7 on Google Maps. So maybe it is good?

    Some of the baguette selection
    Some more of the baguette selection

    Upper Crust pretty much sell just baguettes, though I was tempted by the feta and spinach melt.

    My eyes was on the chicken and avocado salad baguette though – a baguette because I needed something filled with the nervous joys of a first date to get through that evening.

    Me holding a very crispy baguette

    I sat down outside to watch the golf in the rain – and to compound the misery of golf, my baguette had become very crusty, in the upper realms of possibility.

    The filling was generous enough for £5.99, no complaints there – certainly more generous than Pret.

    The chicken was fine, avocado silky, mayo light and minimum, with no complaints about the salad, if nothing especially interesting either.

    But, holy crust, the baguette was overcooked and stale.

    A score of 4.7 out of 10 (definitely not a Google star rating) due to how miserable eating the baguette was.

    Of course, I spilled some avocado on my crotch. And no, there will be no second date. Gosh I hate the London dating scene even more than burnt baguettes.