IF you’ve been on social media in the last couple of years you may have come across people sharing the contents of surprise bags orders from Too Good To Go.
The app rescues bags of food destined for the bin and helps you save up to 70% on items from cafes, bakeries, fast food spots and supermarkets.
But are they worth it? I tried five different surprise bags to find out…
Singl-end Garnethill
263 Renfrew Street
The first Too Good To Go bag I reserved was from popular café and bakehouse Singl-end in Garnethill.
I’ve had brunch at Singl-end a couple of times and enjoyed it so when I saw a bag available for £4, with a value of £12, I decided to give it a try.
The description says the surprise bag could include cakes, breads or soups depending on what’s left that day and it’s a complete gamble what you’ll get. I headed along at 4pm to collect my bag and found a huge fruit scone, chocolate and orange cupcake, and a carrot and parsnip loaf with cream cheese.
As much as I have a bit of a sweet tooth, I didn’t need three cakes so I ate the carrot and parsnip loaf and gave the other two out to some of my colleagues. The loaf cake was tasty and fresh, it wasn’t stale at all which had been a concern of mine, and I really enjoyed it.
While I liked what I had, I’m glad I got this while in work so I was able to hand out the other cakes and they didn’t go to waste. A mixture of savoury and sweet items would have been better for one person.
Cost: £4
Value for money: 3/5
Taste: 5/5
Variety: 3/5
Total: 11/15
Malmaison Glasgow
278 West George Street
For my next surprise bag I decided to try and rescue some breakfast from boutique hotel Malmaison, again priced at £4 and available to collect from 10.30am.
As with any Too Good To Go order it’s a complete surprise what you’ll get, with Malmaison saying their bag could contain hot breakfast items, pastries and items from the cold buffet.
I skipped breakfast before heading to work in anticipation of this and I’m glad I did. On opening the box of hot food I found two rashers of bacon, three sausages, a slice of black pudding, a mushroom and half a tomato.
At the bottom of the bag I also found a pain au chocolat and two pain aux raisins.
The hot food had cooled down a little by time I got back to the office but was still good to eat, and it’s advised you eat any of the hot food right away. I didn’t manage to eat all of it but what I had was good and set me up for the rest of the day.
Of the pastries I only tried the pain au chocolat and found it was a little stale, so I didn’t finish that.
Cost: £4
Value for money: 4/5
Taste: 3/5
Variety: 5/5
Total: 12/15
Suresh & Sons
1081A Argyle Street
Located in Finnieston, Suresh & Sons is an organic wholesale and Indian grocery store selling a wide variety of food.
I spotted their surprise bag on Too Good To Go for £4.09 which the description said could contain a selection of fruits, vegetables or grocery items.
Inside the surprise bag I found a large bag of okra, a bulb of garlic, an onion, a sweet potato, chillies, plums, herbs, vegetable biryani with paneer and a chicken curry. I was impressed with the amount for the price.
I would say the herbs and plums were past their best but everything else was in good condition. I ate the vegetable biryani for dinner that night and was really impressed with it.
Cost: £4.09
Value for money: 5/5
Taste: 3/5
Variety: 4/5
Total: 12/15
M&S Simply Food
Glasgow Central Station
M&S is my favourite supermarket so when I saw they had surprise bags available for £4.99, I couldn’t scroll past.
The products that could be included come from a wide selection including grocery, sandwiches, ready meals, dairy products, baked goods, produce and/ or cupboard items.
After collecting my bag shortly after 8pm, I found a chargrilled vegetable antipasti with basil pesto wood fired pizza, popcorn chicken bites, and egg, ham and cherry tomato sala and a prawn sandwich. The full price before reductions was around £20.
All of the items were expiring that day, with only the chicken bites suitable for freezing.
Like with any Too Good To Go bag everything is a surprise, but a better mixture of freezable and non-freezable items would have been handy for putting items aside. There was too much food for one person to eat in a night so this could be a good option to split between at least two people.
Cost: £4.99
Value for money: 5/5
Taste: 5/5
Variety: 3/5
Total: 13/15
Taco Mazama
6 Renfield Street
For my final Too Good To Go review, I decided to get a surprise bag from Mexican street food spot Taco Mazama for £3.99. The description promised a “delicious, fresh burrito” which suited me for dinner.
I did opt for the vegan option as I knew I would have no choice over the meat that might be inside. When I went to collect it, the burrito was ready and waiting and they checked if I was just vegetarian or vegan before offering a side of macaroni cheese as well which was an unexpected bonus.
The huge burrito was filled with lettuce, rice, vegetables and a salsa which wasn’t too spicy while the mac and cheese was really rich. They were both served hot and tasted as fresh as if you had bought them. This is the Too Good To Go surprise bag I would most likely buy again.
Cost: £3.99
Value for money:.5/5
Taste: 5/5
Variety: 4/5
Total: 14/15
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