Marks and Spencer cook Asian 1234 deal

The first thing you notice about the 1234 deal is that there’s a very limited choice - prawns, beef or chicken for the main base, 2 types of noodles and 1 rice, three sauces and two types of vegetable.

That aside, the concept is foolproof, with guidance given to customers about which ingredient to match with which sauce or type of noodle, all stacked neatly on four separate shelves.

This is great for those who don’t want to spend hours deliberating over which sauce goes with what meat and backs up the M&S claim of ‘quick and easier’.

So, £6.99 (for two) poorer, we unwrapped the packets, read the extremely simple instructions, which, predictably, tell you in which order to put your ingredients in the pan and for how many minutes, and we were off - no fuss, no drizzling and no seasoning - it’s all done for you.

In went the beef, to which we added a packet of stir fry vegetables then a lemon grass sauce and finally the egg noodles were popped in the microwave for a couple of minutes. From packet to plate took less than ten minutes, and only involved one pan and one spoon to stir with so not much washing up either.

As we tucked in to our meal, which looked slightly small on the plate when split between two people (or maybe that’s just because we’re greedy!) the first thing we noticed was that the beef was tough. We’d cooked it to the second as per the instructions on the packet, but it was overdone to say the least - health and safety anyone?

The vegetables were pretty rubbish - they had that flavour that only vegetables out of a packet manage to achieve, and it’s none to pleasant for anyone who’s even slightly fussy about the quality of their greens.

However, the dish was partially saved by the sauce, which tasted authentic and was full of the delicate flavour of lemongrass. The noodles weren’t too bad either and, amazingly for anything that’s been ‘zapped’, were perfectly cooked.

A major downside to the deal is that if you work out the cost of the individual ingredients, you could by fresh for cheaper. But you would then have to marinade, season and shop them yourself which is an obstacle for many people when it comes to cooking.

Overall the 1234 deal was mediocre - you couldn’t say it was a delicious meal, but neither was it completely disgusting. We’ll certainly buy the sauce and noodles again, but probably source our own meat and vegetables to accompany them.

However, if it were the choice of a microwave meal or the 1234 deal - the 1234 deal would win every time. And, if nothing else, you can convince yourself that you are at least doing some proper cooking!