Dine in for two for ten pounds with Waitrose

Having woken up late and completely forgotten to consider dinner before a long and busy day in the office, I packed my partner into the car and battled post-work rush hour traffic to my local
M & S.

We scoured the shelves but could not find any sign of the promotion so we collared a member of staff, only to be told the promotion was only valid on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, every fortnight.

Distinctly unimpressed, we dumped our empty basket in the fruit section and headed to a nearby Waitrose.

Here, we spotted the deal almost immediately, although there were relatively slim pickings left as presumably everyone else had also made the quick journey from M & S.

There were only three mains available, so we went for the chicken breast joint with a wild mushroom and bacon stuffing, the As Good As Going Out creamy mash with double cream, butter and pepper, and for dessert the winter pudding of white bread, dipped in fruit purée with blackberries, plums, apples and redcurrants. An Italian Pinot Grigio was also thrown in the basket.

Now, I’m a natural cynic when it comes to offers - experience has taught me there’s almost always a catch, so clutching a slightly grubby tenner I approached the counter in a pugnacious mood, prepared to be told such-and-such wasn’t in the deal, or some such piffle.

But no, the items were scanned, I parted with my tenner and, bang, we were heading home, gleeful with the apparent bargain we had secured.

Two seconds later the cynicism kicked in again. ‘It’s going to be dry and packed with chemicals,’ I thought. ‘It’s too good to be true,’ I said lugubriously to my partner.

My consternation was lifted slightly when I unwrapped the chicken packet and saw that it was a real, plump breast of chicken, not some chemically formulated mash of unsavoury bird parts.

So, in spirits raised by the sight of the chicken and a hastily necked glass of the Pinot (perfectly drinkable although instantly forgettable), we set about preparing the meal.

Fifty minutes and an empty bottle later we served up and were bowled over by the end result. A quirk of human nature is that things always seem better when they are a bargain, but in the case of the food it can only be said that it was genuinely good.

The chicken was moist, plentiful and lightly seasoned - always a good sign as too much salt conceals a multitude of ills. The mash was as described - very creamy and sans any lumps or other unpleasantness. The fruit in the winter pudding was fresh and full of flavour.

There wasn’t a hint of chemical in any of it and we put down our knives, forks and spoons feeling thoroughly satisfied. Of course this isn’t high-level food, but for a hearty, easy to prepare meal, it was really unbeatable value.