Too Good To Go: Is the Toby Carvery £3 'magic bag' worth it?

While at university, I stumbled across the app ‘Too Good to Go’ which provides its users with food from different restaurants, cafes and supermarkets for drastically reduced prices. This is all in an effort to reduce food waste.

One day I checked the app to discover that Toby Carvery offer a ‘magic bag’ for £3.29. I first tried this in Gloucester but had yet to try the Swindon offering.

Excited, I arrived at Toby Carvery, the Friary in North Swindon at 9pm to the oh so familiar smell of the gravy wafting out of the door as I made my way to the welcome desk.

Previously I had been able to choose all of the food myself and stuff the boxes with as much roast as I could. But this time, I was handed a circular box filled to the brim with my roast dinner and a bag filled with roast potatoes.

I then got in the car and made the quick 15-minute drive home where I could transfer the beast of a meal onto a plate.

I was given five roast potatoes, two sausages, a generous portion of chicken and beef, mash potatoes, a Yorkshire pudding, all the veg I could ask for and a nice coating of gravy.

The food was still warm as I dug in and I was impressed as it supplied enough food for myself and my partner. They were generous with my favourite bits which, like most Toby Carvery diners, is the meat, the gravy and the roast potatoes.

I was disappointed to only find one Yorkshire pudding however if I had received anymore it would have taken up valuable space so I commend the decision.

The chicken was succulent. The beef was good however the pieces chosen weren’t the cleanest or by any means the best selection of meat. However, when you’re paying just under £4 for an entire meal, you can’t really complain.

The staff were friendly and incredibly efficient and I quite liked the fact that I did not have to spend ten minutes selecting the food and serving myself, the simplicity of it was much needed after a long day at work.

My partner who has never tried a Toby Carvery before was impressed and we have decided that it will have to become a regular for when we can’t be bothered to cook (which is a lot of the time).