M&S joins gastro pub revolution
Marks & Spencer has launched a new range of food inspired by dishes found on gastro-pub menus.
The company said the range, called simply Gastropub, was inspired by the catering revolution that has seen gastro pubs offer menus combining regional cooking with quality local ingredients.
Dishes from the retailer's café culture range will be merged into the Gastropub range and reflect the shift from formal bistro and restaurant eating to more local pub dining.
Product developers from the company have spent a year researching the range visiting gastro pubs around the UK to determine the most popular dishes and the recipes behind them.
There are 20 dishes in the range, with plans to launch further seasonal options.
The company's Janine Wills, who developed the new range, said: "Over the last five years, gastro pubs have become one of the most popular forms of informal dining.
More and more pubs nationwide have restaurant-quality menus full of modern dishes, which are adaptations of confirmed British favourites.
We have taken the most popular dishes and recreated them with our own unique twist to deliver a range of more than 20 new meals."
Dish names are written on food packaging in "blackboard" writing, reminiscent of menu boards found in gastro pubs.
Wills added: "We know that many of our customers enjoy eating in pubs for ease and for fussfree, hearty meals.
The new range replicates this with fresh, quality dishes to be enjoyed at home."
The M&S Gastropub range includes: slow-roasted lamb shanks (£8.99), Aberdeen Angus Scottish ale and portobello mushroom pie (£8.99), cod, prawn and smoked haddock pie (£4.99), rump steak stroganoff and porcini oil roast potatoes (£6.99), salmon fishcakes with lemon butter sauce (£3.99), cottage pie with Cheddar mash (£4.99), meatballs in tomato and chorizo sauce with spicy potatoes (£4.49), wine and orange braised lamb with thyme and rosemary rice (£6.99), salmon Kiev with prawns, lemon and herbs (£5.99), roast chicken with apple wedges and cider and calvados sauce (£5.99), and smoked haddock, asparagus and prosciutto risotto (£4.99).