Located next door to The Honours and just across the road from Restaurant Mark Greenaway, I’m not entirely sure how I managed to miss Circus Express before today. After a gentle stroll along from my place of business, I was in need of a good soup and sandwich type lunch, so popped inside their simple premises, to investigate.

Exterior

The first thing that caught the eye was their talk of “free soup”; the second thing was the asterisk next to the claim. The soup is “free” with one of their pre-made sandwiches, so basically their lunchtime soup and sandwich deal is priced based on the sandwich you choose. It’s a neat piece of marketing, though.

I was happy to take advantage of the deal, particularly when I caught sight of a real doorstop of a pastrami sandwich, lurking on the shelf. The soup of the day was lentil and vegetable, which sounded good to me.

Soup

The counter service works efficiently, and while there’s room to linger on window shelf seats, this is predominantly a takeaway spot. I was soon on my way, with photos taken at strategic points as I walked and ate.

First up was the soup, which was really nicely judged, both in terms of texture and flavour.

Sandwich

The sandwich was as good as it looked, with lovely fresh bread, good crisp pickle, tangy mustard and peppery pastrami. The cheese got rather buried, but I dare say it was in there somewhere.

So overall, Circus Express did a really good job of looking after my lunchtime needs, today. Both their soup and sandwich were enjoyable eats, and for £3.50 they represented a very good value proposition. Next time you’re looking for a quick lunch in the neighbourhood, I’d be happy to point you in their direction.

Scores
Blythe scores Circus Express
3.5/5 for food
3.5/5 for presentation
3/5 for setting
3.5/5 for service
giving an overall 13.5/20

I ate: lentil and vegetable soup; pastrami, emmental and gherkin sandwich

I wore: blue suit

Total bill: £3.50