Taste Test: Is Greggs still as good as we remember after three months’ lockdown?

What you will get time after time at any of its 1,650 shops across the UK is decent quality food, and outstanding value for money.

Love it or loathe it, Greggs is a great British institution, and its products have become lunchtime staples for millions.

For the first time in nearly three months, Greggs reopened seven of its Edinburgh shops and 10 across the Lothians today (Thursday, 18 June) – a move that was greeted with enthusiasm by many punters.

Indeed, as reported earlier, fans lined up outside branches to get their long-awaited fix of savoury delights such as sausage rolls, pasties, pies and steak bakes.

Not wanting to miss out, earlier today I headed to the Newkirkgate branch of Greggs in Leith to pick up a couple of items - you know, just to check they're still as good as always.

Returning home, keen to start the taste test, I was blindfolded and given a Greggs steak bake and a steak bake bought from a well-known supermarket - a 'fake steak bake', if you like.

The first one I tried - unbeknown to me – was the supermarket version.

Now, to be fair, it wasn't too terrible – but it could never have passed for a Greggs steak bake.

For one thing, the pastry was soggy.

After sampling the other, it was as clear as mud that I'd just eaten one of Greggs' signature steak bakes.

Unlike the first, this one was encased in a flaky puff pastry, the gravy was rich and thick, and the chunks of beef were altogether tastier.

The bottom line: Greggs is back and as good as ever.

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