Rustica

I’m sure I’m not the only one who has had more than her fair share of hot dinners over the festive period. So it’s quite a fall from grace to be back on the boring butties when weather forecasters smugly tell us from the warmth of their cosy London studio that in the North it is in fact the coldest January since BCB (before combination-boilers). It may be new year, new you blah blah but particularly in colder climes the stomach wants what it wants.

And this brings me on to Rustica. Just off Oldham Street, this is a sandwich shop that knows its customers and location. For these are sandwiches and other lunchtime specials for those in need of a decent feed. And the food has to make an impact given that the venue is, well, a bit cramped and a bit crap. So top marks to team Rustica: 5 plucky women stuffed into a tiny kitchen area who make the art of sandwich making look as graceful as synchronised swimming. Charlie’s Angels ain’t got nothing on these ladies.

The hot sandwiches in particular are of a wide and varied selection. Hot chicken, hot bacon, pesto and garlic mayo on toasted ciabatta, Moroccan chicken with salad and mint yoghurt dressing (both from £2.80). And the husky ex-porn star M&S voice-over in my head said: “This isn’t just a sandwich, this is a Rustica sandwich.”

There is also a choice of hot specials which range from pasta bolognaise to chicken and broccoli bake with side salad (£2.99), baked potatoes with filling (from £2.50) and soup (£1- £1.50). Rustica is predominantly a takeaway café, although there is one small table and chair randomly placed where the queues snake, which I might add, everyone queuing takes it in turn to stare at whilst waiting. This seat is for the person that has trekked across town because they know that decent, value for money butty bars like Rustica, are few and far between.

Rustica
1 Hilton Street
City
M4 1LP