An American living in the UK has come in for criticism from Brits after trying Greggs for the first time and making one big mistake. Russell Valentin has recently moved to London from Chicago.
While here, he’s trying some classic British food staples to see if they live up to the hype and sharing his opinions on TikTok. On his first visit to Greggs, he had a cold meal deal; picking up a roast chicken and bacon baguette, cheese and onion crisps and a Ribena. In the video, which has racked up over 47,000 views and 3,000 likes, he shared his honest review. The social media influencer started with the sandwich – noting that it was “real tasty” – before moving onto the crisps, which he loved. Russell, 31, then tried the Ribena, which he said is a must if you’re an American in the UK, as blackcurrants are outlawed in many states, reports What’s The Jam. While he liked the taste, he did say it’s quite “foreign” to him. Overall, he gave the baguette an 8.5, the crisps a 7.5 and the drink a seven, as it didn’t “blow his mind”.
Users flocked to the comments to share their thoughts, with many people noting he didn’t try the most coveted item on Greggs’ menu. “You didn’t get a sausage roll, criminal,” Emily said. Another user added: “Crime that you didn’t get a sausage roll.”
And so to not disappoint, he returned to the bakery once again, racking up 168,000 views and over 10,000 likes. This time, he picked up a cheese and onion bake, chicken bake, steak bake and a sausage roll. In total, it came to £7.60.
Russell tried the cheese and onion bake first. “It’s a nice creamy filling – the bread is really nice and flaky,” he said. “I really enjoyed that.” He gave it a seven out of 10.
Next up was the chicken bake. Russell said: “It reminds me a lot of a good chicken pot pie. Flakiness of the bread and creamy chicken filling is really satisfying. Not as much actual chicken in there [as] I would like, but overall it’s not a bad bake.” He rated it just a six.
The steak bake was a winner in his eyes, but the next review was the main attraction – the sausage roll. “Perhaps the most spoken about baked good that I’ve ever heard of,” he added.
“Well, I see why people like them. That sausage filling really ain’t too bad [but] it’s not blowing me away.” Despite appearing to be a fan, he only gave it a seven out of 10.
Users in the comments were quick to point out Russell’s error, though. “What f**kin bread… It’s pastry” one person said. Rohan added: “Pastry isn’t bread, you wally.”
Last but not least, he picked up a sausage, bean, and cheese melt on his third visit, racking up 48,000 views and over 3,000 likes. Russell, not learning from his mistake, said it’s “so very breadish”.
He added: “It’s like somebody filled a pastry with an entire can of Heniz beans y’all like on toast.” [sic] The content creator said he wished the insides were “blended” a bit better – but scores it a 6.5/10.
He moved onto the sweet stuff, trying a glazed doughnut. The treat was rated highly at a nine.
If you’re going to try a sausage roll, it goes without saying that the vegan alternative must be reviewed, too. Russell said: “Wow. The flavour just really packs a punch in this one.
!I really can’t believe this is vegan. I think I’m going to argue that [it] is in fact better tasting than the original sausage roll.” He scored it a whopping 7.7.