In many towns and cities, I think lunchtime options are far too limited.

You have the usual fast food chains, selling "meals" of saturated fat, synthetic carbs and sucrose based soft drinks.

You have the coffee shops selling "paninis" (a sandwich that someone has sat on) that in all honestly are prepared with such processed ingredients in such sterile conditions that if you left one out overnight not even mold would grow on it.

I wish they were more widely spread, but when i've been working in London there are places that actually sell meat & 2 veg for lunch - even to take out. That is the sort of stuff we should be eating.

So if you don' take a packed lunch to work; what would you love to be able to go out and buy for lunch?

I would love to be able to get the kind of street food they serve in Mexico or the Far East. To be able to walk down the road and get amazing freshly cooked food would be brilliant. If you walk down the road in most cities all you can get is a burger or a baked potato.

Maybe a salad bar, like the ones they have in Pizza Hut. Only they have freshly prepared veg throughout the day (instead of it sitting there until it runs out before refilling), and not coated in mayonnaise or calorific dressings. You grab a container and you can pick and choose what you want in it, and add any dressings at the end if you wish.
Oh, and make it so there can only be a few people in the store at once, so people don't get in your way and the staff can make sure no one does anything gross to the food
And maybe one of those smoothie bars where you can create your own from fresh fruit and veg

I'd love a salad bar like that - I'm quite picky, and would be ncie to just help myself.

BBQ!!!!!

but only done by someone who knows what they are doing, there is no excuse for burnt sausages

An all you can eat Sushi bar for less than a fiver

I used to have my dream lunch food shop up the road from my office - an Italian sandwich place that specialised in its own foccacia cooked on the premises and then you chose your fillings from all sorts of delicious options - marinated asparagus, grilled artichoke hearts, spicy salmon fillets etc..

now it's closed down!

Now that would be fandabbydozy!

There's a place just like this in Soho - when I used to work in the west end I'd go there a couple of times a week for one of their amazing make-it-yourself salads - it wasn't cheap though, about a fiver if I remember rightly! Fresh & Wild also have a great salad bar, I wish they had that chain out here.

^^
That would be perfect!
Where abouts was that?

My main problem with sandwich / salad shops is it just seems so overpriced considering what you would pay to make it yourself.

But I would love somewhere to get lunch sized portions of healthy hot and cold pasta, bruschetta, fruit salads etc that didn't cost a fortune!

pret a manger sarnies mmmmmmm or a giraffe restaurant, they do gorgeous food!
a nice salad bar with lots of fresh bread, or sushi, deli meats ie chicken, turkey

im getting hungry now!

I go to Vancouver once a year and there are places that do all you can eat sushi for about £7. I was in heaven.

In Athens but I think they went under due to there being too much cheap and nasty competition! It's a shame though, I was more than happy to pay the extra euro or so for the way better quality.

Oatcake shops like they do in Stoke 0n Trent Areas.

There are loads of them in Burslem, near Port Vale's ground. You can get an oatcake with bacon and egg for little more than a pound. Bargain!

There is also a cracking pub called The Bulls Head, curse you Wycombe for getting promoted!!

I like variety so I'd adore to work near a "food hall" but not one of the Yankee type (full of burgers, fries etc)) - one full of stalls serving all the beautiful worldwide cuisines and dainty little salad bars and stalls serving good old homemade English comfort food.... Now that would be heaven!!

A nice pie shop freshly baked ones , were you were served by chimps but the chimps would wear gloves because of the hot pies

chimps and pies? not a good combo...