I tried the new sandwich shop from Manchester's best bakery but made a big mistake

The people of Manchester love a grand opening. Whether it's due to free food being offered out, the excitement around a new venue, or the expansion of a beloved institution - Mancs will turn up in their droves to give something a try.

So, it was no different when famed local bakery La Chouquette opened the doors to its new sandwich spot Piqniq in Didsbury earlier this week - with queues running down the street.

It meant that when I turned up later on opening day, there were no queues in sight. Pretty much everything had already sold out.

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I was expecting to arrive on the first day (I love a grand opening, too!) and be greeted by the delights of the impressive sounding chicken katsu or breaded brie with chilli jam options. But I made the mistake of turning up at 2.30pm to find the shelves near empty.

So, when I walked into the new School Lane premises, I was immediately confused when I asked for a menu and was told that what was behind the counter was all they had left. The very helpful server explained to me that the first day had, as expected, gone down a hit with locals from the moment they opened. They had sold out of pretty much most things by 11.30am. So, me turning up a mere three hours later was always going to be a bit of a miss, really.

I can be quite an indecisive person when it comes to choosing what to eat, so the lack of options was probably a blessing. The only sandwich option available was a veggie breakfast roll - something, I'll be completely honest, I was never going to order otherwise.

Priced at £3.90, the sandwich consists of a freshly-baked bread roll featuring a cheese and leek croquette with potato rosti inside. Toasted to order, it comes with either red or brown sauce (I choose ketchup).

Tucking in right away, it was warm, and the bread was instantly recognisable as La Chouquette’s own - it was fresh, comforting and had a lovely crunch to its outside whilst remaining soft and pillowy on the inside.

The croquettes were delicious too and perhaps best described as a sort of evolved hash brown, if you will. The cheese added a nice kick to things, the potato gave a welcomed familiarity whilst the leek took it up a notch and made me feel like I was at least getting a little bit of my five a day in amongst it all.

Having demolished the sandwich, I realised I had yet again made another rookie mistake in the process of ordering: I had gone to one of Manchester’s most famed bakeries and not come back with a cake or pastry to polish things off. And that’s the bit I’m still kicking myself about today.

In the midst of my internal chaos of not knowing how to handle the fact I had limited lunch options (there was also a tomato soup and a tuna salad for the taking, but I did not want either - I wanted a sandwich), I had slipped up and forgotten to order a sweet treat.

In all fairness, however, the cake options were also limited by the time I arrived - there was just a small pile of croissants and one lonely looking lemon slice on the counter. Apparently, they also serve coffee too but as there was no menu, I was oblivious to this fact until much later and grabbed a can of San Pellegrino to wash down my sandwich with.

In a way, I’m glad I had no choice but to order the one sandwich on offer because, like I said, it’s something I would have probably ignored - and certainly if the katsu or breaded brie options were available. And the veggie croquette sandwich is now something I’d be up for having again.

With their actual La Chouquette bakery site still open just around the corner in Didsbury (and with another site still doing well in Poynton), it’s not a surprise that Piqniq has been an immediate hit. I’m just going to have to set an alarm to ensure I get there early enough to have a choice - and I'll remember to get a cake, next time too.

If you want to give Piqniq a try for yourself, it's on 10 School Lane, Didsbury, M20 6RD.