Sainsbury's

You might not think of popping into Sainsbury's for your morning pastry fix, but this Friar Street branch has quietly built up a reputation for doing the basics properly. The in-store bakery churns out genuinely fresh bread throughout the day, and their pain au chocolat actually has decent lamination – not something you can say about most supermarket efforts. What sets this place apart from other Reading sandwich spots is the combination of reliability and value. Their meal deals are properly generous, the coffee's drinkable, and you can grab groceries whilst you're at it. It's nothing fancy, but when you need a quick lunch between Oracle shopping or before catching a train, it does the job without the queue you'll find at Pret. The Sunday hours are a bit rubbish though – typical supermarket logic.