Simply Crispy

Belfast bap, ham, cheese and butter with a packet of Brannigan’s Roast Beef and Mustard. Get in!

Simply Crispy is simply amazing! I love this pop up and everything about it. The concept is simple like the name, choose bread, choose crisps, choose to add soup or stew and then choose a sauce! This all results in a ‘carborific’ taste sensation which you can enjoy in comfortable laid back surroundings.
You might have picked up on the press this place received — it’s hailed as ‘The World’s First Crisp Sandwich Café’! This is the very reason I waited until now to go. I wanted to experience it after the hype. It certainly lived up to all my expectations. I went for Brannigans Roast Beef and Mustard crisps in a Belfast Bap with ham and cheese. I read in a previous review that you needed to add a ‘moistener’ so I went for burger sauce. This was a gamble that paid off, the beef flavoured crisps were perfectly complimented by the sharp burger sauce which also helped to soften the huge Belfast bap. I would suggest you get a drink to accompany your sandwich as your pallet does quickly become dry.
It seems the concept of the crisp sandwich hasn’t quite reached everyone in Belfast as when we were seated in the café an older gentleman entered asking for a menu. This resulted in a hilarious yet adorable exchange with the lovely server who explained that it was ‘only crisp sandwiches’ to which the gent replied, ‘Crisps?!‘
He did walk away happy though as he served potato and leek soup. I suppose this sums up Simply Crispy. When you walk in you don’t know what to expect but like the old gent you’re bound to leave with a smile on your face.

As a lover of all things carb I can’t see what’s not to like. Crisps, bread and a side of chips. Bliss. I didn’t opt for the soup as it would have spoiled my otherwise unhealthy lunch.
There is no menu as it really is a simple concept. Pick your crisps and bread. Add cheese or ham if it tickles your fancy. Then add sides of chips and/​or soup. Just be warned that when suddenly faced with this seemingly easy selection concept, suddenly picking a packet of crisps has never been harder.
I opted for white bread (as the Belfast bap looked too bready for even a hardened carb eater) and some flamed grilled steak McCoys with chips. I’ve never been happier than in those few moments. The bread was perfectly moist with just enough butter to counteract the dryness of the crisps. Meanwhile, the chips appeared to be coated in a crumbled monster munch type substance, giving even more carbs for your money.
The novelty concept is fantastic and I can’t remember ever feeling so full after a sandwich. However, I think this will need to remain a luxury lunchtime for me and won’t be appearing on my list of regulars, as I do make a mean crisp sandwich myself (at a fraction of the price).

At last! A world where it is socially acceptable for a grown-​assed woman to have a crisp sandwich for lunch! It’s all they sell. Nothing else. You’ll have a crisp sandwich like the rest of us, or you can take your business elsewhere. Yaaaaas!
I had heard of this place in Belfast and was desperate to go but it’s a long way to go from Glasgow just for a sandwich. But then the clouds parted and the heavenly choir sang and my boss asked me to go to Belfast for a course! Hooray! Even better, it turns out the place is just out the back door of our Belfast office. It just gets better! You can imagine, I was unusually enthusiastic about getting the old red-​eye flight this Monday morning :-)
Come lunchtime, I galloped out the back door with my boss and another colleague in tow and I battered in through the doors of Simply Crispy. I briefly clocked a blackboard outside with a list of crisps and ‘how to order’ but didn’t really stop to read. Up to the counter and I suddenly realised I didn’t have a clue what I wanted. I want it all, please. I couldn’t see a menu inside but the wall of crisp boxes effectively lays out yer crispy choices. Heavy on the Tayto flavours, but also all your favourite Walkers, Golden Wonder, Smiths etc, and a couple of other brands I hadn’t seen before. But what’s this? Only 2 bread choices? Apparently they had a supplier problem today so my gluten-​free colleague had to go off elsewhere in search of something to eat which was a pity. I opted for smokey bacon Tayto crisps in a Belfast bap with cheese, as part of the 4quid meal deal inc a cup of soup and ‘chips’ ie more crisps (the chipstick ones). It was sublime! Exactly what it says on the tin.
The only downsides are that the tomato soup had that nasty stale garlicky taste of bought-​in soup; surely if your main offering requires no prep whatsoever, you could perhaps make a big pot of soup yourself? Also, a Belfast bap is an awful lot of bread when there’s no other moist-​maker in your sandwich apart from a spread of margarine and a slice of cheese. It’s a massive roll, like ‘the size of your head’ massive, so the crisp-​to-​bread ratio is a bit wonky. Next time, I would opt for the squidgy-​fresh filthynasty sliced white bread I think. They could perhaps also offer mayo in their range of sauces to add as surely everyone knows a crisps roll needs mayo, not… what’s this… mustard?! Mayo would have been a good moist maker for the sandwich. Perhaps more bread choices and a full menu board to set out the full spectrum of amazingness would be good too?
These are relatively minor niggles, really. All in all, it’s a great place. 4quid to feast like a king, warmed by a whoosh of nostalgia, a wry slice of humour and unrestrained joy. You can’t say fairer than that.
ITS A MUTHAFUPPIN CRISP SANDWICH SHOP!!!