Having been growing over the past five years, Tossed has six branches currently, positioned mainly in the heart of central London, with an outpost at Westfield. Their focus is very much on providing food that is healthy, tasty and interesting to eat: they are in the process of launching three new breakfast bloomers and we went to check them out.
The three choices are; ham and egg with tomato salsa, egg and tomato and ham and cheese with tomato salsa. Among the ingredients Tossed use are granary bread, Wiltshire ham and low fat egg mayonnaise. The quality of the ingredients is reflected in the taste: we tried one of each, and they were all very good. The ham and egg was our favourite; the ham had a really pleasing texture and was full of flavour, balanced well with the egg and the slightly tangy salsa. The others were also very good, including the egg and tomato, which we thought might suffer by comparison (and lack of meat), but was actually delicious.
The heart of Tossed’s repertoire is their range of salads and wraps and although we were too full of bloomer to try any, they looked very inviting. Salads and wraps can both be bought ready-prepared, or you can choose your own from the range of fresh ingredients laid out behind the bar, either from the standard menu, or your own selection of ingredients. The pre-prepared stuff looked terrific; substantial beasts, but so much healthier than the usual fast food – and were very tempting. While Tossed specialise in salads and wraps, they also offer soups and stews, all freshly made, using only natural ingredients.
Tossed has an interesting range of smoothies, so we decided to try a couple; the Strawberry Supreme (strawberry, banana, apple juice and yogurt) had a nice balance of sweet and sharp with big strawberry flavour, while the Berry Punch (strawberry, raspberry, blueberry, blackberry, banana, apple juice and yogurt) had an intense berry flavour and was absolutely delicious. Apparently, each Tossed smoothie contains the recommended daily fruit intake, so noy only do they taste really good, they are good for you.
As well as smoothies and freshly squeezed juices, Tossed also do hot drinks, including reduced-fat hot chocolate and the fabulously named tea pigs. Their coffee is organic, fair trade and freshly ground each day; we tried the latte, which was very good, with a nice rounded flavour.
While drinking our coffee, our avaricious gaze fell upon a ravishing looking fruit jelly, which we just had to try and were so pleased that we did. The jelly (suitable for vegans) had a lovely soft set, and was studded with strawberries and blueberries; it was a seductive thing and went down very easily. Call us hippies, but we liked the fact that the plastic container was made of 70% recycled material, it certainly enhanced our feeling that Tossed are practising what they preach.
All of Tossed’s products come with nutritional information and there’s a calculator for the bespoke salads and wraps. We understand that they can even convert their products into Weight Watchers points. Tossed are competing in a crowded market and while there is some commonality between them and other chains, we felt that Tossed’s overall offering makes them unique and much more interesting. They are definitely worth checking out, if you’re lucky enough to have one within striking distance. We understand that there will be a further outlet opening in the city in the autumn, but if any Tossed people are reading this, can we have one in Canary Wharf also, please?