New M&S Dine In meal deal for two launches: top picks in the latest food offer

The Slow Cooked Dine In meal deal for two will set you back £12 but doesn't come with a dessert. We reveal what’s on the menu and whether the latest M&S deal offers good value for money.

Marks & Spencer has announced a new Dine In meal deal for two that'll set you back £12.

The deal includes a main and two sides and will be available in stores until 23 January.

In this article, we'll reveal the full menu and look at whether it provides good value for money.

But first, it's worth highlighting how the Dine In meal deal has changed in case you've not bought it in a while.

Dine In offer has changed: what you need to know

Originally, the Dine In for Two meal deal allowed M&S shoppers to pick up a main, two sides, dessert and a bottle of wine for £10.

It was a very popular deal (and very costly to M&S). 

Over time, M&S began tinkering with the deal: most notably, it hiked the price to £12, removed the free drink portion and, most recently, removed the dessert.

What's more, M&S now runs a host of different M&S meal deals rather than just one offer.

For example, one focuses on pizza and another on pasta.

There are currently six Dine In options to choose from, all priced differently.

So the new £12 meal deal is merely the latest addition to the group, rather than being the Dine In offer.

Right, now that we've got the history lesson out the way, let's look at whether it provides good value for money.   

Is the M&S meal deal good value?

As mentioned, the Slow Cooked Dine In offer includes a main and two sides for £12 and will be available in stores until 23 January.

As with all meal deals, it works out cheaper than buying the items you want separately, so in that sense, it is good value.

However, there's no escaping the fact that it offers far less than rival supermarket meal deals for two.

Perhaps the best example is Tesco's £12 Finest offer (only available to Clubcard customers): for the same price as M&S, you'll get dessert and a bottle of plonk (or four beers) thrown into the deal.

Given the wines included in these meal deals generally cost around £7.50 on their own, Tesco is undeniably the better offer price-wise.

Of course, some people will simply enjoy M&S food over Tesco, so it isn't just about how much it costs.

We’ll now go into the full options available in the Dine In deal below to help you decide whether it still provides value for money based on your personal preferences.

Slow Cooked M&S meal deal: full menu

Mains (choose one):

• Slow Cooked Chunky British beef chilli
• Slow Cooked Barbecue British pork rib rack
• Slow Cooked Crispy duck legs
• Slow Cooked Succulent British chicken legs
• Slow Cooked Korean-style Spicy chicken thighs
• Slow Cooked Tender British beef bourguignon
• Slow Cooked Tender British lamb shoulder

Sides (choose two):

• Frites
• Potato rosti cakes
• Parmentier potatoes
• Peas and carrots
• Butter mashed potato
• Chunk chips
• Salt and black pepper potato wedges
• Tenderstem broccoli, fine beans, carrots and baby corn
• Layered super green vegetables

Head this way for our weekly round-up of the best supermarket deals from Aldi to Waitrose instead.

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