A chicken sandwich, some fruit juice and a Bounty bar. It may not exactly be the breakfast of champions, but it is a perfectly acceptable lunch.

A taste of… Countdown Supermarket, corner of Anzac Parade and Anglesea St, Hamilton.

We'd heard… from the staff at the nearby Hamilton District Court that the chicken sandwiches served at the deli were mindblowingly good.

We ordered… A $4.75 chicken sandwich, accompanied by a Homegrown lemon, honey and ginger drink and a Bounty bar to sweeten the deal. Prices for these two latter items tend to vary, depending on stock and the other vagaries of the supermarket industry. This combination usually comes in at a shade over $9.

The service… was super friendly from the courteous, attentive and totally delightful staff behind the deli counter, who spend a good portion of each morning making dozens of sandwiches.

The vibe… was not totally thrilling. It is, after all, a supermarket and not some high-end restaurant. Parking availability is pretty good however, and there are plenty of nice nearby places to go and munch on your sandwich if it is not raining. The grassy hill surrounding the court buildings just across the road seems to be a pretty popular spot for sandwich consumption.

If you go… definitely order a chicken sandwich. The rye bread is soft and moist, the lettuce is crunchy and fresh and the protein is packed in. This could redefine your concept of what constitutes a good chicken sandwich. An unfortunate side effect is that it may make you bitterly resent your mother, partner, yourself or whoever has hitherto assembled any and all the chicken sandwiches you will have eaten throughout your life until that moment, as you suddenly realise they were all inferior compared to this masterpiece. Chicken sandwich fanciers are advised not to leave it until too late in the day to seek it out, in addition to the courthouse staff, they are alarmingly popular with the folk who work in the Hamilton Central Police Station just down the road. And if the deli is sold out of chicken sandwiches because the police officers have got in first, then a tuna fish sandwich is an acceptable backup option.

Rating out of 5: 4