Waitrose

Some great fresh meat and fish can be purchased, all other items are similar to other brands in other stores

I wouldn’t do my whole shopping in Waitrose because let’s face it, I’m no Bill Gates, but occasionally I like to wander the aisles of the byres road branch for something special. If you are a foodie and like weird things like I do, you can find some truly amazing products in there. I am for instance a big fan of their tikka masala kit with «rose petals». Yep, fancy flower petals on my dinner. Bring it on every day. They have recently added «gochujang» to their range which is a sweet Korean chilli paste and I coul’t be happier as I use it a lot (for Bibimbap for example).
Also, if you get the waitrose card you get a free tea everytime you shop, and 20% off 5 products of your choice.

This isn’t the best and newest waitrose but it does the best it can with what it has! Obviously one of the biggest perks of waitrose is the free coffee with a mywaitrose card. My second favourite thing about this store is the staff. They are always willing to help and offer any advice on a product if asked. Thirdly believe it or not waitrose offers great deals on some of their products which for quality are very reasonable priced compared to competitors. If you aren’t happy with any product they are more than willing to refund or replace anything. Overall the whole waitrose and John Lewis partnership are top notch and I’m so pleased I live next door to this waitrose!

I give Waitrose 4 out of 5 as I only visit occasionally as it’s more expensive than other national supermarket options, but I always enjoy shopping here for the unusual stuff you won’t get anywhere else. They have a good selection of health & beauty things, including more unusual things like organic sun cream and Neals Yard shampoo. Head there near the end of the day to catch a reduced to sell fresh bargain, and choose your charity to support (every time you shop you get a little green token to add to a box with three charity options, at the end of the month each charity gets something based on the amount of votes). I also like the magazine, coffee offers and fancy cheeses.

This Waitrose is my corner shop, albeit it quite a fancy grocer for such a category, so I visit frequently and am probably spoiled beyond redemption at this stage. So much so … until he discovered the whisky selection … my vehemently socialist husband refused to even go inside the place, despite extreme convenience, presumably out of some class fealty, an allegiance that apparently stops at single malts. As an American I am less burdened by such loyalties. Bring on the Waitrose ‘Essentials’ profiteroles and reduced fat Brussels pâté!
High points include cheese and (finer) alcohol selections, though if you’re after a 12-​pack of cheap and cheerful cider, your options are a bit limited (revealing my philistine roots!). In a pinch on nights after watching too much Jamie Oliver, Waitrose rarely fails to supply the random, slightly eccentric ingredient. However, if you’re looking for ‘brown rice’ you’ll be scunnered — ‘whole grain rice’ is apparently the germane culinary parlance … *skeptical eyebrow* It is literally the same thing and justifies at least one eye roll at my social betters per month. A win to balance the economy of snob — snark.
Though the abundance of healthy produce and 8 to 10 different varieties of feta makes for fine dining during the week, it is not so easy on the bank account. In some cases, ‘Offers’ shopping at Waitrose brings the books into a relative balance, but in general, the budget stretches a bit further at Lidl, Asda, and even the larger Tescos (such as Maryhill) and Sainsburys (Partick). The recent campaign to support dairy farmers by buying milk from shops that pay a fair wage (
) makes me feel a bit better about shopping at Waitrose … even if milk is only one of twelve items in my basket that could be bought more cheaply 20 minutes further afield.
Just a perk, Waitrose is a John Lewis collection point, though this has only come in handy on one occasion for a rather heavy birthday present for the aforementioned ragingly socialist husband (or so seems to his American wife…) but this may not be as handy if you don’t live within spitting distance of the shop.
My must-​haves from Waitrose include the Gérard Bertrand Minervois (red wine) — try it! — and the Odysea everyday Feta — difficult to find other places.

I’m not nearly rich enough to shop in Waitrose for the most part. However, you can sign up for a My Waitrose card for free and that entitles you to a free coffee once a day, so I find myself here more often that I would otherwise, usually I get lunch as well.
They have about the same selection of sandwiches, wraps and salads as any other supermarket and a significantly wider selection of sushi than I normally see. No meal deal, sadly, but maybe that’s a good thing since it prevents me from eating so many packets of crisps. Nice deli section too and, to be fair to them, a lot of their «essentials» ranges is pretty reasonably priced.
Apart from that I tend not to buy much here. However, if you’re looking at a recipe and thinking, «where on earth can I get jerusalem artichokes/​a pheasant/​sweet cure pancetta?» Or any other slightly less common (or slightly more ridiculous) ingredient, then yes, Waitrose is probably your best bet.

A lot of people pass off Waitrose as too expensive and a bit pretentious. This is not the case at all.
I don’t visit this place as often as I’d like too. Popped in recently after a lovely Unilocal brunch to get some dinner for that evening (always thinking of food!). Fancied a curry, so picked up their £10 curry deal. Two sides, two mains and rice. Great deal for such good quality products. Their peshwari naan was so tasty! The two curries I chose, veggie and chicken, were lovely. Had a beautiful carrot and spinach rice with some bombay pototoes too.
I love the Waitrose Essential products too. Such good quality and so cheap.
If you have a Waitrose card, you can take advantage of their self-​scan machines, which allow you to scan as you shop. Such a great idea, less faffing around at the tills. Even when you’re not using the self-​scan, the main tills and self-​service tills never have too much of a queue.
Some of the branded products and own brand things can be a tad expensive, but you get what you pay for, and what you’re getting is good quality stuff. Their fruit and veg is fantastic. Have had many a Botanic Garden picnic after stocking up in Waitrose. So handy in the summer for lazy park days.

I’m giving this 5 stars based on the friendly staff and cleanliness of this place. Is it just me or does anyone think they are charging too much for things? They must get a lot of business being so close to the Hilton hotel. Even though I think it’s over priced, maybe because I’m a cheapo. It still has a lot of customers coming through the door.

I shop at Waitrose a lot when I stay in Berkshire. Not to sound like a bitch, but I don’t like to buy non-​organic berries or greens, because I know how to read. This location was lacking on both of those things. And a lot of the shelves were under-​stocked.
I like the layout of the store. It makes sense. Signage is good as well.
Only person I interacted with was my cashier. She was very nice.
Good selection of soups and those concentrated fake juice type of things that British people put in their water.
Wine selection was decent enough.
Got a Spanish red blend for £6.66 that drinks like something that’d sell for triple that price… 2004 Navarra reserva from San Antolin’s. Very pepper and earthy wine with balancing raspberry notes. Well structured. If I lived near a Waitrose, I’d definitely buy a case of this stuff. Excellent quality-​price-​ratio.
The next wine I tries from here was a 2012 old vine grenache called ‘The Cubist’. It was terrible and had nothing on the pallet, and none of the lush fruitiness you’d expect from this varietal.
I got a bagged veggie blend… The mushroom one. Mushrooms, carrots, sprouts, kale. It tastes pretty awful. The sprouts are horrible and the other vegetables seem to have inhaled their bad flavor.
I was really pleased that they had both Cholula and Frank’s Red hotsauces. Those are two of my very favorites. They had a big selection of spicy Indian pastes. I got a hot curry one and really enjoy it; it’s too bad the vegetables I ate it on were so bad.

My fave supermarket? Nice staff and if you go at the right time, a bargain or two to be found. Also they sell John Lewis socks and tights

Saying that I love Waitress makes me feel uncomfortably middle class, but I do adore it. The store is laid out really well and it has some really interesting bits of things that makes the food nerd in me thrilled.
I can’t justify to make it my full time shop due to the slightly further distance from me and because I’d spend a small fortune on items that I want but know I don’t need. I know I can get by without chorizo jam, fancy cheese, refrigerated cookie dough, katsu chicken kits, rose petals for food, or specialist flour… but I want them. And when I want them, I end up with them. It becomes easy to buy on whims as it’s the only shop on my general list of easily accessible shops that lets you scan as you browse. It’s one key way to avoid long queues and is another reason I end up loving the store.
Some of the standard items aren’t honestly badly priced. It can fit into a regular shopping schedule but I find the good stuff too distracting. The MyWaitrose card is useful if you want to take the biggest advantage of sales. I suggest against the coffee. Even at free, I’ve just found it not worth my time (I know that’s picky but I’d prefer to pay and get coffee I want rather than get coffee I don’t like for free).
It’s not a huge store but it feels more like an adventure than other stores at around the same size. Well worth the trip, just don’t be surprised if you end up spending more than you anticipate.

Ah Waitrose! Backbone of Middle England, saviour of the gourmet high street shopper & FREE coffee??! Where the big four fear to tread, Waitrose steps out from its Land Rover in its Hunter wellies and original barbour jacket ready to show the world its well bred wares. Yes you will occasionally overhear the type of conversation that created that Twitter account, but all in all, it’s just another supermarket.
Due to its location, it receives a decent mix of students & native West endies (with a good smattering of mummies who lunch). There’s free coffee and tea available to those with a loyalty card, you can also get the Sunday papers free with a Sunday shop.
The things that I love about Waitrose are its commitment to organic & fair trade and the diversity of ingredients. Fancy making a pasta putanesca or a beef rendang curry? Well you’ll find the ingredients here! Looking for organic or ecologically-​sensitive bodywash or household cleaners? Then step into Waitrose! Their 2fur. (to use the Glasgow parlance) deals are good value & with their own brand offerings price checked against Tesco, you’ll no longer just be bumping elbows with the Milicents & Tarquins of this world.

Waitrose has a reputation as an over-​priced shop that only ‘posh’ people go to. (Sainsburys used to be thought of in a similar manner!) I was fairly nervous, but curious, the first time I went but I have gone back many times since! For most brand name items like Heinz or Flora its generally no dearer than other supermarkets.
Where it gets a bit dearer is in the fish and meat. However, this is due to it being of such goid quality. I have never had a bad piece from here. It’s fun to go for a wander round on Sunday evening after I finish work and pick up some reduced stuff, often you can get whole joints of pork or beef for just a few quid, and their own brand sausages are worth picking up on the 2 for £5 deal. 12 sausages for a fiver is a good buy, especially since they are sooooo good and come in a variety of flavours. They don’t leak water and are big and juicy!
The cheese section is awesome, and their bakery section has some lovely goodies, both sweet and savoury. The fruit and veg can definitely be dearer than asda, for example, with not much difference in quality but if you just need to pick up a lettuce or sime broccoli on your way home it won’t bankrupt you. Their coffee machine makes a decent latte, and you can get a free one if you are a Waitrose loyalty card holder. The staff are always smart, polite and helpful.
One of my favourite supermarkets now!

Just a temporary blip? Let’s hope…
Now, I shop at Waitrose because I want to feel superior to others and Clarissa’s pony WILL ABSOLUTELY NOT eat any other equine food. In fact I often carry one of those green tokens and when in polite company pretend to drop it by accident. People immediately think I’m more important than I really am. A bit too much? Quite probably :-\
Well, in all reality we’re more or less in here once a week, picking up the odd thing or three (not all our *messages you understand) and in general no complaints at all, it’s usually a fantastic shopping experience. In fact we’re usually quite happy to pick up some Nigella-​esque ingredients to Heston-​up our dinner time, but in the last few weeks there’s been a marked difference…
Having supermarket managers’ in the family the following are GRAND Faux pas, especially at 11am on a Saturday. Half empty shelves in a couple of departments, bread shelves ½ stocked, rotisserie items not ready and 2 busy counters manned by 1 person? And to top it off the Free coffee machine’s constantly on «clean mode, do not use»! Ahhhh, DISASTER!
But seriously, I’ll get over it and I’m sure they’ll pull their socks up in the next few weeks. It’s not the end of the world, is it? A few empty shelves? I’ll be back, certainly. Anyway, I can always get my Dutchy responsibly raised organic British meat from Newton Mearns…
* Messages. A Scots word for grocery shopping. i.e. «Em awa doon tae the shoaps fir me ma’s messages»

You have got to try the Japanese «to go» meals from Waitrose. Possibly not the most authentic in G town but much higher quality than other supermarket style Japanese food. My top must tries are the chicken Katsu bento box and the salmon teriyaki bento box. The salmon comes with a sweet potato salad, marinated noodles and pickled beet. The chicken Katsu with rice, sauce and pickle salad. Nom nom!

This is the first supermarket I ever visited in Scotland. I have to say that I’m throughly impressed with what they have to offer. The spinach and beet falafels are so addicting and now I want to try all their different flavours. They also have a decent variety of home items (paper goods and baby food). If you need a bit more things I would recommend this supermarket over Marks & Spencer.

For that wee special delicacy it’s always worth popping into Waitrose. I wouldn’t use it as a regular supermarket though, it’s just too pricey for that. Morrisons is more in my budget range for the weekly shop, but there’s always something in Waitrose to tempt you into spending more than you intended when you came in. Of course, all supermarkets want to do just that, but Waitrose seem to manage it more easily than most.
This branch isn’t huge, but it’s somewhere larger than a ‘metro’ size and has more in it than you would think.
They’ve even opened up a wee coffee bar at the front now, which seems to attract a few thirsty shoppers.
The upstairs car park gives them a big advantage over Tesco and M&S farther down the road for bulk shoppers with deep pockets, but for me it’s always a hand basket ‘5 items or less’ style of visit.

I’m a Waitrose fan anyway and this one in the West End of Glasgow was one of the first I had visited and one I return to when I’m back in the area.
Again– the usual high quality food and great wine selection. There is a decent sized gluten free section for picking up breads, rolls, cereals, biscuits and pastas.
This is a busy store but queues never seem to be out of control and it always appears to be well stocked. Staff are friendly and helpful. Really, its a supermarket so there is not much to say about it but its top quality produce and the prices are pretty reasonable too — not vastly different from Tesco or Sainsbury so its well worth a visit.

When ever I mention that my local supermarket is waitrose I generally get the same withering look followed buy a comment about how expensive they are. I would reply by going on record that most of their food is very reasonably priced. True there are some very expensive «treats» available should you wish to indulge but I have found that their day to day foods are on a par with, and in some cases better, than other supermarkets in the area.
Also of the handful of times I have had to ask something of the staff they have been extremely helpful and informative.
My only gripe is that the Japanese cooking wine (mirin?) is misleadingly stocked in the alcohol section and not their otherwise incredibly well stocked world food section. It won’t stop me from giving it five stars though.

Waitrose is like the god of all supermarkets. I absolutely LOVE Waitrose! My friend highly recommended me to try Waitrose’s sandwiches, so when my family spotted this chain on our way to the University of Glasgow, we stopped by to buy our lunch. Upon entering Waitrose, I was astounded by how spacious, clean, and organized everything is! I have never seen such a high-​classed looking supermarket.
The first time we came here, we bought sandwiches, dessert, and juice for a meal. The dessert (Cream Slices) was so light and tasty that my dad kept talking throughout the rest of our trip about how we HAD to return to Waitrose for more of their pastries, and that we did with much gusto!
Here are some of the things we bought:
Smoked Salmon & Soft Cheese sandwich (
) — Yum! I loved smoked salmon and this sandwich was packed with it! The soft cheese was basically cream cheese but went very well with the salmon. I didn’t expect such a simple sandwich to taste so yummy!
Rare Beef, Horseradish & Rocket sandwich (
) — This sandwich was also very delectable! The tender beef went very well with the horseradish bite and crunchy rocket leaves! All the components came together like a symphony in my mouth!
Cream Slices (
) — Ah, the cream slices that set the bar for British desserts sky-​high for my parents. As mentioned before, these pastries were amazing. They were composed of two puff pastry slices sandwiching a strawberry jam and whipped cream topped with a fondant glaze and chocolate drizzle. The star of this dessert was the whipped cream. It’s not your typical whipped cream; it’s super light and gushes out when you bite into the pastry and has a very delicate buttery taste to it.
Custard Slices (
) — Don’t get fooled by the similar packaging this pastry dessert has to the Cream Slices… it has a completely different taste! Instead of the whipped cream and jam, this pastry sandwiched custard instead, but tasted equally as amazing. The custard is super light and creamy and made me crave for more afterwards.
Coconut & Lime Chicken Salad (
) — This salad was very good! The rice had a creamed coconut taste to it and the chicken pieces were very well seasoned. Together with the chili dressing on the crunchy veggies, this salad was very reminiscent of a Thai dish. If you like Thai food, this would be a suitable salad for you.
Prawn & Mango Salad (
) — The Oriental dressing for this salad was very unique and the prawns were very juicy and plenty. My mom spent the whole time eating this trying to pinpoint what was in the dressing because it was so good! It amazes me how much bang you get for your buck with this salad (reduced price at £1.89) because there’s such a huge variety of fresh produce in this salad.
Limoncello Dessert (
) — This dessert was too sweet. My dad was lured in by the enticing looking piped cream on top of the layered jelly and cake, but once we all ate a scoop, we agreed that the sugar in this was too much.
TL;DR: Clean, spacious and organized supermarket, good salads and sandwiches and AMAZING Cream Slices and Custard Slices! Don’t miss out on Waitrose!