Has anyone ever done their weekly shop in Fortnum & Mason (being nosey 😂)

[Kate3150]

I’ve been living under a rock all my life I think as I always thought F&M just sold tea, biscuits, chocolates, but to my actual astounding amazement learnt last week it pretty much has everything.
Butchers, deli, bakery.
I’ve never purchased anything from there, from those of you that have, is it amazing??!

The bakery is excellent and no more expensive than Pret. Also, towards closing time they reduce baked goods by up to 75%.

I got a brownie and a millionaire's shortbread for about £1.25 recently.

I've never even been 😭

No, but I once read of someone who had everything sent from Harrods, even her cash, since their bank notes were so much nicer and cleaner than from the peasants’ High St bank! 😂

Not weekly shop, but I've done a few 'treaty' shops prior to a long weekend! 😋

@MoneyAndPercentages I’m thinking of doing that little bit closer to Christmas but I honestly think I could spend all day in there 😂
Any recommendations? X

I know someone who moved here from overseas. It was her closest grocery store, didn’t occur to her that there might be others…. She was over the moon upon discovering Lidl 🤣🤣

@Kate3150 what a fabulous idea!

A friend of mine is a die-hard florentine lover and I always get her a box of the FM ones near Christmas (she's obsessed) so highly recommend those if you're a fan.

I like getting a few of the cheeses and a chutney 😋 As well as raiding the sweets. They do some white chocolate mice I believe which are YUM, as are the peppermint creams.

The pastries are also amazing, as PP said! I also love the iced biscuits if you want something pretty around for guests (or you!)

Not a weekly shop, but I've had few hampers as Christmas gifts from them and whilst nicely packaged and sounding interesting most of the stuff was either horrible or meh. Overhyped in my opinion.

My dream would be to buy weekly flowers from there ( or Liberty) and a cheeseboard and some chutney . Maybe I’ll treat myself pre Christmas.

@Doggymummar it’s
the most amazing shop.
I stood there like this 😲 for all the time I was in there 😂 .
I definitely didn’t blend in a as regular.

I worked there briefly in 2000. The wages were worse than most retail jobs at the time and I left for something far better paid. Back then wearing trousers, even in the call centre, was banned! I was given a uniform for the shop floor which was dry cleaned for me, very high quality but frigging hot in the summer.

I don't rate their biscuits or cakes personally, but I do buy the tea sometimes for the pretty caddies. They make nice Christmas gifts. I also like the champagne strawberry jam. I'm not a fan of Stilton but its meant to be very good.

The Dundee cake is very nice.

@MoneyAndPercentages - thank you for all those wonderful recommendations.

I have a real sweet tooth so will look at those, especially the iced biscuits.

I’m tempted to take my cool bag and try something from the butcher too 😂

I used to buy 6 tins of Russian crab for my mum whenever I was in London for work. It was 20 quid a tin in the 90s and was kept in a locked cabinet.😱She loved it.
Now I just buy their Countess Grey tea bags and the odd present for people if I'm visiting London.

I got Welsh rarebit spread a few times when it was discounted. So good. And comes in a fancy pot too

I always buy a loaf of their sourdough bread if I’m passing and my favourite blue cheese. The loaf is £6 but enormous and lasts us a few days.

The veggies always look a bit old to me. I buy their loose tea and choccolous biscuits in the refill packs.

My mate used to work on the cake section and we got so many cakes at the end of her shift that at one point we ended up using them in a food fight in the middle of the road! Not outside Fortnums of course.
All the girls that worked there were really fun, they were all hungover but always so smiley and happy!

I like going in there for nice christmas bits. When I was a student in Newcastle I used to do my food shopping in Fenwicks Food Hall because it was closest! They did have some lovely stuff though so was worth the extra cost!

My aunt used to do her weekly shop at F&M and Harrods until she died because the staff would deliver it to her in person.

I’ve been given several Fortnums hampers over the years and to be honest, have always found them to be disappointing. Most of the stuff was no nicer than M&S or Waitrose. As a previous poster said, I don’t rate the biscuits at all, Tesco Finest are better. The cheese is good and chutney decent but nothing outstanding.

Occasionally I have popped in and picked up food for the next few days but it gets so busy in there nowadays.

I love their sausages and they did a wonderful Himalayan salt cave aged steak that I could only afford when it was being sold off at half price. Their bread was good too.

DH is a huge fan of going to F&M a couple of days after Christmas and buying discounted Christmas food that we can snack on until the new year. This always includes one of their giant hams which they reduce by 50-70%!