What food from Waitrose do I need to try?

[mumofoneAlonebutokay]

I've never shopped at waitrose, apart from popping in for an emergency water bottle, kind of thing. I'm an Asda/Lidl budget shopper 🤭

I've got a voucher to use there for an online shop, £15 off of an £80 shop.

So which food would you recommend i buy? Which food tastes amazing and is a must try? I'm thinking of venison, never had that

Is the pasta superior? Any seasonings?

Do share x

Edit, spelling

I don’t have that excuse and could still eat it 12 times a day! 😂

I love the Kerala chicken soup, rarely have it as so much fat in it, but it’s lovely

I did once shop in Tesco, and not to be unkind but this was my experience, none of the vegetables or fruits taste of anything at all. It’s like they freeze all the taste out of everything.

There was row upon row of ready meals, junk food but I couldn’t find all of the ingredients to cook anything from scratch.

I am not a fan of ready meals and walking around there gave me a very indication as to why there is an obesity crisis in this country.

You get these in Sainsbury’s and they’re great. They now also do mango and passion fruit ones.

The meat and fish are excellent. If you can pop in at 4pm on a Sunday there are often superb reductions.

Hi I have worked at a lot of the supermarkets (buying/ strategy roles). Currently at Waitrose.

I would look at areas you like e.g. bakery and get a couple of items that look enticing and see if they are worth the price difference to you. Some products are more expensive some aren't.

IMO a few of the stand out areas are:
Protein
Sausages
Deli
Cheese
Wine (I won't buy wine anywhere else now)
Anything on the counters
Bakery
Ice-cream
Home baking
Cooks Ingredients
Dried Pasta

WR does have normal brands but also more niche ones like Gymkhana and Ottolenghi - I haven't tried these but heard customers rave about them.

WR essentials tends to be better quality than other supermarkets mid tier ranges.

Brillat-Savarin. No other supermarket seems to have it.

Those saying Waitrose is the same as Asda/ Lidl - well obviously they sell all the branded products like those supermarkets, and obviously there's a markup, because it's a premium supermarket. That's how it works.

The difference is that the rest of the stuff they sell is better, and they often have niche products that other supermarkets don't have. Anything fresh - fruit, veg, meat, and generally a lot (not all, but a lot) of their own brand stuff is nicer and better quality than other supermarkets.

Their ready meal curries are really good, £5 each for two and two sides for £12 usually.

A good few people here trying to piss on OP’s parade. She has a voucher, she’s excited to use it – let her, without having to make miserable comments that smack of reverse snobbery. It’s neither here nor there what you think of Waitrose.

I find other other things so much nicer too. The cashmere loo roll is the softest on the market for instance.
Every single member of staff is unfailing polite, so it’s a pleasant experience. If there is ever a problem, they genuinely look to assist rather than a surly exchange.

I find other supermarkets cold and lonely places, but everyone greets the customers in my local Waitrose, and it feels very welcoming even first thing in the morning, and they are extremely nice people on the whole.

A lot of the Essentials range is good, I always buy their ketchup, the no. 1 Greek yogurt is good, I also like the cheesecakes.

I'd like a Waitrose in Ireland.
Can't see it ever happening now with Brexit.
John Lewis was to come but it never happened and with the rise in online shopping and the demise of many department stores it won't happen either.
House of Fraser and Debenhams closed their stores in Ireland in 2020.

Venison is overrated imo, rather chewy.
Waitrose do some nice "occasional" things, but I wouldn't do my big shop there. Unless you've money to burn, obvs. 😉

Edited to add. Cashmere toilet rolls? I'm going to have to try those next time I'm in there.

Well that’s just not true at my local Waitrose. There’s a mix of long standing staff who are welcoming and friendly and then a young bunch who come in around 4pm, mostly local sixth form students, who are enthusiastic and very competent.

The large Tesco stores usually have everything - what were you looking for?

@deeahgwitch
I went to a posh Dunnes in Cork last year - that felt Waitrosey

Forgot to say earlier - Waitrose is one of the very few places you can get coffee ice cream.

We get a Waitrose delivery about once a month and the rest of the time shop mainly at Lidl or Sainsburys. If we had a Waitrose nearby I'd be in there all the time! The aisles are wide, the shelves are stacked immaculately, the floor is clean, the staff are cheerful, they have plenty of check-outs open and don't expect you to self check-out a trolley shop, it's not freezing cold. Obviously you pay for this with slightly higher prices.

I've just done my order this morning and added about 10 things from this thread that I haven't tried before, so cheers to you for starting it OP.

Kalamata olive bread

That is true! Co op prices are a complete rip off and it's much lower quality than Waitrose.

The only thing I buy in there is their Chipsticks and that's a rare treat as they are as unhealthy as you can get!

Sorry for being slow to respond all, but I appreciate the responses

My shopping trolley is over £140 now 😄😄😅

Im doing my usual shop using the essentials range

Then I'm adding seasonings that you dont get in asda, breads, ice cream, some of their fruit

Wine - i did find an orange wine, really want to try it

I like ottolenghi and have wanted to try his stuff so I will add some

I've done this, the essentials range for pasta etc looks good to me

Will also get home baking ingredients to stock up my shelves

For me, fruit has never really been nice but its always because I've bought cheaply

I now think fruit isn't horrible, I've just been poor 😄😄

I've put some candy grapes in and I want these expensive mangos and oranges

The Waitrose Essentials range is excellent - both food and non-food items are good value and good quality products.