This is one of Sainsbury’s flagship stores. Although not as large as some of the out-of-town stores, it is still very large, with a wide range of products and 29 checkouts.

It has just about everything you could want for as far as groceries are concerned, including a Deli, Bakery, Fish counter, Butcher counter, Hot food counter and a salad bar. Reflecting Kensington’s well-heeled but ethnically diverse population (not least lots of embassies and consulates whose staff shop here), it has a wide range of specialist regional ranges, including Kosher, South Asian, Caribbean, Thai, Chinese, Japanese, Middle-eastern and from other European countries. It also has a ‘free-from’ range for those with specific health requirements, such as sugar-free, gluten-free, etc as well as an organic range.

The store is large enough to have a reasonable home-wares range, including CDs, a pharmacy and a film-processing service. Other services include a cash machine, customer toilets with baby-changing facilities, a hearing loop system, step-free access and a large car-park (with disabled spaces). The only thing missing is a petrol station.

So, why not 5 stars? Well, I’ve never found staff to be terribly friendly: not rude or unhelpful, just a bit grudging, and for a store of its size they do occasionally run out of things, which they really shouldn’t. And it is so large, that even a small shop involves quite a lot of walking around, so it actually takes longer.