Waitrose, Shepherds Bush, London

Finally Waitrose comes to Shepherds Bush and it’s been worth the wait. The place somehow just exudes quality - from the staff to the food, the layout, it makes a huge difference compared with Morrison’s. Well worth it.

Waitrose is one of the anchor stores of the new Westfield shopping development, and has delivered what, even for this high-end company, is an impressive outlet.

The store is relatively large (25,000 sq ft, so I’m told) for an in-town branch, and - in addition to the normal product range - features a myriad of fresh food counters, including ones for meat and fish, a bakery, a delicatessen, and salad, cheese and olive counters.

One novel feature is a stand-up eating area with high tables where you can buy fresh products and eat them in-store, New York style. I have to say eating while standing up is not my cup of tea, so we’ll have to see if others catch on to this.

I’m also rather puzzled as to why they have included a supermarket in such a large shopping centre: I can’t see anyone wanting to go fashion shopping weighed down with groceries, nor have the energy to go to the supermarket once they’ve walked around the miles of gleaming corridors above. On my visit, Waitrose seemed distinctly quiet (on a Friday afternoon), but maybe it’s just a matter of time.

The only downer is its location, which can be a little tricky to find unless you arrive from the Central/Overground stations: basically, it’s in the basement below the House of Fraser store at the very south east corner of the site. The store also provides a packing, carry-to-car and delivery service (not to be sniffed at if you’ve seen the size of Westfield’s car park).