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Whole Foods Market, Kensington

Address: 63-97 High Street Kensington, Kensington, London W8 5SE

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Whole Foods Market - Kensington, London
Whole Foods Market - Kensington, London
Whole Foods Market - Kensington, London
Whole Foods Market - Kensington, London
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makanminum

Compliment makanminum (16-07-2008) 3

The Oyster bar in Harrods is of course much better.

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travelnwork

Compliment travelnwork (12-03-2008) 5

I’m with AlexHunter…it reminds me of home (new jersey)...only better. Though, this store is not as big as the one we used to frequent in Princeton, NJ, it contains some great new ideas like the wine bar and the cafe on the upper floor.

Whats great about whole foods is that although many products are expensive for the average shopper, they have a full line of products, 365 brand which are quite affordable, even less expensive at times than their equivalent at some of the major UK supermarkets.

My wife likes to get her shampoo and conditioner here. In addition the store brand baby wipes are affordable.

Walking through whole foods will get your senses roaring and lips smacking. While we were there the server at the seafood area was up on a stool giving instructions to a crowd on how to cook a particular fish. One of whole foods trademarks has been there absolutely exemplary customer service. It was great to see it was in full gear.

Oh…and if you like samples…take a trip here. You’ll find something to try down every other corner. I had a sip of wine and cheese when we were there.

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alexhunter

Compliment alexhunter (06-03-2008) 5

I get a little emotional every time I go to Whole Foods, not just because it reminds me of California but also because I can find so many random foods that I haven’t had for years. Like random Mexican hot sauces and organic tortilla chips.

I like Whole Foods. A lot. Incredible selection, and you’ll struggle to beat the quality on offer here. Yeah, it’s more expensive than your average supermarket but you get what you pay for. The cheese section is the size of a Tesco Express and the wine area dwarfs your local Oddbins.

The one thing that I would encourage you to do is look at their hot food section. You can get incredible meals here for a very reasonable cost. Drop by on your way home from work, it’s well worth it.

If you’re a tea or coffee aficionado (snob) you’ll love this place. Their raw coffee bean selection and whole leaf teas will blow you away. See the photos for an idea of what I’m talking about.

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Compliment Rob Hinchcliffe (12-02-2008) 3

I was in the area for a meeting and just had to go in and see what this place was like...and it's not often you find yourself writing a sentence like that about a supermarket.

It's a very weird experience, kind of like a church of food. All the displays are painstakingly put together so everything looks perfect...too perfect, but it's hard not to be impressed by the array of stuff on offer here.

The cheese selection alone deserved to win some kind of award.

The only problem is it's all a little overwhelming - too much choice means you come out withi nothing or you blow all your weeks wages on the five thousand varieties of dried fruit!

If you're into your 'food porn' you need to pay this place a visit, but don't go when you're hungry and/or broke.

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LondonElle

Compliment LondonElle (05-01-2008) 3

If you're fussy about your food and feel that conventional supermarkets don't provide you with everything you need, Wholefoods Market is worth a visit. The store is huge with very attractive displays of fruit, veg and other foodstuff. There's also quite a large selection of wheat-free, dairy-free food. The salad bar and bakery are particularly alluring, but the whole store is fairly impressive. Yes, it's probably more pricey then you're regular supermarket and grocers but if you're looking for more exotic or hard-to-find food it would be worth trying here.

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sar23s

Compliment sar23s (14-12-2007) 4

With much hype surrounding this new supermarket, I was very apprehensive and excited when entering through the double doors. I am happy to say that it definitely lives up to its hype. Ok, so it does seem to be incredibly expensive, but you seem to get the feeling that you are paying for quality and not jsut being ripped off. The displays are just beautiful, especially the huge mounds of fruit and veg, from your ordinary apple to the exotic guava. Upstairs, the different sections of the restaurant include a lavish oyster bar, a trendy japanese area and a burger bar with portions never seen before! With friendly and efficient staff, recycling bins everywhere, Whole Food market induces a generally feel-good eating experience.

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dmj1962

Compliment dmj1962 (02-12-2007) 3

I made my first visit to this store the other day, interested to see if the hype was justified. It seemed reasonably busy, so clearly it's tapped some sort of market here.

I liked the displays, which were very impressive, and there's no denying they have a huge selection of products, including some very unusual items (eg exotic fruits) which would be hard to locate elsewhere.

But, like others, I found it all a bit overwhelming - it could take ages to do a conventional shop here, as well as bleeding your wallet dry - much of the produce is very expensive, and cheaper versions are available at M & S nearby, or Waitrose, where the quality is likely to be comparable. They had a huge promotion on champagnes for the Christmas season, but again the prices weren't that competitive, and I'm not sure that the major champagne brands qualify as 'whole food', being neither organic nor produced to any specific conservation standard.

I didn't try the dining area upstairs, and was disappointed in the free samples on offer on my visit - maybe early evening is not the best time to try.

Overall, it's worth seeing once, but it's not somewhere I'd go back to, unless I wanted something exotic to impress dinner guests.

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Compliment Jen Goldstein (06-11-2007) 3

There is a reason the nickname for Whole Foods is 'whole paycheque'- because you could easily blow your cash on just a few bags of goodies here! Still, for foodies, its worth it to come and grab a couple things, especially for a special meal. Certainly their veggies and meats are worth it. My parents back in Chicago go exclusively to Whole Foods for their fruits and veg.

There are lots of free taster stands spread throughout the store, if you are lucky you could probably make a meal out of it, although usually its more of a snack-able variety. The immense size of the store can be intimidating, I'd go in either with a specific list of things, or just to wander and possibly not buy, just to get a lay of the land. For people liking the natural look, they've got a decent selection of natural/herbal body lotions, gels and other potions. Burts Bees products are highly recommended- I'm addicted to their chapstick.

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moonrising

Compliment moonrising (04-11-2007) 4

Unlike other reviewers I found this place by accident. I was only walking down that road because the tube I’d planned to go to was closed. So to me it was a wonderful surprise. This place is huge and full of gorgeous food. Three floors of eye and nose candy, all in a decidedly posh building. Yes it’s not the cheapest on the whole. I really fancied some of the ready to eat foods on display, but the prices were too scary. On the other hand there were bargains to be had. I sampled free cheese, melon and chocolates, and found myself some cheap and totally luscious raspberries. It’s also the place to look for something unusual. I picked up some Jerusalem artichokes (though they didn’t taste as good as the ones my family used to grow as a child: they never are!). I didn’t try the eateries upstairs, so can’t comment. But I did enjoy my visit. Definitely need more money though!

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Wolfiewolf

Compliment Wolfiewolf (29-07-2007) 3

Like Shopaholic, I had heard a lot about Whole Foods from friends in the US and read more in the press here, but I was disappointed from my Saturday morning foray.

I went planning to nibble my way round on free 'tasters' instead of having breakfast, and managed to snuffle up some cheese and a few pieces of melon, but there was surprisingly little on offer and so I succumbed to a hot scrambled egg and gruyere bagel, which was saltless and tasteless and weighed heavily on my stomach for the rest of the day.

I had also hoped to buy a delicious fish terrine for a dinner party that evening, but the charming Brazilian girl on the deli counter had never heard of 'terrine' and I was unable to find one anywhere. The Spanish food bar on the ground floor looked reasonably inviting, with its legs of Serrano ham poised in their carving stands seemingly borrowed from the inquisition, but I found the first floor eating areas had less character than a departure lounge.

Full marks though for the large number of check-out desks and friendly staff - and don't forget that they give you £7 off your bill (if it's over £100) so that you can pay for the NCP car park in the street next door.

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shopaholic

Compliment shopaholic (16-07-2007) 3

Finally made it to Whole Foods this weekend, after reading columns on the opening of this new store in Kensington. I used to shop in Whole Foods in the US, so I was kind of interested to see what they would do in the UK.
Nice store (in the wonderful Barkers Building) and overall a great selection of products.
The best things in my opinion are the cheese counter and the cheese room. The spice selection is pretty impressive too.
All comes at a price though...
And in spite of great (expensive) products, the whole store feels a bit too American and shallow. Best example of that was a huge sign extolling the virtues of supporting local produce, which was right above a massive display of Moet Chandon (!) I know France is just round the corner but that's a rather liberal definition of 'local'.
Great little pieces of engineering around the store, like the trolley-dedicated escalator (which was completely empty though).

Overall: useful if you are looking for unusual ingredients (like ostrich eggs or an obscure Corsican cheese); otherwise stick to Waitrose.

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