Waitrose food & drink

[SarcasmSpecialist]

I’ve been with them ten years, and I’ve got a Dine In meal for free!

 

[chickhicks86]

I've been browsing the new products section on the website and there are so many new products I want to try, ha.

Sometimes when I haven't a book on the go, for my bedtime reading I browse the "new" section on the Waitrose app and favourite all the things I want.

 

[VeeJayBee]

Maybe this thread will be reinvigorated after recent promo on the M&S thread, where many are saying they find Waitrose rewards better than M&S Sparks. I for one am now doing a main shop at Waitrose as I appreciate the money-off coupons for regular items, and little freebies.

 

[constancehardbroom]

Got the Waitrose jarred, spicy pineapple salsa to try, it is really very spicy, lovely. It’s got pineapple obvs, with lime and spices, green pepper, onion and jalapeño chilli flakes. Had it with some wings and spicy rice. Think it’s going to be delicious on tacos and fajitas. Never noticed it before, pleasantly surprised.

 

[Guyyyyyzzzzzz]

Having switched from M&S to Waitrose I’m obsessed, the customer service is much better as is the quality of food and I love the freebies!

So far I’ve had,

Flower shaped crumpets
Belvior

Twinings tea bags
Scones

 

[uberoblique]

That’s disappointing
Didn’t they give us a tote bag pretty recently?

I’m a millennial. I’m fucking drowning in Bags for Life. I’d rather have a tub of ice cream.

I will say the Anya Hindmarch bags for life are absolutely elite swimming bags.

 

[Captainmouse]

Had a Waitrose delivery today. Our nearest one is about 10 miles away, but occasionally I just prefer a delivery. My favourite item from them is the Morello Cherry pie. I love anything containing cherries and this pie was recommended to me by a friend. Oh it’s delicious, has a sugary top to it, which I do tend to scrape as much as I can of it off (trying to cut down on sugar intake) but the rest of it tastes fab. It’s obviously quite popular though, as only one was delivered today (despite ordering two) and on our recent visit to the store itself, twice they’ve been sold out!

If you like cherries, buy this!

I was the customer who bought the most cherry pies in my branch one year

 

[constancehardbroom]

Also, I am addicted to their celeriac remoulade, and they do the only pizza I like Urban pizza, hot Hawaiian , delicious. pineapple belongs on pizza.

 

[CausticYoda]

We usually drink Sainsbury Assam, but I got a bag of Twinings Assam for emergencies.

I’m off to claim my free bunch of tulips this morning. Nice end to the month.

 

[Notworthy]

I'm bumping this thread because I've just been into Waitrose and I'm happy to say they are back in the game. Spoke to the Woman discounting the bakery items (which are back to being fab after the last 2 years of uninspiring rubbish) and she says the former Top man is back in charge. It's very obvious that something has changed in the last few months.
Anyway I have a pistachio danish to try, I'll report back.

 

[constancehardbroom]

Yes I hope so, some people are funny when you mention Waitrose, lot of people assume it’s very over priced, but they do say they price match and I think their Essentials range is fantastic. I used to do my main food shop in Marks, and get certain stuff like N.irish bread etc. in Waitrose, but now I get my big shop in Waitrose and just pick up a few staples (and new fun things in Marks). Personally I find the Co and Sainsbury’s dearer.I do check prices though for certain things, and today Tesco was best value for the branded frozen fish I wanted. Just got to shop around.Marks has got dearer, but certain stuff has gone way down hill, so I just have found myself replicating and batching.I think Waitrose is much more pleasant to shop in, wider aisles, great scan and go (marks has a stupid £45 limit) , but I do think Marks has better Customer Service.In Waitrose , I have never been particularly fond of the Customer Service from the “Partners” side of things, it’s never been great, but still prefer to shop there.

 

[Tatooine_legend1]

Waitrose bakery goods are far better than any chain bakery. Fruit and Veg lasts way past sell by date, their selection of pastes are better too. Some things are more expensive but there's plenty that is the same price or cheaper than Sainsburys or Tesco. I've just discovered their Granolas 25p more than Sainsburys but don't have the cheap after taste.

I posted them a while back, but their almond croissants are really nice.

 

[Notworthy]

I made this this week Sausage & Broccoli Gnocchi Carbonara Recipe | Waitrose & Partners
It wasn't a cheap meal as the Sausages were a fiver, but it was bloody lovely and very easy.
I did buy all the recommended ingredients but it would be easy to economise on the Sausages (although the garlic sausages are lovely) and eggs.

 

[ktcrg]

Love Waitrose - I make a game of going every Friday after the gym to get whatever ‘treat’ food is on offer. The other week I got a big bottle of Innocent apple juice (free for hitting a spend threshold in the Waitrose app), a pack of chicken thighs & a pack of 4 kiwis (both yellow sticker), a bottle of coconut water (free with Checkout Smart app), and a pint of posh organic milk (no discount, I was just feeling fancy), and I effectively paid £3.70!

I love the Torres crisps they do, can usually only find them in posh delis, and the San Nicasio crisps are even better as they don’t have seed oils in.

The Ottolenghi miso pesto, and pomegranate, rose & lemon harissa paste are divine and often on offer. Also Ottolenghi ice cream is lush.

Tom Parker chocolate milk - oh my! A great weekend breakfast treat.

Not usually on offer but SO GOOD I don’t care - Waitrose raspberry yum yums

The Bonne Maman sweet & crunchy peanut butter is lush - my new fave snack is sliced apple with a layer of PB on top.

The Waitrose app is great as it saves everything you buy in its Favourites list, and you can see at a glance what’s on offer.

Also strong recommend for Checkout Smart and Shopmium apps as they frequently have cashback offers (usually 50% off but sometimes 100%!), you just filter by supermarket. The Trolley app is also good for seeing what’s on offer in different supermarkets, just save your favourite items in a list.

 

[pommynoir]

The Bloody Mary crisps are great!

They are! Also on this months reward if you spend over £50. Has anyone tried the Steak Diane ones? I’ve two of the Bloody Mary in the press so might get those instead.

 

[i'm.just.highly.selective]

For anyone who hasn't picked up the free Fever Tree drinks yet, the Mediterranean ones are refreshingly citrus-y and very nice on their own or with OJ.

Pinched from elsewhere:

Spoiler: August Little Treats

£50 spend - Graze oat bars or Waitrose Free From Sicilian Lemon and White chocolate cookies
£100 - Manilife nut butter or rowse honey
£250 No.1 Sausages or plant based alternative

The cookies are actually really nice.

I've only had 2 vouchers for 'usuals' the last few weeks - and for items that are not even available - with a third for something seemingly random that I'll never be buying.

 

[alafolie]

The Bloody Mary crisps are great!

 

[kev1974]

Yep I worked for Waitrose as a delivery driver for a couple of years during covid, so I was extremely familiar with everything they were selling and coming out with back then; two years on I go in now and almost everything is exactly the same, nothing new at all. All the ready meals are the exact same, the premium stuff like Levantine Kitchen hasn't been changed or replaced with new ideas, even stuff like the grab and go sandwiches theres no special editions. Very disappointing.

They have loads of plants for sale outside in the spring but their staff / store managers don't seem to have the simple sense that they need to water them every day or two. So they just dry up and die within days and then they either end up selling the dead remains off for 10p or they actually have to pay their waste contractor to dispose of them all.

My store still has the fresh meat/fish/deli counters but my Mum has never stopped lamenting that they took that out of her very nearby store and also that they closed the bigger Newcastle store altogether. How they hell they could not make that very centrally located mid-size store work is absolutely beyond me.

Very badly run company now and as a former employee it pains me to see it.

 

[uberoblique]

I’ve claimed it to try Darjeeling but I’ve a whole press full of tea bags so I probably didn’t need it.

I claimed ours to put in the food bank box in the village

Twinings tastes like the dregs of the washing up bowl to me. My MIL whinges that my preferred cuppa is too strong (Yorkshire Gold) so we have enough half finished boxes of her Twinings floating around already.

 

[pommynoir]

I've one bit of Le Creuset and it belonged to one of my great-grandma's so obviously super sentimental to me. Aside from the financial aspect of buying more, it's too bloody heavy for me!

Every time I've had the money to get a new piece, my sister makes me pick it up and if I can carry it to the till, it's an acceptable purchase. Alas, my immensely weak wrists hamper me every time so I look lovingly and walk away. However, I will get one of the mugs from my local branch this year. Sigh.

Some bits are so heavy I always say I don’t need the gym after cooking a big meal. My entire kitchen is Le Creuset, other than the glassware because I’m a klutz except I gave in and bought wine glasses at the factory sale last week. I managed to get the set stainless steel set for 400, rather than the £1300 it usually costs so I’m delighted with myself and promised my husband we won’t have a takeaway for atleast a month