Whole Foods Market London

Double-charged both my wife and I for dinner. Disgusting service.

by WSam, 11 Jun 2009

I shopped at this wonderful place several times when I was staying in London last year. Whilst it is not cheap, everything I tried, from the prepared food to the raw ingredients, was fantastic. I especially love their bakery stuff and cheese room - so many cheeses to choose from, and you can try a little bit before you buy. The best place to shop for food in London, seriously.

by anielsen, 27 May 2009

We were taken to this place by a relative living in London, who had recommended it. We were thoroughly disappointed. The food court on the first floor had a slightly dirty and uninspiring ambience. Staff appeared uneducated and as if they were employed only yesterday. The acoustics were terrible. The worst thing was a security guy forcing us to delete a family photo taken in the place, stating: "No photos, it is the law"(?!)... Never again.

by JackOnTheRoad, 13 Apr 2009

I find the fruit the only thing worth buying. The staff are polite, but complete clones. I had water dripping on me from a salad counter, which left stains, but the juvenile shop assistant kept insisting it would not stain, as there was no bleach in their ready-made salads! I bought a packet of soup which tasted disgusting, dry and no better than cattle fodder. Would they exhange it? No. Because it had been opened! I wrote to the store several times and never received an answer. The fish counter has been redesigned, but the fish still have 'unfresh' eyes and smell stale. The meat counter is enough to convert the keenest meat-eater to vegetarianism: black, rank chunks of flesh, and the carcass of a disgusting looking pig. Horrible!!

by tycherin, 02 Apr 2009

I live to eat, not eat to live. Whole Foods may be expensive compared to other grocers, but their quality by far exceeds anything else I've come across since coming to the UK.

When I speak of quality, I don't just mean the product itself. Customer service, the atmosphere, the thought and design put into the packaging, eco-friendly items - those to me define quality.

I'm a Southern California native who spent a year abroad in the UK. Upon arrival I was amazed at how reasonably priced grocers were, but I was not impressed with the quality and, frankly, I found the dimly lit, warehouse environment of most UK grocers to be somewhat depressing.

by lovecleanh2o, 21 Feb 2009

Things are tough in Whole Foods: fish counter has gone down from 100ft to 10ft but still sells slimy fish with glazed eyes; meat counter is filled with sausages which are inedible (see the free samples left untouched!); fruit and veg very expensive due to importing from accross the world; the store is empty except for Saturday/Sunday gazers!! It lost £10m last year and will do the same this year given the downturn in the economy, so watch this space for an empty unit. Expansion plans have already been shelved, which does not bode well for its future.

by doug1, 26 Jan 2009

We visited this beautiful store and restaurant for the second time today and were for the second time disappointed. The menu plainly displays the option of tofu as an addition to any salad. My partner and I are vegetarians and were refused the meat alternative as a matter of course for the second occasion of coming to enjoy a celebratory meal at the restaurant.

When challenged, on both occasions it was delivered in a short space of time. How can staff say 'no' so readily to something that is on the menu as being available (and is, with not too much difficulty)? It seems like they just cannot be bothered with the 2-3 min prep of this dish.

Today we were also informed that tofu has been off the menu for a couple of months. Not according to the chalk board menu, but if so, why? It is a meat alternative and Whole Foods is a health food store that sells it readily. What alternative would there be for vegans, should tofu be removed from the menu?

by agnesplunkett, 18 Jan 2009

Visited with my daughter. We thought the store was amazing - prices may be high on some items but the vast array of unusual goods more than makes up for that. The store is pleasant, with low key music playing, and the girl we asked for directions to an item we needed took us there and was really friendly.

by wasgwan, 12 Jan 2009

I live directly behind Whole Foods and was most excited at the prospect of having such a fantastic food store within 2 minutes' walk from my home. Please note: this is not a supermarket but a food hall and this is reflected in their pricing (which is laughable and on a par with Harrods). Also, on several occasions I have purchased items that are already past their sell-by-date - NOT ACCEPTABLE, although a refund is always offered. Great for tourists but I would stick to Waitrose for the weekly shop!

by Romy79, 05 Jan 2009

Actually, I live locally and Whole Foods Market is not badly priced by comparison with Waitrose and certainly offers better quality than the Tesco across the road. Sometimes it is lacking in fresh herbs (once there was no lemongrass or fresh rosemary) and the take-away food on the ground floor is invariably overheated and overcooked, and not a bit as good as it used to be at Ye Olde Fresh and Wilde, for those of you who remember.

Upstairs, I really dislike the canteen feeling and, again, I feel some of the cooked food is not that great. But the ice cream selection is fantastic and worth the wait. The recent addition of the pasta bar is very welcome, especially for children.

Some gluten free offerings such as rice noodles would be good and it's surprising this has not been considered already. But in fairness to Whole Foods, they do listen. I suggested they provide a bag on wheels when they first opened and within a few weeks - Hey Presto.

It has its faults and, it's true, it's not exactly what it says on the tin (totally organic and ethical) but it is a wonderful shopping experience, and hugely educational for children who could never see so many different fresh foods so beautifully presented anywhere else.

by theblitherer, 31 Dec 2008

I visited Whole Foods Market in Kensington with a friend and we think it is awesome. My friend is vegetarian and I am vegan and we have never been to a store with so much variety for us. The quality is fantastic too. I visit Whole Foods when I go to America and Canada and it is equally as good in the UK. Just hope they are successful and expand across the country. Decidedly the best food store I have ever shopped in. The staff were amazingly helpful and friendly. Can't wait to go back.

by dizygotic.mel, 13 Dec 2008

Pros: wide variety of produce.

Cons: expensive!

Public beware: 6 out of 7 times I've shopped there, the sale assistants have either scanned the items twice or entered in the wrong produce, charging me a higher price. I had to tell them their own prices! And not even an apology for their mistake!

by FluffyFluff (2 reviews), 04 Nov 2008

Great choice and excellent browsing experience. Well worth a visit. Not impressed with the open presentation of cakes and breads (which everyone can touch). Cheese cave is fabulous.

by morrismaria (6 reviews), 19 Sep 2008

I found the store to be visually appealing, fun to explore and stocked to the gills with a large quantity of my favourite products. However, I do not think the place lives up to its supposed standards of ethical trading or even its 'whole foods' title. There is an incredible amount of non-organic food for sale and much of it from the far reaches of the globe. Hardly in keeping with the eco-friendly all-natural image they're trying to project. Also the cheese really stinks up the place and the check-out system needs a serious re-think. I'm glad to hear they've taken heed of the plastic bag outcry and stopped providing them though. Perhaps they'll take further criticisms onboard and turn the store into the kind of place it should be.

by K.W., 17 Jun 2008

Well, I'm a Whole Foods addict in Los Angeles, so my review's a sure thing. The only killer for us Americans is the exchange rate ... but it was worth it. Three whole floors of glorious food, flowers, and more. And for the busy Londoners, there are the usual prepared meals, which are all made from the veggies that they sell to customers. All around, just plain wonderful. Nice to see the old Barkers building put to such good use.

by Chapps (4 reviews), 28 May 2008

Their bread (multigrain) is one of the best of its kind in London. However, having read that they deny their staff sick pay, I'll strictly limit my purchases here in future.

by Cate4good, 14 May 2008

For me, it looked like a museum when I went for the first time - unfriendly staff, smelly cheese everywere. I will stick with Waitrose forever. They have quality food and very high quality of service. They are the best.

by bugi, 10 May 2008

As the Ecologist points out this month (surely not a 'disgruntled commercial rival'), Whole Foods Market fail to give their staff sick pay. I feel this fundamental lack of care tells you so much about the superficiality of the company's stated values. I've used them for years, now I'm striking them off my list of organic places to shop. There are plenty of alternatives in London - I reckon even Waitrose supplies cheaper, better, more ethical food than Whole Foods Market.

by Greenlandship, 09 May 2008

Apparently Whole Foods does awaken something in the people - I never saw this much opinion aired about ANY supermarket/grocery store. Fact is that there's always going to be a few whiners who never think something is good enough, unless it's the best possible product with a shelf life of 5 years and they get it for free!

by pascale, 01 Apr 2008

"Buy locally produced food and eat food in season", says the big notice on the wall. Below it - blackberries from Mexico, in March. To me this sums up the problem with this store. However, I am pleased they are giving up plastic carrier bags in April.

by sms, 25 Mar 2008

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