Marks & Spencer London Liverpool Street Simply Food

As the name implies, an all-food version of this store, and only stocking a small selection of their range – very useful none the less. Quality is the name of the game here, and great effort goes into producing consistent products. Good salad leaves, pre-packed vegetables, fresh fruit and trimmed meat.

They are now very much geared to offering pre-packaged traiteur dishes, which simply need re-heating or a few minutes of basic cooking. Their varieties span the world, those from the Far-East, while good, are designed to be inoffensive so tend to hold the middle-ground in the flavour stakes.

However, the British and European-style dishes are of a standard not easily achieved in the average British household; and this makes many of them ideal for entertaining (or, if you can afford to, for everyday eating). Their excellent party nibbles, mean that you can have a party or barbecue at a moments notice – and the range has to be commended.

They still produce the best chicken Kiev’s available; but, be careful not to buy the cheaper “reformed meat” version.

Perhaps their next efforts should be put into incorporating more free-range/organic/local products into their existing range.