ALDI & LIDL Food and Drink Worth Trying?
Discussion
Frozen whole uncooked Specially Selected Ecuadorian prawns back in as of today. 500grms for £4.99 is a real bargain for the tastiest, sweetest prawns I have ever bought. They even beat Waitrose Madagascan prawns which are over twice the price/weight.
6 boxes now in our the freezer but from the activity in the shop this morning it would seem a lot more people have cottoned on since they were last on sale over Christmas!
6 boxes now in our the freezer but from the activity in the shop this morning it would seem a lot more people have cottoned on since they were last on sale over Christmas!
The lidl I use (the nearest one I can't fit the van in the multi storey car park) is now so rammed I don't hardly ever go there any more- you can't even get in the car park most of the time and it seems an unholy mix of chavs and entitled middlish/showoff class cheapskanks standing blocking aisles and/or loudly complaining about the service who seemingly can't believe their life has come to this. Morrisons for me these days.
k my boots had a kick to it. Well worth a tryIanA2 said:
If the local butchers sold meat of the same quality as the meat (not frozen by the way) that Lidl sell, then they would have my custom. They don't, so I won't. I must say it took me some time to try Lidl's meat, I was initially suspicious as I thought it was just too cheap (compared to my local butchers). Now however I would not go back to the locals, their meat is simply not good enough.
Prior to trying Lidl's meat, I never bought from supermarkets.
Problem I have is that the butchers we use have utterly fantastic meat but by Christ you pay for it. Prior to trying Lidl's meat, I never bought from supermarkets.
Against that they are most accommodating in barbecue season andwill sort you out a cut just how you want it.
But did I say by Christ they know how to charge for it.
So now we only use them for certain stuff.
The tipping point was when we bought some lamb chops. Really lovely they were, thick, fantastic taste, so tender, utterly sublime. Only when looking at the bill later realised it was 7 quid a chop.
Just got back from Lidl.
got some of the whole clove garlic:
£1.49 for a basket.
Scottish smoked salmon at £2.65 per 200g, cheaper than buying a 1kg of salmon fillet (£13) and doing it myself.
Smoked ham at £2.99 for 400g
http://www.lidl.co.uk/en/2486.htm?action=showDetai...
All excellent.
got some of the whole clove garlic:
£1.49 for a basket.
Scottish smoked salmon at £2.65 per 200g, cheaper than buying a 1kg of salmon fillet (£13) and doing it myself.
Smoked ham at £2.99 for 400g
http://www.lidl.co.uk/en/2486.htm?action=showDetai...
All excellent.
Lidl last week announced a wine-led push to attract the middle class shopper. I've tried those which were reviewed in The Telegraph, plus I have a few others still to try.
My verdict:
P. de Marcilly Macon-Villages, £7.49. Ok, a bit too minerally for my liking as white Burgundy at this price point often is. Fair value I'd say.
Bissinger Champagne (1/2 bottle), £5.99. Tastes like cheap champagne (which it is). I've drunk worse but would probably go for a Crémant de Bourgogne for the money.
Réserve de Fonsalis Fitou, £5.99. Fill your boots with this. Lots of brambly flavours and not too tannic. 13.5% ABV too.
My verdict:
P. de Marcilly Macon-Villages, £7.49. Ok, a bit too minerally for my liking as white Burgundy at this price point often is. Fair value I'd say.
Bissinger Champagne (1/2 bottle), £5.99. Tastes like cheap champagne (which it is). I've drunk worse but would probably go for a Crémant de Bourgogne for the money.
Réserve de Fonsalis Fitou, £5.99. Fill your boots with this. Lots of brambly flavours and not too tannic. 13.5% ABV too.
Mobile Chicane said:
Bissinger Champagne (1/2 bottle), £5.99. Tastes like cheap champagne (which it is). I've drunk worse but would probably go for a Crémant de Bourgogne for the money.
Agree on this one. Didn't really like it. I would go for a decent cremant or cava for the same money.anonymous said:
[redacted]
Can't agree with your observations on quality. As a very long term Waitrose shopper, I think that whilst the choice/range of Lidl's fruit and veg is limited, the quality/taste is much better. I also think Lidl's meat, again a restricted range in comparison to Waitrose, tastes better. We've used Waitrose very little in the last three years, their quality is in presentation and range, not in flavour.Just MHO
anonymous said:
[redacted]
Waitrose fresh pasta is ok. Home made is better 
Try Lidl's occasionally offered fresh porcini & ricotta tortellini. A quarter (or less) of the price, of the same from Selfridges food hall. They do nicer packaging though.
I do agree on the aggressive pricing, food as a percentage of overall expenditure has never been lower. But that opens a huge can of you know what.
anonymous said:
[redacted]
I haven't dealt with the Tescos of this world directly but a good mate of mine has. Not on the fresh produce side but homeware. Without wanting to divert from the main topic I'd add that any of the big supermarket's buying tactics are probably unfair and I do know that some are worse than others in the pressure they apply to producers as suppliers.If you want to feel good about what you buy go to the local markets. Supermarket food will never give you certainty that the supply chain is dealt with fairly.
I don't think that Aldi/ Lidl etc have the buying power to force down wholesale prices.
A good deal of meat is free range, whilst a large amount of all fresh stuff is sourced in the UK, which can't be said of many large supermarkets such as Tesco and Sainsburys. That sits very well with me.
The savings are primarily made by having far lower overheads in the first place, much less staffing, cheaper buildings and far less product line (think it's something like 1300 lines for a typical Aldi compared with 30,000 for a Tesco).
Got a few family friends who are farmers and they welcome the bloody noses that these guys are giving the big operators.
A good deal of meat is free range, whilst a large amount of all fresh stuff is sourced in the UK, which can't be said of many large supermarkets such as Tesco and Sainsburys. That sits very well with me.
The savings are primarily made by having far lower overheads in the first place, much less staffing, cheaper buildings and far less product line (think it's something like 1300 lines for a typical Aldi compared with 30,000 for a Tesco).
Got a few family friends who are farmers and they welcome the bloody noses that these guys are giving the big operators.
I agree. It's plainly obvious to see the areas in which they cut their overheads, the 'no frills' shopping experience is one that I'm more than happy with as it gets me home much quicker too.
On my way back home today I popped into Lidl, normally an Aldi man but even still, for two big bags of shopping I paid... £11.
On my way back home today I popped into Lidl, normally an Aldi man but even still, for two big bags of shopping I paid... £11.
soxboy said:
I don't think that Aldi/ Lidl etc have the buying power to force down wholesale prices.
A good deal of meat is free range, whilst a large amount of all fresh stuff is sourced in the UK, which can't be said of many large supermarkets such as Tesco and Sainsburys. That sits very well with me.
The savings are primarily made by having far lower overheads in the first place, much less staffing, cheaper buildings and far less product line (think it's something like 1300 lines for a typical Aldi compared with 30,000 for a Tesco).
Got a few family friends who are farmers and they welcome the bloody noses that these guys are giving the big operators.
Indeed, and of course having fewer product lines means that the buyers can have closer relationships with suppliers and keep a keen eye on quality too.A good deal of meat is free range, whilst a large amount of all fresh stuff is sourced in the UK, which can't be said of many large supermarkets such as Tesco and Sainsburys. That sits very well with me.
The savings are primarily made by having far lower overheads in the first place, much less staffing, cheaper buildings and far less product line (think it's something like 1300 lines for a typical Aldi compared with 30,000 for a Tesco).
Got a few family friends who are farmers and they welcome the bloody noses that these guys are giving the big operators.
Gassing Station | Food, Drink & Restaurants | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff