Lidl - just managed to use them for a full shop
Discussion
Just braved one of the refrigerated curry and rice dishes - Chicken Tikka Masala.
£1.49 and 49p for a pack of 2x Naan (hope your wife appreciates that Asterix) vs, around a fiver (depending on 3 for 2's etc.) at M&S or Waitrose.
I didn't pay too much attention to the size but I think it was a bit smaller and certainly with less chicken, but honestly it was bloody nice and from a glance at the back it didn't look full of crap - dutch or thai chicken which kind of has me thinking "Hmmm" but on the other hand if you go down your local takeaway you don't know what you're getting so maybe I'm just being a bit snobby there.
On the taste front if you'd put it in front of me as M&S or Waitrose I wouldn't have been able to say any different - not something you'd want to eat every night but no complaints (yet, early days
).
£1.49 and 49p for a pack of 2x Naan (hope your wife appreciates that Asterix) vs, around a fiver (depending on 3 for 2's etc.) at M&S or Waitrose.
I didn't pay too much attention to the size but I think it was a bit smaller and certainly with less chicken, but honestly it was bloody nice and from a glance at the back it didn't look full of crap - dutch or thai chicken which kind of has me thinking "Hmmm" but on the other hand if you go down your local takeaway you don't know what you're getting so maybe I'm just being a bit snobby there.
On the taste front if you'd put it in front of me as M&S or Waitrose I wouldn't have been able to say any different - not something you'd want to eat every night but no complaints (yet, early days
).
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hstewie said:
hstewie said: Just braved one of the refrigerated curry and rice dishes - Chicken Tikka Masala.
£1.49 and 49p for a pack of 2x Naan (hope your wife appreciates that Asterix) vs, around a fiver (depending on 3 for 2's etc.) at M&S or Waitrose.
I didn't pay too much attention to the size but I think it was a bit smaller and certainly with less chicken, but honestly it was bloody nice and from a glance at the back it didn't look full of crap - dutch or thai chicken which kind of has me thinking "Hmmm" but on the other hand if you go down your local takeaway you don't know what you're getting so maybe I'm just being a bit snobby there.
On the taste front if you'd put it in front of me as M&S or Waitrose I wouldn't have been able to say any different - not something you'd want to eat every night but no complaints (yet, early days).
The Lidl nasi goreng is good value and quite tasty too.£1.49 and 49p for a pack of 2x Naan (hope your wife appreciates that Asterix) vs, around a fiver (depending on 3 for 2's etc.) at M&S or Waitrose.
I didn't pay too much attention to the size but I think it was a bit smaller and certainly with less chicken, but honestly it was bloody nice and from a glance at the back it didn't look full of crap - dutch or thai chicken which kind of has me thinking "Hmmm" but on the other hand if you go down your local takeaway you don't know what you're getting so maybe I'm just being a bit snobby there.
On the taste front if you'd put it in front of me as M&S or Waitrose I wouldn't have been able to say any different - not something you'd want to eat every night but no complaints (yet, early days
).HotJambalaya said:
Is there any particular difference between aldi and lidl?
I've tried both recently.My local Aldi always seems to have huge queues at the tills. So, I've only done one shop there(bad back- cannot stand still for long). One third of the things that we bought were good.
Our local Lidl has acceptable queues, and 2/3rds of the stuff that we have tried has been of higher quality than Waitrose or Sainsburys.
The wines in Lidl are fantastic value, but the spirits are undrinkable. I believe that the spirits in Aldi are much better.
The meat in both shops seems to be of very high quality. The dry cured bacon in Lidl has never seen any water. The fat turns crispy the instant you put the rasher in the pan. Waitrose, Sainsburys and M&S all seem to take advantage of the fact that you can claim "No added water" if there is less than 15% added water.
Water both kills the flavour, and also means that the fat doesn't turn crispy. So, for example, you can't get crackling on your roast pork if there is any water in it.
Both Lidl and Aldi offer "Dry Aged" beef. Most of the other supermarkets only offer "Wet Aged" beef, although they don't tell you this on the packet. Wet aged beef is wrapped in plastic before it is hung. This keeps in the moisture, and also reduces weight loss. Dry aged beef is hung in the air, and ends up tasting much better. Because it loses moisture, it may appear to be more expensive. However, it is both tastier, and more tender.
The fruit and veg in Lidl appears to be of excellent quality, and also a very good price.
Their olive salad is a real summer treat.
I bought a Spanish leg of Jamon a couple of weeks ago. My Spanish wife laughed at me when she discovered what I had done. She said that we would end up throwing half of it in the bin.
She now accepts that it is very good indeed, and I have permission to buy another one next year.
I think that if you want to eat well, then you cannot do a weekly shop in a single supermarket.
bhstewie said:
hstewie said: Also it's bizarre just how many things you buy based off what the box looks like - and the supermarkets bloody know this.
Lurpak, Coco Pops, Frosties, just about everything looks exactly like the mainstream brands but with a deformed monkey or Tony the.. Jaguar or whatever they do to make it look a little different.
Ha. It's like seeing fake Chinese knock offs on ebay. As to the quality, probably not as bad. But I can't help thinking of fake Chinese goods when I see packaging that looks suspiciously like famous brands.Lurpak, Coco Pops, Frosties, just about everything looks exactly like the mainstream brands but with a deformed monkey or Tony the.. Jaguar or whatever they do to make it look a little different.
don4l said:
HotJambalaya said:
Is there any particular difference between aldi and lidl?
I've tried both recently.My local Aldi always seems to have huge queues at the tills. So, I've only done one shop there(bad back- cannot stand still for long). One third of the things that we bought were good.
Our local Lidl has acceptable queues, and 2/3rds of the stuff that we have tried has been of higher quality than Waitrose or Sainsburys.
The wines in Lidl are fantastic value, but the spirits are undrinkable. I believe that the spirits in Aldi are much better.
The meat in both shops seems to be of very high quality. The dry cured bacon in Lidl has never seen any water. The fat turns crispy the instant you put the rasher in the pan. Waitrose, Sainsburys and M&S all seem to take advantage of the fact that you can claim "No added water" if there is less than 15% added water.
Water both kills the flavour, and also means that the fat doesn't turn crispy. So, for example, you can't get crackling on your roast pork if there is any water in it.
I don't know the difference between the two either, I think we've got a few nearby and whilst Tesco are closing down stores Lidlaldi are building new ones all over the place.
Hoofy said:
Ha. It's like seeing fake Chinese knock offs on ebay. As to the quality, probably not as bad. But I can't help thinking of fake Chinese goods when I see packaging that looks suspiciously like famous brands.
I have the Aldi equivalant of Shredded Wheat and Shredded Wheat bite size. The only real difference, (including the ingredients list) is the price. The Aldi product half the price of the brand, and tastes just the same to me. No contest.
As somebody has already said, to live well, its more than one supermarket, but a lot of Aldi product/produce is similar or better quality than the competiion, but often slaughters it price wise. Profoundly so.
Cheese Mechanic said:
Hoofy said:
Ha. It's like seeing fake Chinese knock offs on ebay. As to the quality, probably not as bad. But I can't help thinking of fake Chinese goods when I see packaging that looks suspiciously like famous brands.
I have the Aldi equivalant of Shredded Wheat and Shredded Wheat bite size. The only real difference, (including the ingredients list) is the price. The Aldi product half the price of the brand, and tastes just the same to me. No contest.
As somebody has already said, to live well, its more than one supermarket, but a lot of Aldi product/produce is similar or better quality than the competiion, but often slaughters it price wise. Profoundly so.
thelittleegg said:
I used Lidl for as much of a full shop as possible the other week and was extremely disappointed, the quality of most of the fruit and veg was poor.
I now use one of my local convenience stores for fruit and veg, much better variety than Lidl but still cheaper than Sainsburys etc.
To be honest Im really surprised at this, the quality and taste of fruit and veg was one of the strong points for me . The shallots, onions, mushrooms,celery potatoes, peppers, tomatoes, apples, pears, lemons and limes have all been great one of their strengths for me. I now use one of my local convenience stores for fruit and veg, much better variety than Lidl but still cheaper than Sainsburys etc.
bhstewie said:
hstewie said: Lidl - just managed to use them for a full shop
bhstewie said:
hstewie said: I've just managed to do a full shop there for the next few days
I wouldn't call a few days a full shop!if I can't buy a weeks worth of food while I'm in a shop, I have no real interest in using it. I'm in the aldi and lidl in Albufeira regularly as its the nearest supermarket to the dog home i help at.... fine for dog food and cheap crap for the homeless guys helping out there. I can't understand why anyone else would shop there unless you're broke. Not that there is anything wrong with being poor of course... I just think its madness to shop there if you don't have to.
The quality on a lot of the things they sell is poor. The selection of things they sell is bad (one type of naan bread etc). A lot of things you can get in other supermarkets are simply non existent. No proper steaks, no nice deli counter, no sushi, no proper choice of fresh fruit etc etc
Edited by KFC on Thursday 14th May 15:29
KFC said:
I wouldn't call a few days a full shop!
if I can't buy a weeks worth of food while I'm in a shop, I have no real interest in using it. I'm in the aldi and lidl in Albufeira regularly as its the nearest supermarket to the dog home i help at.... fine for dog food and cheap crap for the homeless guys helping out there. I can't understand why anyone else would shop there unless you're broke. Not that there is anything wrong with being poor of course... I just think its madness to shop there if you don't have to.
The quality on a lot of the things they sell is poor. The selection of things they sell is bad (one type of naan bread etc). A lot of things you can get in other supermarkets are simply non existent. No proper steaks, no nice deli counter, no sushi, no proper choice of fresh fruit etc etc
I have rarely read such a wrong post. if I can't buy a weeks worth of food while I'm in a shop, I have no real interest in using it. I'm in the aldi and lidl in Albufeira regularly as its the nearest supermarket to the dog home i help at.... fine for dog food and cheap crap for the homeless guys helping out there. I can't understand why anyone else would shop there unless you're broke. Not that there is anything wrong with being poor of course... I just think its madness to shop there if you don't have to.
The quality on a lot of the things they sell is poor. The selection of things they sell is bad (one type of naan bread etc). A lot of things you can get in other supermarkets are simply non existent. No proper steaks, no nice deli counter, no sushi, no proper choice of fresh fruit etc etc
Edited by KFC on Thursday 14th May 15:29
You either have no idea what value for money and quality is or you are an utter snob.
dazco said:
I have rarely read such a wrong post.
You either have no idea what value for money and quality is or you are an utter snob.
Being a snob has nothing to do with it. I don't think you can get a full weeks food out of there. Sure you might be able to pick up the occasional nice thing... but they don't seem to have any variety. A lot of the food they sell is absolute crap quality. You either have no idea what value for money and quality is or you are an utter snob.
I'm just really struggling to see why anyone would genuinely choose to shop there, unless finances forced it?
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