Great What/What Not to Buy at Lidl, Aldi and Netto Hunt

Smiley_Mum

LIDL

DO BUY:

Tortilla chips.
Maple cure bacon.
Back bacon.
Tortillas.
Plain chocolate digestives.
Shortbread.
Viennese butter shortbread type biscuits, 89p a pack, blue box.
Magnum type ice lollies.
Fruit and veg, so long as you keep an eye on it and use it up asap, fine.
Tinned kidney beans.
Tinned sweetcorn.
Multi packs of handy pack tissues, 18 for £1 I think.
Paprika crisps, large pack 89p.
Mature cheddar cheese.
Large cartons of apple juice.
Marmalade.
Any chocolate, bounty type chocolate bars, £1.05 a bag.
Chocachino chocolate drink powder/ white chocolate also.
Coleslaw.
Tinned fruit.
Peppered sliced ham.
Tinned tuna/salmon etc.
Mozzarella, fine for pizza toppings etc.
Spring rolls.


DON'T BUY:

Scotch eggs, but then we've spoiled ourselves with M&S ones for a while.
Ketchup in the red plastic bottle, very vinegary tasting. I'll stick with Heinz.

Sassy_Saver

Aldi - smoked salmon & parma ham are yum

vickyplum

Aldi frozen stuffed pork and also the turkey tops excellent

vanoonoo

I can recommend the bratwurst and bockwurst sausage products from lidl

also the christmas style continental gingerbread in the red packets

snowball2

I shop once a month at payday at aldi for all of my basics.
Can't say i have ever had anything really bad form there and there range is increasing all the time.

I know (and have seen with my own eyes) that their frozen chips are made by mcCain - the butter, uttely buttery stuff ect is also made by a big name (cant remeber which one at the mo) as is alot of their products. Alot of their own brand electrical stuff is made by high street names too.

The cook in sauces are made at the same factory as all the other SM (all ranges) and aldi had the best spec - more veg than any of the others.

their customer service is second to none - you say it's broke they refund you and that's it.

Best Buy
tea tree conditioner - best i have ever used (and i've tried alot)
washing powder/tablets/liquid/gel - excellent results
power force kitchen cleaner - does the job well & smells great
Nappies - good buy
and everything else others have said too!!!

Saltime

Thanks Snowball2, we also shop at Aldi on pay day, but my husband would never touch the frozen chips, he actually said they would not be a patch on the well known brands, and sends me to Tesco or Asda for his chips, which means I end up spending more money on items I don't really need but once in these huge supermarkets you can't resist!! Now I can put him straight and save some money too!!!

gravitytolls

Mmmmm Stollen from Lidl's, it's fantastic. The mince pies are great too, and teh christmas puds, and all sooo cheap.

Chocoholic

Buy:
Giant muffins - Belgian choc flavour, yum

Bratwurst sausages

Strawberry fruit cream slices (frozen)

California Walnuts (halves) - these are my Best Buy (£1.19 for 200g instead of 79p for 100g/£1.45 for 200g pieces in Sainsbury, Tesco 75p for 100g!)

Grangedale Honey Roast Ham (49p for 113g compared to 75p for similar in Tesco, even more expensive in Sainsbury)

Smoked cheese slices (£1.09 for 150g IIRC) - opened pack lasted about 2 weeks (did not go mouldy or dry up)

Sliced bread also seemed to last a couple of days longer

Mini choc covered ice cream (similar to Magnum but with plain, almond, milk & white) £1.99 for 6, taste as good as Magnum

Sandwich fillers: Cheese & Onion (even though we don't like raw onion normally!) and Tuna & Sweetcorn, have been lucky to get these at 30% and 50% off (as BBE approaching), have not tried Egg Mayo as it has not been reduced

Gammon steaks (round "plate" steak thingy), also got this at 50% off (2 in pack for 49p instead of 99p)

Dry Roasted Peanuts 29p for 100g - very cheap!



Don't buy:
Light mayo - the taste seems ok but the texture is weird almost stringy-like :eek:

Giant Swiss Roll (choc with vanilla crème flavour filling) - the "crème" is sickly and disgusting

Choc covered cake - for a self-confessed chocoholic (;)) I can't stand that fake choc flavour covering they use on these cakes, cake is not so good either

Luxury cookies - choc chip variety, but nothing luxury about them, just as tasteless and boring as Maryland


Have had good experience of their fruit and veg, lasts reasonable time, not found any mouldy/off produce. Where else could you get a cucumber for 24p? Actually saw them for 22p today :money:! Cauliflower was 47p, have not seen it that cheap anywhere - not even the fruit & veg market.
Choc

quids_in_2

Can reccomend their tins of mushy peas, and the yellow box of rice which is named "pan boiled"

hawthorn37

Aldi is a real bloke's supermarket. Since being 'hooked' via their superb PC deals (usually around 3 weeks before Christmas and another around Easter - I've bought two PC's over the last 3 years), I've found the best bargains are the DIY and gardening tools (plus audio visual). There are really too many to list, the best tip is to visit the store once a fortnight and pick up the promo paper for the next two weeks. Be prepared to queue for the best deals, and to handover your debit card (or cash) - no cheques or credit cards.

The tools are seriously stupid prices (£79.99 for a top-spec jet washer for example).

Other good buys include their wine - very decent Crianza currently on sale, and occassionally beers such as Stella and Marston's Double Drop.

Avoid the microwavable meals and pizza's - even my kids won't eat them!