Good and bad buys from Aldi and Lidl

busiscoming2

Alisha2008 wrote: »

Why sweet and sour sauce should be spicy at all? It should be sweet and sour...

I should have probably used the word tangy instead

gozaimasu

Aldi bad
Green beans - they seem to have a lot of black/rotten bits and don't last as long
Rice - 40p/kg was too good to be true. It didn't cook up as nice as other rice

Aldi good
Milk, cream and butter
Eggs, flour, sugar, baking powder etc
Nutella
Tunnock's teacakes
All chocolate, biscuits/cookies (admittedly I haven't tried them all, but those I've tried have been nice)
Naan bread
Tomato puree
Pasta
Long red peppers, lemons, red onions, salad
Tins of kidney beans, chick peas etc (25p/tin is my target price!)
Vodka (for a crappy spirit, £14/litre is better than elsewhere)

The chicken breast is the cheapest per kilo I've seen and I've bought it a couple of times, but I haven't decided if it isn't the same water injected crap that you get at all the other supermarkets.

DCFC79

The inner soles from Lidl (I think) are good, I noticed Ald had them yesterday so might grab a few pairs.

VfM4meplse

cjalynch wrote: »

Do you mean the Anitin bruschettas? I saw these last week and was so excited as we all ate loads of them on holiday in Spain last summer. They are really garlicky and crunchy- awesome. I am stocking up fast as not sure they will be a permanent item!

Aldi or Lidl?

cjalynch

Sorry- the Anitin bruschetta are Aldi and are near the crisps in our local. 99p a pack

sharond101

daveyjp wrote: »

As winter is coming they have some merino wool baselayers in store at the moment, £14.99 for a long sleep top which is at least £10 cheaper than I have seen in any outdoor store. Child sizes available too.

ALdi or Lidl?? Just seen it's aldi, sorry for edit

MrsE_2

So, I took a trip to this Aldi today pretty impressed :-)

Got some rice cakes covered with chocolate & rice cakes covered with yogurt, tried the yogurt covered ones, they are lovely :-)
Got some mint crumbles, they are as good as m&s ones easily :-)
Fruit & veg very cheap.
The special mince pies weren't in store, so I got the basic ones, also picked up a stollen, xmas cake & panettone too, also those rated very high.
Got a heston xmas pud.
Got a lovely looking crusty loaf!!!!!

VfM4meplse

Still no special mince pies in store (second wasted trip there). I take this as positive proof that God wants me to diet

AnnieO1234

Not really food but Aldi have some proper snow boots and suits for kids, exactly the type of boots I've wanted to get my DS but couldn't find for £8.99 and £9.99 respectively xxx

FWIW and IMHO Aldi isn't somewhere to shop if you're moving from value ranges but if you're looking to cut down from luxury and premium brands it's excellent. Their deli meat and cheese are the best around.

mcculloch29

Reading this thread it's clear we all have different ways in how we 'see' Aldi. I lived in Germany and was shopping there 35 years ago. At that time it was a 'pile it high, sell it cheap' store but it still saved me a small fortune.

There was little fresh food, but even then, products like their washing powder were noted as being superior to far more expensive brands. The Specialbuys were one of the few ways I could afford shoes and clothing for myself and children - both were horrendously expensive in Germany then.

It's changed a lot since those days, but all for the better. The luxury Specially Selected range was a great move, showing that they do exceptionally good products as well as any of the majors.

Some will see Aldi as the place just to go to pick up a few of the Specialbuys that are such good value, some will enjoy the continental specialties but stick with the majors for the everyday stuff.
Then there are others like myself, who aren't bothered about brands, and have switched to Aldi for 95% of their shopping.

I was very interested to see that the Daily Express had a £5 off a £40 spend at A!di this week, there is another £5 voucher in this Thursday's Daily Mirror. However the Express voucher may have brought in a different demographic; more of those shoppers who have their M&S bags ready at the checkout to disguise Aldi buys.

On a Christmassy note, I tried the bag of Aldi savoury cheese flavoured snacks (200g for 99p) that included tortilla chips and bruschetta, something different and very nice.
Their ready to roll pastry (puff and shortcrust) is back in again, I think this is 89p? I used it last year and it was excellent. I would love to report on the Black Forest Stollen, it looks so tempting, but I'm holding off for now.