Going to aldi for the 1st tomorrow, what do you reccomend?

Charlton_King

First off, don't expect Aldi and Lidl to beat Tesco, certainly not on everything, and on some things they're decidedly more expensive...

The wise shop around...

Floss

Charlton_King wrote: »

First off, don't expect Aldi and Lidl to beat Tesco, certainly not on everything, and on some things they're decidedly more expensive...

Are they? I'm surprised, as they have much lower overheads than most other H/S supermarket chains.

Forgot to add earlier, the London Gin is the nicest we've had, better than Hendricks, and has won several awards...as have a lot of the wines, and their £12.99 champagne is nicer than Tesco Premier Cru at £19.99.

lora

DH really likes his coffee. He recommends the French Blend --Metro.
All the family like the chocolate.

Islandmaid

Our Aldi is filled with a real cross section of society yummy-mummy crowd tend to head straight for the wine aisle though - don,t blame them, there,s some amazing wine for the price.

Tried their frozen battered haddock for the first time tonight, and it was really good, huge pieces with a light batter, would deffo buy again

Charlton_King

Floss wrote: »

Are they? I'm surprised, as they have much lower overheads than most other H/S supermarket chains.

Forgot to add earlier, the London Gin is the nicest we've had, better than Hendricks, and has won several awards...as have a lot of the wines, and their £12.99 champagne is nicer than Tesco Premier Cru at £19.99.

Maybe, but their buying power doesn't begin to compare...

... and of course, when you find that you've saved that £1 in Aldi and then have to burn £1.50 to get to Tesco anyway to buy something Aldi just doesn't have the shelf space to stock...

meritaten

When I first started shopping in Aldi I was convinced I needed to do a 'top up' shop in Tesco every month and spent about 25 to 30 pounds. I am so used to Aldi now and cook a little differently and am not brand dependent as much.
I now go to Tesco (I really hate Asda the quality is carp) about once every three to four months and the last time I spent the princely amount of £12.00 odd. and had to suffer the embarrassment of OH walking around going 'HOW much?' fgs - we will get it in Aldis'! and stopping other shoppers and telling them 'That's much nicer/cheaper in Aldis you know'. lol

So Carlamarie - how did you get on? (don't expect you to become a convert overnight, but if you have one of the better stores, then you should have found lots to like).

lobbyludd

I really think it depends what you tend to buy. I found their smoked fish, continental meats, antipasti and cheeses are great. I like their fair trade coffee, (and I'm a beggar with coffee) half the price of dowe egberts etc and very drinkable. olive oil, dark chocolate for cooking, the free range chicken, super six veg/fruit (although depends what it is) the only thing I've bought that wasn't liked was their own-brand che*rios, which the kids disliked.

I don't tend to buy frozen prepared stuff anywhere and very few prepped sauces etc so can't comment on that.

A friend has an aldi and a waitrose within walking distance so when I visit her, on the way back I shop in both. But I have no brand loyalty for most foods, and for most things I've found there is little difference in quality between lower and higher priced things, the main difference is packaging, presentation and the habit of a particular set of tastes.

~Chameleon~

What time do people generally tend to shop? I usually go around 8pm and the store is very quiet, never more than half a dozen people in there. I can browse at leisure and checkout experience is no different to any other supermarket as there's rarely ever anyone waiting behind me. I even have time to pack as I go unless it's a full trolley. If someone comes up with just a couple of items I let them go through first.

As for products, almost everything I've tried so far has been great. With the exception of microwave egg fried rice. It had a strange taste. I've just finished doing my shopping list for tomorrow on the iPhone app and have so far got 100 items on there and that's not including any specials, nor the few items I know they stock but aren't showing on the app for some reason! That shows you just how good they must be as I used to shop mainly in Waitrose :j

[Deleted User]

I have two Aldi's near to me One in Gillingham is not very nice, and difficult to park at times as the car park isn't very large.Plus the stuff seems to be heaped up a bit higgalty-piggalty so not a great deal of room for the trolley.But the Sittingbourne one is very different anf much more room.I go there perhaps once a month and have found so many things that are cheaper and nicer.I like the
Yeo yoghurts
Sesme seed crispbread
sliced ham
any of the veg is excellent value
I don't buy much in the way of frozen food as I prefer to make and freeze my own stuff.
Biscuits and chocolate are good value (the chocolate I get for cooking, as I am dieting and make chocolate cakes and biscuits for my DGS)
The own brand detergent is brilliant and a fraction of the price of the big brand liquid detergents
I don't use conditioner as I would rather use white vinegar for softening stuff
I guess that in a once a month shop there I save about 40% on what I used to pay in MrT's or Sainsbobs.Can't comment on the meat as I buy from my local butcher as a rule ,although I have bought a decent sized fresh chicken there for around a fiver that was very good. My son-in-law swears by their steaks
I think its a case of trying stuff to see what you like. Myself, I would recommend it to anyone.I don't have a particular brand loyalty I buy the best value I can with the cash I have.
Probably the only fairly fixed rule I have is I won't buy sausages that are cheap and nasty I'd rather pay a little more and buy less IYSWIM..I don't eat burgers, so I couldn't comment on them.Their cheese is very nice and very good value.Trying out both Aldi's and Lidls (my nearest Lidl's is in Maidstone about 8 miles away ) I found that its a bit like shopping in CarreFour in France. Lidl's, especially in Maidstone is very good,but I have to need a bigger shop to warrant the journey.
Where my brother lives in France the nearest shop is a Lidl's and he thinks its a hoot that folk in England turn their noses up at Lidls.He hasn't a choice, but he is so used to shopping there.
Do let us know what you think of the shop and what you enjoyed foodwise. It seems in the economic climate of today folk are voting with their feet and have decided that by picking and choosing where to shop you can get better value for money.

The way I look at it is I don't eat the packet I throw it away so if the food inside is good and tasty why would I care what's written on the packet :):)

EmmaHerts

I don't think Aldi is cheaper than other supermarket own-brand. I've been in Aldi's several times and thought "Oh- this is cheaper in Tesco/Asda/etc."