Lidl - What products do you buy?

caringa

DPJames wrote: »

The fruit is only good for chucking on the compost heap once you get home. No lie, I've even bought rotten, furry tomatoes off the shelf before and only realised once I got home. It takes tomatoes ages to grow mouldy fur, so they must have been on a shelf for ages. And he apples, bananas etc are just as bad. No doubt thousands will tell you Lidl fruit is awesome and they've never had any problems. But I don't touch the stuff anymore.
And as for everything else, just give it a try. Substitute what you would normally get with stuff you find in Lidl, and see what you think. But you may have to hunt for stuff, it's all a bit random really.

Oh, and the checkout experience is also terrible. So be prepared for that!

I couldnt disagree with you more! Suppose it depends where you live etc but I find the shopping experience at Lidls excellent. The checkout experience is always friendly with people offering to let others go in front if they dont have much in their basket, plenty of good banter and the till operators always recognise me and ask how I am. In fact its like a huge corner shop atmosphere.

As for the fruit and veg, I have never had any mouldy produce. Admitedly sometimes some items dont look brilliant but as you are selecting them yourself, you obviously dont pick them. I only shop once a week and I never have to throw anything away.

As for what I buy, its really more a case of what I DONT buy - which is basically coffee and tea plus the odd item that I want that they dont sell. Otherwise, I do my whole weeks shopping there and it saves me a fortune!

HPoirot

If you like strong slightly acidic instant coffee I couldn't recommend the Colombian coffee more. Or for that matter, the gold blend and the fairtrade which are milder. All instant.

Fruit and veg in my store are better than in the market round the corner. I guess the quality varies from store to store.

All 'fresh from bakery' stuff are generally good, OH loves the ciabatta, seeded loaf, croissant, etc.

Cheese is generally better there and much cheaper. Free range eggs.

Free range chicken - fresh. New Zealand lamb - frozen. Frozen veg mix.

Frozen breaded fish. Oven chips. Deluxe specialty dishes - the salmon en croute is lovely.

Continental biscuits. Cheese twists in a yellow box - forgot the name - they are moreish, better than M&S.

Olives. Balsamic vinegar. Peppers in a jar for antipasti, etc.

Deluxe strawberry jam. The dark chocolate is divine.

HTH.

highlandlady72

A few things I like from lidl are:
Cornflakes
Smooth apricot jam
Freeway lemonade soft drinks. 6 pack 500ml bottles (I use for taking to work) & also the cans
Thin sliced turkey/ham slices
fruitv& veg is a bit hit & miss. Usually get onions, cucumber, peppers, spring onions

karlie88

Halfprice weekend deals.

Big fan.



Some great offers.

mysecretalias

Thank you to everyone who has provided really good ideas for products to buy. We went there tonight and for £30 got so much stuff, mostly based on the recommendations from this thread, which was so much easier than the main aldi/lidl debate/argument thread!!

The only things I didn't find unfortunately were the own brand twix/snickers lookalikes, ice tea, coconut milk, clothes airer (based on a recommendation from someone as we need one for the new house), and small cartons of juice. But apart from that I got pretty much most of everything else, some things we got 2 or 3 cans etc, all for £30 - including a £3.99 doormat!!

Thank you everyone - I have found this thread so so helpful. The other thread simply gave me a headache

getzls

Their Soup is good.
Not the cheapest one, that's like water.
Also the twin packet of bacon great value.

Have to agree about the fruit, looks great in store but doesn't keep well.

peaceandfreedom

THE GOOD
Cold meats are excellent
Feta cheese, goat's cheese
Larder-shelf stuff like olive oil, tomatoes, passata
Olives and sun-dried tomatoes in jars
They do some lovely stored-baked bread
Pack of fresh red romano peppers - last ages and are amazing value
Pink Lady apples
Smoked salmon
Nearly all their cleaning stuff is great

THE BAD
My kids would not eat their own version of Muller Crunch Corners (however, the real thing is usually half price at Lidl)
Their pretend-Magnums look good but don't get eaten much either here
Any broccoli I've bought there has been very ropey, won't bother again
Some of their big sweet peppers are pretty old, you just need to check
Don't tend to bother with their fresh tomatoes, usually a combination of old AND unripe. Asda are far better.

The check-outs are brilliant, quick, efficient and no tedious asking about your plans for the weekend. You just have to be organised. I pack everything instantly as it's scanned.

clingingtothewreckage

Caramel Bars (fantastic as close to Tun**cks as I have found) 99p for 8 not £1.50 as in Mr M
Special Muesli - two types luxury fruit and fruit and nut £1.69 a bag
Maribel jam and marmalade
Greek style yogurt 99p for 4
Cheese
Ginger fudge and cranberry granola
Sugar is usually cheaper
Chocolate bars
Cleaning materials
Peppers
Punnets of conference pears £1.09
Salad veg
Growing lettuce
Most meat is good

Hope this helps you may not like all of the stuff but after visiting Lidl for months doing the shopping for a family member I have been converted.

I now try to do all of my shopping in Lidl and then nip into Mr M and A*d* for odd bits and pieces. I was extremely happy a couple of weeks ago because I managed to shop in Lidl and miss the other two out completely!

If anyone can recommend a replacement for Malte Chocolate Horlicks I would be very grateful. Mr M no longer stocks it locally and I have to make a special trip to A*d* to buy it + in the last few months it has increased by over a pound to £3.50

Once a month there is usually a £5.00 off £40.00 spend coupon in the S** or The Daily M***** - if you read the forum some kind soul normally alerts everyone.

Hoseman

I don't go to Lidl for the shopping experience or customer service, If I had to rate it would probably quite low compared to the others but usually, I don't mind if it means I don't have to pay the extortionate prices that the big guys charge which sometimes borders on taking the p when I find it cheaper in my high street.

Off the top of my head here's what I usually buy:

- The veg isn't bad and I tend to buy aubergines, broccoli, mushrooms, potatoes and a few other bits and pieces
- Cold meats are good quality and very well priced
- Filter coffee is good quality (Melangerie)
- Cheese is very well priced and good range (Camembert and range changes so worth checking regularly)
- Biscuits (check out their range including crackers and compare to see how much we are being ripped off by the supermarkets and brands like McVities. Taste difference for me = nil!)
- Honey
- Milk

OverRated

Items we buy regularly from Lidl:

Fin Carre Milk/White Chocolate
Crusti Croc Milk Chocolate with crispies
Mushrooms
Milk Chocolate Digestives
Mister Choc Caramel Biscuit bars (very much the same as a Twix!)
Mister Choc Coconut bar (very much like Bounty!)
Tower Gate Chocolate chip cookies
Jaffa Cakes
Mister Choc Chocolate Hazelnut spread (can't tell difference from Nutella)
Raspberry Jam
Tortilla wraps
Part Baked Rolls
Bagels
White loaf
Garlic Baguettes
Potato Gratin
Gammon joint (£3.99)
Cooking bacon (dig and you'll find ones without any fat!)
Blackcurrant Cheesecake (3 pack)
Strawberry trifle (3 pack)
Pasta Bake sauce
Chopped Tomatoes
Pepsi (normally 99p a bottle)
Flavoured water
ACE Fruit juice
Free Range Eggs
Unsalted Butter
Baby Wipes
Wotsits equivalent
Frikadellen

Things we really don't like:
Tortilla Chips that seem to be on offer every other weekend!