Do you love foreign supermarkets?

[SentToTheSynByn]

I never shop at home, just get a delivery. However I love browsing supermarkets abroad. I love the huge jars of chickpeas and lentils in France and Spain. I also love that you can buy remoulade in France. And picnic wine

I bought some lovely bottles of rose in holland with stopper, like a grolsch bottle. And the cheese . Everything in holland looks so effortlessly fresh and healthy.

I bought the most gorgeous oregano in Zante last year which is about to run out so thinking about booking a holiday only half joking and olive oil.

Can't think of anything else, so do you love a foreign supermarket, and what have been your best buys?

Ps I sometimes go to Lidl and pretend to be on holiday 😎

My six year old had to go to the supermarket every day in France to say hello to the lobsters. He was absolutely adamant that they remembered him from the previous day

I never leave Germany without a box of Super Dickmann's.

yes I adore foreign supermarkets. The best one I have been in was in Italy, France was also good (of course)

the dairy section in a Belgian supermarket explains why they have so many heart attacks.

Poland - not bad but avoid the smaller ones as the check out girls just glare at you in anger then talk about you in Polish.

Czechia - not bad at all, esp the Lidl. Like ours but with more Czechy things.

Greece - v random but lovely things to eat plus tiny tiny pans for Greek coffee

Spain - ooh Don Simon wine by the carton for 60c!! what's not to like (yeh taste it, then understand why they mix it with coca cola)

I have the opposite. I can spend hours in Sainsbury’s when I come “home”. Compared to Dutch supermarkets it’s heaven. So much choice!

oh yesGermany - tiny jars of cooked peas and carrots - what IS that about?

Love it. The cheese section in France, the meat section in Spain and all the wee tins of Spanish seafood. We always go self catering and food shopping is one of my favourite parts of the holidays. Love markets too.

Poland - not bad but avoid the smaller ones as the check out girls just glare at you in anger then talk about you in Polish.

Surely that's just like shopping in Lidl (minus the Polish bit?). The staff in Lidl appear to be perpetually angry. Although I've heard they are a terrible employer and put their staff under terrible pressure, so maybe not a huge surprise.

Publix for buffalo burgers in Florida. Then (another holiday), Quality Food Center in the Pacific Northwest. Lemon/pepper seasoning, local jams and honey. Oh, and the wine selection...

Kicking myself for leaving dark chocolate and macadamia nut spread behind.

really? our local Lidl staff are positively charming, esp when compared to small town small supermarket Polish girls. Oh dear I hope I haven't started something..
they are spectacularly rude...

How about a HyperDino in Lanzarote? Croissants..mmmmmm...

I still love Lidl though, even though I am terrified of the staff...

I love Lidl too....:)

I first discovered it when I was staying in Germ a long time ago. (or was it Aldi?) anyway my snobby (English) housemate refused to go there, said it was too cheap, then used to look in envy at my lovely food shopping....

it WAS a bit rough and ready - a bit like a German version of Kwik Save - metal shelving etc

During the heatwave I liked going into Lidl or Aldi and imagining I was abroad.

France-I never knew how a simple meal of cheese and bread could be so perfect
US- Publix, WholeFoods and Trader Joe’s- I make my husband drive out of his way to buy the lovely citrus bath gel from TJ’s. Their nut butters are also fab.

RedneckStumpy - you do know where Czechia is don't you? it's north of Austria and East of Germany. it has not been a Communist country since 1989. Why would the food be 'Russian and full of shrapnel'?

Prague? have you heard of Prague?

Ah, we talking Czech Republic, I assumed Chechnya

oh lol Chechnya!! can you even imagine? probably an old cabbage and some tins of unidentified fish....

No I said Czechia as that is what they like to say these days...apparently.

I am loving the idea of someone holidaying in Chechnya!

I didn’t realize it was now Czechia! I could imagine a lot of cabbage

Pingo Doce in Portugal. Piles of fresh fruit and veg and NONE of it plastic wrapped/netted. Why can't we have that?

Also fantastic bakery - bread baked from scratch in the store (you can see them kneading the dough), mountains of cheese and fresh fish. (Not to mention the salt cod).

They also have a cafe/restaurant where the food is good and very cheap - massive helpings.

I live in Switzerland, do my shopping in France and twice a year I go to Italy to stock up, but I do get super excited about visiting the Uk for the supermarkets. I love salad cream, prawn cocktail crisps, oxo cubes, malt vinegar, shredded wheat, bacon rashers, sausages, chicken and mushroom pot noodles, wispas, smoked apple cheddar and the instant yeast (the one I can buy here just isn't the same). DH loves Primula spread and twirls.

And supermarkets sell EVERYTHING. And they are all huddled together in industrial estates. Close to DP's is an Asda living, Sainsburys, Boots (oh my, how I do love Boots), AND a Lakeland. It is really heaven on earth.

And it's so cheap! So so so so so cheap.

I love a visit to the UK to eat see my very loved friends and family.

Any Asian supermarket aficionados here? Love looking at all that fresh exotic veg, fish and weird powders 🛒

I agree with you about Dutch supermarkets OP. I’ve been in a few over the last 3 days and have noticed that there was far more fresh food and far less processed food than in Uk supermarkets. And this was in the city centre of a big university town - in the equivalent in the UK there would be nothing but crisps, ready meals and booze.