What's good at Aldi?

[Floofydawg]

We've just had a shiny new one open near us and I fancy a mooch. Never been an Aldi shopper before as I like my shopping delivered, but I've got a bit more time to shop now. Tell me what's good to buy from there.

It's all fine if you are on a budget is really as far as it's possible to go.

Not true @Brananan. Food quality is much better than just for those on a budget.

Dishwasher tablets ... dishes are just as clean as higher priced tablets

Today I bought some chocolate Christmas baubles for the tree and two Advent calendars. The Christmas goodies selection in there is better than anywhere else and I always buy their traditional Christmas pudding. Their toilet rolls are cheap and good quality, likewise the lemon washing-up liquid, the ibuprofen is cheap too, and I particularly like their frozen fish.

the Champagne (Nicolas ?) , many of the wines, the beetroot, quinoa and pumpkin seed salad, the black olive tapenade, the tinned mackerel, the fresh fish, some of the fresh fruit, vegetables and salad (but they don’t last long)

I love an Aldi shop.

Pizza, cheese, weetabix, laundry detergent, jam, sweet potato fries, cauliflower cheese, chocolate, fruit & veg.. it’s all good, but definitely not as cheap as it used to be

The middle aisle! It's all about the middle aisle.

The peri peri half chicken for £3.99 is nice!

Pizza
Cheese
Yoghurt
Fresh juice
Plants
Chocolates (especially the ones shaped like Pringles in a tube)
Sometimes dupe cosmetics/toiletries
All the household cleaning products
Shower gels
Hand wash
Nuts

They’re yoghurts, orange juice, ice creams (mini fake magnums!), grapes, bags of croissants, wacko bars (fake twixes!), they’ve also a dupe for sanctuary shower gel!

They had amazing coconut lollies at one point in the summer. Basically frozen coconut water, but I’ve looked for them ever since and never seen them again.

@Brananan I think plenty of things are excellent. There’s a chilli in their newer range that’s better than the one DH makes. He agrees.

They’ve got a Bilsham range of curries that are very good, the strength 5 coffee beans are fine and so much cheaper, cheese, especially the speciality ones, Greek style yoghurt, chocolate, biscuits and snacks.

The Christmas range is excellent and the mince pies are superior to other supermarkets.

I’d say pretty much everything, but with the exception of meat & veg!

Maybe just the ones local to us but the meat, especially chicken breast, isn’t great. You buy 1kg but by the time you’ve removed the veins and horrible bits you’re probably left with half of that. And in my experience you can get better quality meat for either the same price or less from local butcher.

The veg is fine if you’re going to eat it the day you buy it or one day later, it doesn’t seem to age well though so not great if you do a weekly shop.

On the aisle with all the cleaning stuff in the Aldis close to me.

Our Aldi go to's are Greek yoghurt. Steaks. Norpak butter. Tonic water. White Rioja. Smoked nuts. The bakery stuff is rubbish compared to Lidl though.

I don’t go there a lot but family do and what I have got has been really good especially, cheese, wine and the Jo Malone dupes

I buy Aldi breakfast cereal rather than Lidl because Aldi ones have added vitamins and minerals but most of the Lidl ones don't.

Fruit and veg is pretty good, as long as you’re eating it fairly quickly.
Am always really impressed with their meat - steaks are reasonably priced, free range chicken if they have any left is better value than other supermarkets, pork & apple sausages are excellent. The salt and chilli pork belly slices are INCREDIBLY spicy. Their fish is good and well priced.

Baked beans, their version of Nando’s marinades, soup in a cup (DH says theirs are better than the branded ones), olive oil, tinned tuna, microwave rice, their specially selected jars of curry sauce with the dried spices are v tasty and so easy if you don’t want to cook from scratch, their versions of Snickers, Mars, and Twix.

Fruit juices, kids smoothies, yoghurts, butter, most of the cheeses.

Pretty much all of the breaded fish / chicken products from the freezer, and their Magnum dupes are excellent.

Brie is superb.

Spreadable Norpak.

Wagyu steaks. Wagu? However you spell it. The fillets are excellent for the price.

Summer dips and general antipasti. Toasted sandwiches are fab for £1.89.

We are Aldi converts from Waitrose. Now we get a handful of items from Waitrose and everything else from Aldi. The overall quality is a good 85% of a sole Waitrose shop, but the overall price is more like 45%.

Nappies and wipes are good if relevant to you. My little one loves their vegetable cottage pie baby tray meal.
Shower Gel
Sweet chilli chicken frozen pizzas are brilliant
Mini fromage frais if you have little ones
Pates are nice
Chorizo wrapped cheese
Chipsticks type crisps
Dog treats
Cereals
Also the fake twixes and mint chocolate are lovely

Everything but especially the Greek yoghurt, coffee, chocolate, seeded bread and Lacura face cream.

Salted pretzel chocolate
Crémant du Jura – IMO better than lots of entry level champagnes
The cans of drink – own brand Lilt, Fanta, Coke etc
The coconut and mango Magnum style icecreams
Raisin brioche swirls
Lentil Chips
Corn Cakes
The frozen sausage patties that make perfect homemade sausage and egg McMuffins
I don’t like lots of the condiments and sauces, or raw meat and fish, although the deli meats are fine.

I don't get Aldi and I can never find anything I actually like - the only things I have ever bought anything that I liked were the chocolate rip offs of Mars and Snickers - everything else just isn't up to standard and costs just as much as Asda and Tesco

The first time you go leave your money/cards in the car. Just look around and get to know the layout etc. If you have money with you do not go near the middle aisle. Do not even look at it. Work up a tolerance gradually.

Love an Aldi shop! We rarely go anywhere else now for food.
Everything is good! It definitely is cheaper too.

I would avoid the chicken and salmon. We ended up cooking a couple of chicken breast from Sainsbury’s with one from Aldi. The Aldi one was full of water and shrunk by half. The salmon filet did the same.

My rule of thumb is stick to the basics. Non UPFs. So cheese, butter, meat, fish, fruit, veg, baking ingredients, frozen veg, nuts etc are all fine. But most of the processed stuff we've tried has been poor compared to other supermarkets or main brands. Particularly bad are pasta and table sauces, frozen pizza, cereals, bread products.

The washing powder is excellent because although it is fragranced by the time you've washed and dried it the fragrance is completely gone. Cleans well and is cheap.