To convert to Lidl and ask for tips

[TwinsAndTrifle]

Is it me, or have the supermarkets lost their way?

Waitrose has the odd nice bit, good fish counter, but nothing much to write home about anymore. M&S, nice prepared stuff, the odd good ready meal. Neither a cut above the way they used to be.

Tesco's, utter tripe at average pricing. Sainsbury's the same, about 15% pricier.

We've been going to Lidl for a while now, and honestly, the quality is certainly higher than Tesco and Sainsbury's, and more in line with Marks and Waitrose. And a third of the price.

Do other people share this opinion?

We particularly like the continental meal platters, frozen goats cheese pizza (and we never buy frozen), the sticky toffee pudding, breakfast muffins, pate, mini fritattas, spicy chorizo, the fresh steaks, side of salmon, and have yet to be disappointed with any of the fruit and veg. Have a real taste for the fake Malibu too!

There's probably loads of hidden gems that we haven't tried yet. What's your best Lidl regular buy?

I love Lidl and shop there a lot. But I live in a livestock farming region, and they deliberately used part of the name of the top butcher to brand their product. I am local and understand that if I want Warrens meat, I buy it from Warrens direct. Real Warrens sell theit meat at Harrods and Lidgates, and not through supermarkets,

We've been shopping at Lidl for a few years now and with a bigger famiy (DC) we've saved a few grand.

They're blackcurrant and apple squash is the only one I'll drink,they're fruit juices and iced teas are also really good and they're decaffeinated coffee and tea we use all the time now.

Alot of they're cereals,nuts and biscuits taste as nice as the much higher priced branded versions.

Unlike a few PP's we've never had trouble with the fresh fruit and veg and they're fresh fish and meat's always been really good as well.

Lidl is great for some hidden gems. My weekly fans are the Maribel jam, chocolate oaties, deluxe coleslaw, Aberdeen Angus burgers, salted caramel cornettos, frozen blueberries - always really tiny and are fab in porridge. Some great wines too.

The chocolate is fantastic for the price - I use the Fin Carre stuff (45p / 100g) and have had people ask me which brand of chocolate I use, clearly expecting the answer to involve something single origin and Belgian

There cherry jam is good

The Deluxe tomato ketchup which has balsamic vinegar in too is lush

Also the app is fantastic - if you spend £200 a month in there (not hard if you're shopping for a family!) then you get £12 a month back, plus money off vouchers each week.

The cheese. Also the German sausage.

@BigRedBoat

The bakery - especially the brownies 😍

The bakery is awful. The pastries are just a mouth full of grease. The mince is full of fat The veg and fruit only last a couple of days

It may be cheap but its false economy

I mostly shop at Lidl. Hate Tesco, Sainsbury's and Asda. No Aldi near me but that would be my preference. There's an M&S but I don't find it that great either unless looking for something specific- usually Crete fraiche or risotto rice, which I can't get in Lidl. I usually get specific meat from a local butchers but everything else from Lidl. There is no difference in pasta, rice, veg, bread, cheeses (better!) than big supermarkets. Only difference is lower price!

Also their corn fed chickens are good. I usually buy most of my meat from local farm shops but I would be paying £14 for a chicken compared to £7 or £8 for a Lidl corn fed one. You can definitely taste a difference from a run of the mill chicken.

The anti Lidl/Aldi snobbery that comes out on threads like this is always amusing.

I could afford to shop in Sainsbury’s or Waitrose but choose not to. For me it’s Aldi over Lidl but I can quite easily get a full shop there and never had any issues with the quality of anything

But OP asked about Lidl so for me:

• bakery especially the muffins and cookies. The brownies can be good but recently have went downhill a bit
• it’s random but they do a pack of 4 pan scourers which are really good to get any burnt bits off the bottom of a pan
• the weekly themes: in Spanish week I stocked up with patatas bravas and cans of the cloudy lemonade. In Italian week I stocked up on the bruschetta and glad to see it’s back this week as I had just finished the last box

Avoid:

• fresh chicken is not great. Aldi is much better
• washing up liquid is very watery

Dijon mustard
Sun dried tomatoes
Passata
Red pesto
Their nut range is great
Fizzy worms
Lobster cocktail crisps
Salmon
Raisins
Tinned cherry tomatoes
Indian tonic water
Wine
Mayo is surprisingly great
We love Lidl

I used to shop in Waitrose and Sainsbury's, TOTALLY converted to Aldi and Lidl over lockdown.

Am Scottish and especially like their support for Scottish producers.

Aldi's themed weeks are BRILLIANT - this week's Italian specials are fantastic!

I'm also a card-carrying 'wine snob' (I do actually hold the WSET Advanced diploma and used to work in the trade) and the wine lists in both are superb, particularly European wines.

Argh, LIDL's themed weeks, not Aldi.

The pastry twist thingies (in the crisp aisle), both flavours are lovely. I expected them to be really dry but they melt in your mouth.

@Womencanlift

The anti Lidl/Aldi snobbery that comes out on threads like this is always amusing.

I could afford to shop in Sainsbury’s or Waitrose but choose not to. For me it’s Aldi over Lidl but I can quite easily get a full shop there and never had any issues with the quality of anything

But OP asked about Lidl so for me:

• bakery especially the muffins and cookies. The brownies can be good but recently have went downhill a bit
• it’s random but they do a pack of 4 pan scourers which are really good to get any burnt bits off the bottom of a pan
• the weekly themes: in Spanish week I stocked up with patatas bravas and cans of the cloudy lemonade. In Italian week I stocked up on the bruschetta and glad to see it’s back this week as I had just finished the last box

Avoid:

• fresh chicken is not great. Aldi is much better
• washing up liquid is very watery

Its not being snobbish to dislike poor quality produce. The bakery has always been bad, not just recently. Ive tried numerous lidls and fruit and veg just dont last

I forgot my favourite but it's not available all year round, the three fish roast is delicious.
Spanish week? garlic in a jar is great value.

Fruit and veg last well at our local and the vine tomatoes are tasty.

Its not being snobbish to dislike poor quality produce.

Can’t agree with you there at all, plenty of it is excellent quality.

Not all, but a smart person discerns for themselves.

Specials weeks! Italian this week, the vongole tomate is particularly tasty, I bought all 4 remaining packets! We have a fridge and freezer full of specials.

Oh and the bakery of course, the best in my town (we have Waitrose and Sainsbury's)

I love Lidl and make special trips there every week despite being able to afford Ocado.

I still get Ocado but am spending glad what I was now I go to Lidl too.

Faves:
Nuts
Seeded sliced bread
Instant hot chocolate
Veg - red peppers great quality and half Ocado prices, ditto baby plum tomatoes
Hand soap
Chocolate
Apples
Biscuits
Stroopwaffels

Spending *HALF what I was on Ocado...

I like Lidl, in fact most of my food today was made from one of their £1.50 veg boxes BUT despite some gems I’m not sure the quality is better than bigger supermarkets. Good things are the gin, the nuts, the dried fruit, the olives and jars of red pepper and some of their cereal such as their ‘shreddies’. The fruit and veg is not at all well looked after in the store I go to. It pains me to see bananas so heaped up they are bruised and fruit bashed. They must chuck so much out. There are not sufficient staff to look after it. I also had a pizza three days out of date and covered in mould and I wrote to them numerous times about a yogurt with incorrect dietary information (typo) on the side - months later the pot was still the same. The bakery is great but I’m not buying during covid. The prewrapped cakes are generally poor, the sweets apart from ‘Henry Hippo’ veggie gummies are poor too. I like the smaller store though and the cheaper prices.

@Womencanlift

The anti Lidl/Aldi snobbery that comes out on threads like this is always amusing.

I could afford to shop in Sainsbury’s or Waitrose but choose not to. For me it’s Aldi over Lidl but I can quite easily get a full shop there and never had any issues with the quality of anything

But OP asked about Lidl so for me:

• bakery especially the muffins and cookies. The brownies can be good but recently have went downhill a bit
• it’s random but they do a pack of 4 pan scourers which are really good to get any burnt bits off the bottom of a pan
• the weekly themes: in Spanish week I stocked up with patatas bravas and cans of the cloudy lemonade. In Italian week I stocked up on the bruschetta and glad to see it’s back this week as I had just finished the last box

Avoid:

• fresh chicken is not great. Aldi is much better
• washing up liquid is very watery

So not liking Aldi and Lidl makes you a snob?

I couldn't get anything like a full shop there so that's why I don't shop there. There's a lidl ver close to my sisters house so I'd occasionally pop in to buy biscuits or similar if I was going over for a coffee. So I'm aware of what they sell and the quality of it.

You talk about the snobbery of people not shopping at Aldi or lidl but what I see more of is people insisting they're amazing.

You talk about the snobbery of people not shopping at Aldi or lidl but what I see more of is people insisting they're amazing

Ha yes. I mean we don't all just want to pay more for our shopping. You'd think.a can of beans is a can of beans there aren't really that many things I care about getting as branded items etc I'll try most things. Truth is alot is just poor. Like the crisps fir example. And the meat is dreadful. The fruit and veg goes off on the way home and In our 2 stores alot of stuff is growing friends and having a party on the shelves. The staff don't give a shit either.

Why would we buy stuff we don't like juts because others think.soneone who doesn't like the place is a snob.