Who do you use for home delivery, out of interest?
Is lidl/aldi a rubbish quality food store?
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Who do you use for home delivery, out of interest?
Soldato
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My vegan better half is more fussy than me, so we've done weekly Tesco deliveries for ~3 years, ~£50 delivery saver every six months (used to get triple Clubcard points conversion to cover cost).
Minimum basket spend £50 to not get charged £5.
At very close to £2 a week, you would strugle to spend less than than on transport and then there's all the time you save not wandering around the store... Albeit in person you can select what you want and change your mind.
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They both have their advantages and disadvantages just like most other big supermarkets tbh.
Price-wise they have some stuff that is considerably cheaper than the big 3 supermarkets, however some other stuff is more expensive. On a whole shop basis it will depend on what you buy as to whether you'll save any money or not.
Years ago their veg was noticably worse than other big supermarkets, however these days they're about the same. Unfortunately thats because the other big supermarkets have dropped in quality rather than Aldi and Lidl being better.
Price-wise they have some stuff that is considerably cheaper than the big 3 supermarkets, however some other stuff is more expensive. On a whole shop basis it will depend on what you buy as to whether you'll save any money or not.
Years ago their veg was noticably worse than other big supermarkets, however these days they're about the same. Unfortunately thats because the other big supermarkets have dropped in quality rather than Aldi and Lidl being better.
Same here. The meat in Aldi/Lidl knocks spots off anything in Tesco, Asda, or Morrisons. M&S is the only one that stands head and shoulders above the rest.
However, compared to the local butcher, even the M&S meat is quite mediocre. The chicken from our local butcher is just unbeatable.
Soldato
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Lidl's ostrich steaks are great.
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Soldato
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They're all much the same for packaged stuff, although Aldi own version of Pringles & Doritos are terrible (Sainsbury's own version of Dorito's are great though), despite being almost the same price now, but Aldi jelly beans are pretty good, everywhere seems to have rubbish quality veg though, when I could leave onions in the cupboard for upto a month I find they're going rotten within a couple of weeks, likewise garlic, don't know about meats because I don't meat
Soldato
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I think Lidl is pretty good. It's cheaper than Tesco and the food is better. The fruit and veg is definitely much nicer. Ham and cheese cheaper and nicer.
if your lidl has the bakery countery with all the fresh bread and pastries then its worth going in for that alone.
IDK if they do them in UK though
this is from EU
Chia bread was addictive.
Whole bakery thing is probably a loss leader to get people in the door, also directly next to the front door.
IDK if they do them in UK though
this is from EU
Chia bread was addictive.
Whole bakery thing is probably a loss leader to get people in the door, also directly next to the front door.
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Once a month I go on a tour of Aldi-Lidl-The Food Warehouse (Iceland) specifically for ham / turkey / chicken / pork trimmings for my sandwiches.
Always better than Tesco / Asda / Waitrose, and even though it says not to freeze them, I do, and they thaw out fine when getting eaten a month or more later.
The finest ham trimmings I ever got were from Iceland. I was in heaven. It was like off cuts from an unbelievable carvery or as if a Saudi Prince had his order redirected from Ireland to the store.
Rare to get such quality these days, but the budget supermarkets are still massively better than what the mainstream supermarkets offer.
Other stuff I've tried from the budget supermarkets hasn't impressed. Their own-brand pre-mixed rum / whiskey and coke are poison. Their hula hoops are ultra miniature and tasteless. I've not tried much beyond that, but I've settled for only going to those stores for the above meats.
Always better than Tesco / Asda / Waitrose, and even though it says not to freeze them, I do, and they thaw out fine when getting eaten a month or more later.
The finest ham trimmings I ever got were from Iceland. I was in heaven. It was like off cuts from an unbelievable carvery or as if a Saudi Prince had his order redirected from Ireland to the store.
Rare to get such quality these days, but the budget supermarkets are still massively better than what the mainstream supermarkets offer.
Other stuff I've tried from the budget supermarkets hasn't impressed. Their own-brand pre-mixed rum / whiskey and coke are poison. Their hula hoops are ultra miniature and tasteless. I've not tried much beyond that, but I've settled for only going to those stores for the above meats.
Yea our lidl has a bakery, but it's not as big as that and not as well presented.if your lidl has the bakery countery with all the fresh bread and pastries then its worth going in for that alone.
IDK if they do them in UK though
this is from EU
Chia bread was addictive.
Whole bakery thing is probably a loss leader to get people in the door, also directly next to the front door.
My experience with own brand crisps are they're all a bit naff tbh. The Lidl ones could be ok, but really the amount of seasoning in each bag varied from ok to sod all. Giving them a shake before opening them helped but they still weren't as good. There's a fair few things they do which are what I'd consider good enough, like the lidl maryland knockoffs, marylands are nicer but not enough for me to care. Whereas some things I prefer the OG, like plain digestives, the mcvities ones are better, and some things I prefer the lidl ones, like dark chocolate digestives - because the dark chocolate is nicer and that's the main thing I'm tasting if i'm going for a chocolate digestive.
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I buy much more in Aldi than I do Lidl. I've heard people saying that Lid's products are better quality than Aldi's, but I think they're wrong and it's just plain snobbery towards Aldi.
I have to say, I used to love Aldi's sticky toffee puddings (link), but the recipe has changed recently and they're nowhere near as good as they used to be. Now it's just like eating a fruit sponge with little to zero sauce.
I have to say, I used to love Aldi's sticky toffee puddings (link), but the recipe has changed recently and they're nowhere near as good as they used to be. Now it's just like eating a fruit sponge with little to zero sauce.
I honestly think they just use smell alone to tempt customers in. But I'm a bit sceptical of open food and it didn't help that I saw flies around and on some of the products in Lidl. Sure, the products in packets isn't as fresh or as tempting, but at least flies haven't been on them.
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We shop pretty much exclusively at Aldi. I can't think of any of the knock off alternative items that werent as good or better than the branded ones. Cheese can be a bit hit and miss though, they used to get it from somewhere in Hereford, but its not very nice now.
Aldi is fine, tend to get as much as a can from there to avoid buying so much from Tesco: I go in the evenings when Tesco have shut their manned tills, and their self service checkouts are just horrible.
Over the years I've narrowed down the Aldi purchases to the stuff that's at least nearly as good as the mainstream alternatives.
Stuff I actually prefer from Aldi:
The knock off version of Weston's vintage cider
The knock off Captain Morgan's Dark rum
Serrano ham is better than Tesco's one
The bog standard frozen pizzas
The own brand premium salted crackers
There's loads that's just as good, but those ones ^ are better
Over the years I've narrowed down the Aldi purchases to the stuff that's at least nearly as good as the mainstream alternatives.
Stuff I actually prefer from Aldi:
The knock off version of Weston's vintage cider
The knock off Captain Morgan's Dark rum
Serrano ham is better than Tesco's one
The bog standard frozen pizzas
The own brand premium salted crackers
There's loads that's just as good, but those ones ^ are better
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Hardly any Aldi's in West London so can't comment on them but loads of Lidl's - absolutely terrible quality.
Only thing they are useful for is stuff like sauces, where brand names are a bit cheaper than other supermarkets. When it comes to fresh produce such as fruit and veg they are the lowest of the low quality. Not been in one in a couple years and don't plan to go to any again.
Saying all that, these days Tesco is really not much better, but it's still slightly better. Much prefer Sainsbury's out of all the supermarkets.
Only thing they are useful for is stuff like sauces, where brand names are a bit cheaper than other supermarkets. When it comes to fresh produce such as fruit and veg they are the lowest of the low quality. Not been in one in a couple years and don't plan to go to any again.
Saying all that, these days Tesco is really not much better, but it's still slightly better. Much prefer Sainsbury's out of all the supermarkets.
I think most supermarket fruit/veg quality decreased a few years back to be fair, at least in our experience. And we shop pretty much everywhere - Asda/Aldi/Lidl/Sainsburys/Tesco and very very occasionally a Morrisons. They've improved a bit, but not back to where they were.
*side-eyes tomatoes*
*side-eyes tomatoes*
Try their ice creams. Best thing about lidl imo.
Soldato
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Yeah, Lidl's Magnum clones are really nice.