I have discovered the delights of Aldi!

We have one down the bottom of our road and so tend to pop in there for bits all the time as its closest. The veg is reasonably priced and lasts well. H loves the meatballs in the fridge section. Things like sauces are really good, the Mexican chilli sauce is good if I can't be ased cooking a chilli from scratch and the spicy creole sauce is good with pasta.

They have a drink called Austins, which is a very good copy of Pimms, great for when we have my mum over as she loves the stuff.

Aldo rocks. their jarred anti pasti veg is fab, and about £1.30 a jar. their deli meats are nice too, and well cheap

and they do a fab mixed pack of snacks (cheese puffs, s&v sticks, onion rings and bacon things) 15 for about £1.60

and their pain au chocolate and part baked ciabatta bread is good too

I'm in the process of setting up a 4 week meal plan and only buying the ingredients I need for it.Hope to save some money and I priced it up at Tesco online and their prices are so much higher than last time I checked.Popped into Aldi and it's still as cheap as ever so I'm going there.

Ours is a nice new one too, so it's not a scrum over cardboard boxes like I remember Netto being years ago.

Sounds like I need to check ours out. Is there anything in particular to avoid in Aldi?

Hmmm i think i shall be paying mine a visit this week when doing my big shop lol

M
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I am a huge Lidl fan (which is practically the same as Aldi)

My great buys in there are Bratwurst (hot dog sausages in a jar) - £1 for 5 and they taste delicious.

Also the jams are lovely. The cherry jam is to die for and is 85p a jar. I think Aldi do similar for similar prices.

I love Aldi too. Their own version of Twix and Mars Bars are great and a fraction of the price of even supermarket own brands. Even my fussy eating h is happy to take them to work in his packed lunch. In fact all the chocolate biccies I've tried are yummy. The Moser Roth chocolate is lush too. A bit Green and Blacks-ish. The steak cut oven chips knock the socks off any other supermarket ones I've tried and they are 99p for a big bag. Frozen tuna steaks are good, and I have started getting bags of frozen, ready cooked chicken strips. They have been on offer for £1.50 for a pound bag, and are good to throw in a wok for a stir fry if I can't be bothered cooking properly. The sliced meats and cheeses, jars of pesto, H likes the yogurt drinks and meat and potato pies.

Only thing I avoid in Aldi is the baked beans. They are far too sweet for me.

Aldi is fab. Their red pesto sacues are great. ditto the cheeses and cold meats. I find the fruit and veg doesn't last that long though, neither does bread but I get that from the bakery anyway. Chocolate biscuits are LUSH. I don't know where they get their chocolate but is so addictive.

Jars of antipasta (wild mushrooms, sun dried tomatoes etc.), Italian meats, Spanish meats, German sausages, frickadellas (sp) and cookies all ace - they actually have some nice wines too. They do a Polish lager that H love (Okocim or something similar). Also the white and red grape juice are nice (and perfect for mixing fruit smoothies)

Only downside (in our store at least) is you can't always get the same things week in week out.

Do try the Moisturising Anti-wrinkle Day Cream (Q10) (Siana). It is the best moisturiser I have ever used and I highly recommend it (as recommended to me by a fellow Hitcher).

I love Aldi and there's not much I wouldn't buy from there. Their fresh pasta and sauce in the fridge is lovely think we've tried them all and they are reasonably priced. The big bags of crisps they do, can't remember what they're called now, but they are lovely and on a par with Sensations etc. Their own brand tins of tuna are really good quality and cheap. Oh I like everything really ?

Aldi and Lidl are both marvellous. Good value - not cheap!

Some of the meats in the frozen section are very good too. For the last two years we have gone for the stuffed turkey crown at xmas and it has been probably the best we have ever had......we are not in to legs or thighs.......(and that includes the M+S ones)

The best thing is the variety that you just do not get in any general UK supermarket such as Tecos/Sainsbury etc...

I do Lidl for European deli stuff & biscuits, they do specials on sauces and dried ingredients too, which are worth stocking up on when they're in. They have some nice sweeties too. Oh, and their Chianti is top.

Hmmmm looks like I'd better give it a try then, now I'm on a money saving spree!

Are their toiletries & cleaning products etc any good or would I be better to try Home Bargains for them?

I have been in our local Lidl but wasn't v impressed - it's an older store and looked a bit disorganised, and it smelt bad!?

The Aldi is much nicer, but it only opened a few months ago so that's probably why - better laid out, light, airy and clean!

There was a long, long thread on the Grauniad CIF about this a couple of weeks ago - it might well be in their archives still.

Aldi is brilliant, i get most of my main shop from there, and you can get some normal brand stuff in there too. The only thing that i go to the other supermarkets like tesco or morrisons for is quorn as h2b is a vegertarian.

Yer - I'm a veggie too (well, sort of - I eat fish), but I could always go elsewhere and stock up on veggie things for the freezer occasionally.

I am a HUGE aldi fan. Almat washing powder tablets are great (but avoid the concentrated washing liquid as that wasn;t as good). Fabric softener is as goos as top brands as is the washing up liquids.

• Moser Roth chocolate is to die for.
• Curly fries are lovely as are the chunky chips.
• Lamb shanks in moroccan sauce are better than the ones in the mint/redcurrant sauce (too sweet)
• Aberdeen angus beefburgers are tasty and they have a lovely thin tatin pizza with creme fraiche, rocket and scallops on top.
• Seafood (frozen) is marvellous - 4 sea bass £6.99, whole langoustines (big box) £8.99, king crab £5.99
• Nappies are also great value and premium quality.

The only thing that I don't buy is the cat food as the cat ignores me and sulks if it's aldi stuff.

I use the antibacterial spray in the kitchen, and I love the bathroom cleaner. Much better than the minging Mr Muscle cleaner that H bought the other day. The washing powder, Almat, is good too. My mum never uses anything else. H has just tried their shower gel for men and seems happy with it. I'm not keen on the toothpaste though. As someone else said, the Siana face cream is fab stuff. I can't believe it is only £1.89!

I don't think I mentioned the coffee either. I get the decaf for about £1.50 and it tastes as good as any other instant coffee.

Oh yes! I am an Aldi lover!

ooh, if you eat fish, have a look in the freezer section. They have the fishmonger range. Not seen them for a while, but the tilapia fillets are gorgeous. I got a bag of 4 frozen haddock fillets for £2.50 as opposed to £3.50 at Tescos. I'm sure I've seen whole cooked frozen crabs and lobster in there aswell.

Their washing up liquid is also really good. better than Fairy liquid