Great 'What's Hot and What's not at Aldi, Lidl & Netto' Hunt revisted

A question about : Great 'What's Hot and What's not at Aldi, Lidl & Netto' Hunt revisted

What's this about?

Super-cheap supermarkets Lidl, Aldi and Netto smack the bottoms of their big name competitors when it comes to price. The problem is that their products can be hit and miss.

This is all about rating their best deals

To beat this, three years ago, we asked MoneySavers to rate the good products from the bad (see the orginal hunt). The results formed the What's Hot and What's Not at Aldi/Lidl/Netto guide.

Now we want to rate the products again and need your help

Three years is a long time, and so we need your help to do it again. Please click reply and put in your recommendations.

The best format is like this
Supermarket: Detail which you're talking about
My top things to buy are:
My top things to avoid are:
Even if someone else has mentioned a product, please include it, as the number of mentions helps us see what's good and what's not.

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Best answers:

• I'll throw in.
  Supermarket: LIDL
  My top things to buy are:
  Bockwurst, pack of 10, chiller
  German potato salad (1kg tub)
  Frikadellen
  Peas and carrots, canned
  Kabanossi sausages
  Pork salami (the big one)
  Orangeade 2l
  Chicken soup, large can
  Luxury muesli
  Multivitamin juice
  My top things to avoid are:
  Maccaroni Cheese
  Chili con carne, 800g can
• the fruit and veg in aldi lidl is great ive never found anything nice in netto
• Lidl
  Recommend -
  Sliced meats
  Tortilla wraps
  Diet cola
  Cup a soups
  Barbeque spare ribs
  Potato salad
  Coleslaw
  Iced marble cakes
  Malted wheats (shreddies)
  Chocolate sandwich bars (orange, mint and plain - imitation penguins basically)
  Xmas gingerbread biscuits
  Frozen pizzas
  Cheese
  Own brand version of twix bars/milky ways (whatever they call them)
  Instant noodles
  Orange juice
  Onion rings
  Breaded fish
  Salmon fillets with herbed crust
  Yogurt
  Kitchen roll
  Mayonniase
  Jelly babies
  Neopolitan wafer ice creams, sandwich icecreams, imitation cornettos/magnums
  Premium vanilla ice cream
  Own brand multipacks of crisps
  Xmas cake
  Jam
  Jaffa cakes
  Olive oil
  Tinned veg
  Avoid
  800g tins of chilli
  Milk in warmer weather - goes off extremely quickly, not so bad in winter but still doesn't seem to last as long as supermarket stuff before going 'off.'
  Olive oil
  Yeast extract
  Baked beans
  Frozen peas (like bullets)
  Tinned spaghetti
  Fruit and veg is generally great and brilliant value, but other times the quality can be lacking, but this is easily judged by appearance. Don't be put off if it seems bad quality now and then as more often than not it is a great buy.
• ALDI
  Recommend: Pesto - 99p a jar and seven different varieties, its great!!! Also coconut milk, when it is in stock which isn't all the time, is MILES cheaper than any of the big supermarkets and just as nice, not watery which is always the risk with the cheaper versions.
• lidl sell some great sweets..........the party mix (various individual packets) are great.
  orange juice (still yet to find anywhere cheaper @ Ј0.58)
• I wouldn't touch foodstuffs in Netto, but I find them ok for household cleaning stuff in general, ie bleach, washing up liquid etc.
• I'm working on comparing the vetinary food stamps from major brands against Aldi's own to see which major producers make food for Aldi.
  Lidl do a lovely iced coffee for 55p, various flavours.
• Fruit n veg in ALDI is brill, in LIDL it's a bit hit and miss.Bread is dire form both of them, and I can't get hold of red lentils at LIDL at the mo, there's a shortage apparently:rolleyes:
• Lidls
  Fresh Vale Wafer Thin Cooked Ham 400g (Ј2.19) - fabulous quality and not at all plasticky like Tesco/Asda ham (and considerably cheaper)
  Pre Packed Salami Slices - fantastic taste and price (I think it was Ј1.49 for 200g)
  Lidls version of coco pops Ј1.19 - kids think these are nicer than coco pops.
• Aldi and Lidl, a world away, and absolutely not to be confused with Netto, which is just cheap and usually nasty.
  Anyway - in Aldi
  Recommend
  Their varied frozen fish dishes
  Muesli
  Carlos round frozen pizza - one of the best frozen pizzas IMO - and really reasonable
  Frostys luxury ice cream
  Clothes washing liquid
  The fruit and veg can be varied, but is usually as good as any
  Jars of cooking sauce - the Korma is one of the best I've tasted and incredibly cheap.
  Chicken breasts - seriously some of the best chicken of it's type, better definately than Tesco and cheaper - though obviously nothing like if you support a local butcher.
  Carrot cake - this is the best carrot cake I have ever tasted, and knocks the socks off Marks and Spencer - I'm serious!
  German beers - nothing over special, but very palatable, and at just over Ј3 for 6 bottles you can't go wrong
  Their weetabix look-a-like - frankly you won't be able to taste any difference.
  Avoid
  Cornflakes - you might as well just eat the box it comes in.
• Recommend in Aldi
  Vitacat in gravy - I have two very fussy cats and they love the cat food in foil packets
  Orange juice
  flavoured fizzy water
  Black bin bags
  Instant Coffee
  Lager (red and white tin)
  Foil (very strong)
  Men's Deodorant (blue)
  Also if you buy any special offers, eg clothes very good at taking back.
  Free parking
  Don't like
  No baskets - and being told which way to put my trolley at checkout
  Definitely a thumbs up
• Aldi:
  French Cognac at Ј11+ a bottle - good stuff
  Gruyere Cheese/Bread sticks
  Neapolitan Ice Cream wafers (10 for about 99p)
  Shower Spray
  Dishwasher Cleaner (2 bottles for about Ј1.50)
• Lidl: Dishwasher stuff- their W5 tablets seemed to be about 1/2 the price of Sainbury's own brand last time I bought (though as I always cut them in half, that's a while ago)
  Tissues - little packs x10 or12
  Sandwich bags
  mini ice cream lollies - excellent value+ yum
  juice cartons for packed lunches
  Jam- that Stute stuff is gorgeous, so fruity
  Dont' get the fish fingers, the breadcrumbs are a very strange red colour + the fish is awful
• aldi the toilet roll by saxon the aloe vera one as the right ratio of strength to softness even preferred by the brand conscious younger members of my family
• Lidl
  Black Forest Ham (four or five times the quantity for less money, compared with Tesco)
  Sausages - 85-90% meat content
• Netto we like:
  Cola
  Lemonade
  Big Juicy BRITISH Strawberries (in summer obv)
  Frozen lamb shanks in gravy
  White swing bin liners
  Don't like
  black bin bags - too thin
  Sometimes milk has short date (but I just don't buy when this is the case)
  Pan au chocolat - Sends hubby all funny/dizzy
  Fabric softener the one with a baby on it made me & bubba all ichy
• Lidl - good stuff
  70% cocoa chocolate - about half the price of the branded stuff
  Dried pasta
  Almost any tomato stuff- passatta, tinned plum tomatoes, puree
  Dutch cinnamon (spelling?) biscuits at Christmas - loads of them for a tiny price only watch taking them home as they're fragile
  Lidl - not so good
  Large family size chilled lasagne - the meat is very pale and peculiar
  Aldi - good stuff
  Conserve - around half the price of the posh french brands and tastes great
  Continental meats and salami - all excellent
  Dried pasta
  Salsas
  Frozen snacks/starters - chinese & indian bits, stuffed jalepenos etc
  Biscuits
  Part-baked ciabattas
  Wine (on offer)
  Chocolate
  Aldi - not so good
  Brie/camembert - may just be my luck but they never seem to ripen
• One thing I can definitely recommend from Aldi is the wonder that is
  "Austin's - grain liquor with fruit extracts", which costs about £5.99 for a 70cl bottle.
  Which is their version of *cough* Pimms, but you'd hardly notice the difference once you've added the lemonade and ice etc!! Another tip is also buy a carton or two of pomegranate juice from Aldi and make yourself some cheapo versions of Pim Pom
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• Lidl:
  Tiramisu desserts (for 2) in the fridge section. Great value for 79p.
  Chorizo sausage (either the sliced one in the fridge section or the whole sausage).
  Indian curry sauces (Korma and Rogan Josh).
  70% Cocoa dark chocolate -- excellent value for eating or baking!
  Big bottles of Hoegaarden when they have it in.
  Specials:
  The optical specials (telescopes, binoculars) are recurring and good value from a recognised make (usually Bresser).
  Steel toe-capped workboots, good value.
  Lervia electric floor-sweeper (in occasionally).