the joy of lidl

Chianti

2007-08-03T12:21:00.000+01:00

Cortealle Mura Chianti, 2006

£2.99 (on offer)

They say:

...this typical and well-known Italian red wine, shaped by its ruby red colour, dry flavour and harmonic, full bodied and spicy bouquet is an especially good accompaniment to dark meat and game...

We say:

Lidl's best wine for under £3! Well it is when on offer, it is normally £3 something. In fact, I would go as far as to say this is the best red wine I have tasted at Lidl! I know I always give favourable reviews to their wine but this really does deserve it. It has a good nose (although hints of cork did come through at the end) and deep rich colour.

Like most Lidl wines as soon as it hits your mouth you automatically go and make a squirming face in order to express the vinegary muck you have just accepted into your mouth. I was expecting the usual reaction on account of some awful Chianti Lidl used to sell five years ago. I hadn't bought any since, but I was seduced by the reduction in price of this one. However, on drinking this Chianti the usual face reaction soon evaporated.

It is quite bold but not too aggressive and all in all a fine tipple. You would not disgrace yourself if you served this up at a dinner party. It would certainly hold its own against any other Chianti from this price range and from any other supermarket. In my opinion it would blow the others away.

Verdict: Buy. Buy it now!

July Lidl night - Aberystwyth

2007-08-03T12:09:00.000+01:00

So Paul and Paul took a trip to Aberystwyth Lidl. It was in preparation for the Lidl evening that night.

Purchased was brandy, vodka, cherry brandy, vermouth, fink brau, coke, iron bru, fruit juices, crisps, ice crusher (review to follow), lemons, melons, cherry energy tablets.

The bill came to over £60 which was impressive. In fact so much was bought we were incapable of carrying it all. Therefore Paul had to scamper back to his flat to get two suitcases while Paul sat waiting watching the good folk of Aber do their Friday afternoon shop.

Paul came back after ten minutes or so with a suitcase. I thought it was odd as he said he would get two. Then he proceeded to put the suitcase on the ground, open it up and produce another suitcase from within inside. Amazing trickery!

So Paul and Paul wandered home with their suitcases of Lidl treats.

The evening started at 7, Adi arrived first with Nest arriving not long behind. Bob arrived later. The evening began with a classic Knight Rider episode, 'K.I.T.T. v's K.A.R.R.' It went down a treat, although I am not sure Nest shared our enthusiasm for Michael Knight's heroics and Devon's bumming face. This was followed by another classic Glen A. Larson production, 'Buck Rodgers in the 25th Century' which contained the most bizarre and hilarious dancing ever recorded on film.

The night ended at 11 when we all retired to the Ship and Castle for drinks. A rather tame affair but a good Lidling session nonetheless.

Joy of Lidl on Tour - Denbigh

2007-08-03T11:57:00.000+01:00

Paul was taken to his sister's local Lidl. She lives in Denbigh, North Wales. It is a sleepy little Welsh town but it has a Lidl which must make life worth living.

This Lidl boasts a rather attractive tree lined entrance. This was spoiled somewhat when we were encountered by an empty box of Lidl condoms in the bush outside. This did not fill me with hope. One would expect this from a inner city Lidl but this was a rural location and I feared it could be downhill from here.

However, I was impressed by the separate exit and entrance (Leith Lidl take note!) and the bright interior. Inside it has an impressive 6 or 7 aisles (I can't remember the exact number), much more than your average Lidl although the aisles were about half the length of Leith Lidl. This does mean though that it is roughly the same size as Leith Lidl which is surprising as it is serving a much smaller community.

There was one checkout in operation, but this was fine as there were only a hand full of customers in anyway.

The exit from the checkouts to the front of the store was impressive too. From the end of the checkouts to the exit doors ran a glass screen to separate this from the rest of the store. It was a nice touch and added a bit of glamour to the store.

All in all this is might actually be my favourite Lidl store yet. It wins over Leith Lidl because of the better design of entrances and the glass screen. If you are passing through Denbigh take a look and see what potential a provincial Lidl has.

Lidl recipes: dedicated website

2007-07-09T15:48:00.000+01:00

Hot piss!

Lidl have created a new website especially for recipes!

www.lidl-recipes.co.uk

Buck Rogers in the 25th Century night.

2007-07-08T19:57:00.000+01:00

We had a Lidl night round my flat a few weeks ago: Buck Rogers in the 25th Century Night (this is a clip from what's currently my favourite episode... I am the only one who thinks Twiki appears to have a big steel glans for a head?). I think it'll go down as one of the quieter nights we've had... perhaps that's a sign of my advancing years. Anyway: drinking, cocktails, drinking, Glen A. Larson, spandex, drinking, and some food which, I recall, involved me combining Lidl chorizo and mince with shallots to make miniature burgers, and some salad, also forged of Lidl products in the blazing furnace of my creative brilliance. That's what it was all about.

Visiting dignitaries: Laura and Ruth.

Also present: Ruxpin and Grubby, Nest, Bluto, Chris, and a couple of other people. Alas, no Suzie, who was in London I think.

Next proposed Lidl Night: Glen A. Larson night, for when Paul visits.

Super Leith Lidl

2007-06-09T21:55:00.000+01:00

The Leith Lidl reopened this weekend. The event even got a full page spread on page 3 of the Scotsman.

Paul and I had to pay it a visit. We had heard so much about it and surely it wouldn't meet up to our wild expectation. The article in the Scotsman had only served to wet our appetites further and whilst we were on the bus heading down Leith Walk you could sense we were on the verge of something special.

We were not disappointed.

"This is the best Lidl ever" proclaimed Paul, and that sums up Leith Lidl in a nutshell. Being a new store it is really clean and fresh, but unlike a lot of the Lidls we all frequent the finish is very professional.

There is a whole isle on non food stuffs, and not just the usual Lidl crap. Hard drives, dvd recorders, kayaks......

Just look at all those TVs!

One of the most pleasant aspects of the store were the number of check outs and the number that were open. Often at Lidl only 2 or 3 check outs are open and you are queuing for a while, but here we just strolled up and checked out straight away.

Leith Lidl rightly takes its place at the top of Lidl stores, and will surely become a place of pilgrimage for Lidlers everywhere.

Recent Lidl nights

2007-05-23T20:09:00.001+01:00

Well, bugger me on camera and post me on a German special interest website. It has been a long time since my last post, so here's another one.

Since I started back at work we've had a couple of Lidl nights at 12 Chalybeate Street, and (very briefly) here's what happened:

February (at some point): Jean-Claude Damn Van evening. We all sat in my lounge and got arseholed. We were watching Kickboxer, then we watched Orgazmo to top it all off. Present: Jesse, Suzie, Laura, me, possibly Adi. I did the food, but I can't actually remember what.

("Noooooooo! Dat'z my brouder! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!)

March (at some point): Top Gun evening. We all sat in my lounge and got arseholed. This was a much grander affair, present: Nest, Bob, Keegan, Suzie, me, Jo (Maddern), and I think Jesse and Adi. We may have gone to the pub after. I can't remember. I did shedloads of food for this one, and I can't remember what that was either... but it might have been on a Mexican theme. Keegan provided the DVD for this beaut.

Because the trailer's a low quality encoding, here's another Top Gun video off YouTube. It's actually the music video for the theme tune. From the artist's point of view, the best thing about contributing to the Top Gun score must have been the super-low-budget videos you could knock out. Park yourself in a hanger, cut in some film footage, job's a good 'un innit:

Has the guitarist mugged a Cyberman? Arses, I don't even know if it's a bloke or a woman. ANYway, the moral of this story is, if you have a Lidl night, write it up before you forget what happened like I have.

Forthcoming planned Lidl nights for summer include Flesh Gordon night (no, really), and Buck Rogers in the 25th Century night. And probably a few more.

Forthcoming reviews from me will include Trolli Mini Burger (unless someone else has beaten me to it), Lidl 3p carrier bags, and Lidl 9p carrier bags.

Fig Rolls

2007-03-15T15:37:00.000Z

Fig Rolls, 39p, 200g (10 rolls)

Lesley said fig rolls were utterly 1970's, but I take that as a good thing. Fig rolls, as you may well know, defy time. They are an all time classic, and if they are seen as a bit 1970's then it's time the nation woke up to the realisation that the fig roll is a wonderful innovative snack.

Lidl's version is a bit hit and miss. They are a bargain at 39p for ten (remember that a chocolate bar costs that much nowadays), but at that price something has to give. For me there is just not enough fig filling making the figness too subtle, it really just comes through at the end.

Having said that the price makes up for the lack of figness so on that basis alone I would highly recommend them. If you have forgotten about the joys of fig rolls then buy them today!

Obviously

2007-03-15T13:39:00.000Z

Lidl seem to like stating the obvious. They make us chuckle every time.....

Lidl Dreamteam

2007-03-15T13:32:00.000Z

Happy haselnuss to you!

2007-03-09T15:24:00.000Z

At one scottish pound and thirty nine pence this was undeniably good value for 400grams of sugared goodness. I was particularly impressed with the photo on the front, although I was glad that the bag consisted of hazlenut rolls, rather than hazlenuts and rolls as the picture suggests. I liked the fact that the original German name 'Haselnuss-Roellchen' was kept - clearly a reflection of the bilingual shoppers that the store attracts.

The rolls were a sensous delight: crunchy shell with a tasy smooth hazelnut mousse-like filling. The only danger being that they were so appetsising that I devoured 6 or 7 in a few minutes. These were very sweet and maybe a little too sugary for some tasters. One of the selling points that the haselnuss-roellchen photographer missed out on was the diversity of these dessert snacks. They would make an ideal accompniment to ice cream or chocolate sauce, that being said they taste equally good as a cheeky chocolate snackette.

Overall, these are nice light biscuits and would go well with a glass of buickfast as part of a sophisticated evening treat. Well done lidl...Widl.

Phil

2007-03-08T15:17:00.000Z

Phil is our favourite Lidl employee. His hair might look like it was around in the seventies but we still like him. We always wish he will serve us and today he did.

We first encountered this lovable rogue when we were served by him sometime before christmas. We picked up one of the new Lidl recipe books and he said to us as we walked away "ah yes, Lidl has gone up in the world!".

I think it was his cheeky comment and willing to interact with us about the joys of lidl that made him our favourite.

He must have gone up in the world too in the last six months. No longer has he a handwritten badge, now he has a bit of paper with his name printed on. Phil is going places.

Today was another day for a classic Phil quip. On spying the new promotions leaflet I saw that Lidl have an equestrian line from next week (this week Lidl are selling motorcycle equipment). Adorning the promotion is an image of a rather fine looking horse with its female rider standing rather stiffly besides. I commented on this strange range of items by saying "I wouldn't have thought the average Lidl customer is into that sort of thing". Phil replied, "Yes, and the horses make an awful mess on the floor".

He cemented his place in our hearts further.

Honey and Lemon Chewing Gum

2007-03-08T15:04:00.000Z

Nord Fresh Chewing Gum (Sugar Free), Honey and Lemon Fresh.

45 gram, 49p

Well these are an experience.

Sugar free sweets are never any good and this chewing gum made by Nord Fresh will not change this. They should really be relabeled anti-congestive or something because they really clear your nostril passages.

Lesley describes these as medicinal, this is meant in a negative way. But I quite like them. They are a great alternative to Airwaves and come in a variety of flavours. Next time you have a cold try them out.

Like most chewing gum the flavour seems to last about ten minutes and then subsides into an annoying nothingness.

To be honest my favourable stance towards them has kept them out of the bottom 5, I think Lesley would very much like to consign these to the list.

Mini Snowballs

2007-03-08T14:48:00.000Z

18 Mini Snowballs, £1.49

"Soft fluffy mallow (51%) covered in chocolate flavour coating (26%) and desiccated coconut (23%)"

I think the fact that this has stormed the top 5 list speaks for itself. They also come in a pot which means the packaging can be reused.

The beauty of these is that they are smaller than your average Tunnocks snowball which means they are perfect to take in one bite. Although there is a downside. As they are smaller you want to eat more and then feel sick.....like I do now. I think I just ate about 7 or 8.

Lesley thinks these are the best marshmallow product Lidl sells. I would agree, but the chocolate is a bit poor, just the usual substandard stuff. But the marshmallow is to die for.

Strongly recommended for office scoffing.

A Lidl Christmas

2007-01-23T17:36:00.000Z

Jo and I purchased a fine christmas pudding from Lidl for our christmas day dinner. I have long since lost the receipt but the figure of £1.79 comes to mind so I would guess that is how much it retailed at.

I have to express disappointment however. For dinner on christmas day the stakes are high, a lot is on the line, and the Lidl Luxury Christmas Pudding failed to live up to it's own packaging hype. Christmas dinner is expected to be one of the best meals of the year, and I for one look forward to it for a very long time. So it is a shame that Lidl let me down.

The pudding looked and smelt like a regular christmas pudding. Yet it lacked any noteworthy characteristics that true luxury christmas puddings have. It just tasted like nothing. It was devoid of any real taste, let alone one that you would associate with a christmas pudding, let alone a luxury one.

It was inoffensive, yet it is precisely because of this mediocrity that I would turn my nose up at it next year. It was instantly forgettable.

The disappointment was compounded by the fact that Lidl had done us proud with their vegetables, bacon and sausages the course before. Jo bought the turkey at the butchers down easter road, yet apart from this the majority of the food consumed by us was Lidl in origin.

I expertly skewered bits of lidl bacon around mini sausages and Jo made some very fine cranberry sauce. The sprouts were very nice too, but they always are as sprouts are the best vegetable ever invented.

So christmas dinner was a bit of a mixed bag and I blame the pudding for this. If it had a head I would order it to hang it in shame, but alas it does not. I wouldn't put the pudding in the bottom five but I do think Lidl are deceiving its loyal consumers by labeling it luxury. If I was the word luxury I would be down Lidl forthwith brandishing a strongly worded letter and demanding to speak with Dieter Schwartz.

A New Year

2007-01-14T19:29:00.000Z

Happy 2007 Lidlers.

Due to the holidays and my laptop being rather poorly the joyoflidl has ground to a hault. However, there were a number of product reviews conducted over the festive period. So get ready for the imminent return of lidling the highlight of which must be the review of a lidl christmas day dinner!

So keep up lidling, pop down to your local one today and buy something. Perhaps you could post a review so we can start the year off as we intent to continue.

Thank you for your continued lidling support.

What in the name of all that is Holy.....?

2007-01-05T16:29:00.000Z

YES they are drugging their staff - with a very strong opiate by the look of it...

Are Lidl drugging their staff?

2007-01-05T16:06:00.000Z

Are Lidl experimenting with Prozac on their staff? Either that or these are actually inflatible staff.

I think we all know what this chap is thinking about - probably why we can't see his hands!

Tsatziki Flavour Crisps and Nazi Lager

2006-12-18T14:11:00.000Z

Ahoy all its been a while!

Over the last week I have sampled two delightful offerings from Aberystwyth Lidl:

1. Tsatziki (Greek cucumber dip) flavour crips - giant bag for about 50p. Absolutely lovely - not quite sure what the flavour brings to mind, but it's very smooth and mild (much like me!). The sort of crisp you could eat gargantuan quantities of, excellent for film viewing.

2. Grafen Walder Premium German Pilsner - A slab of this was purchased for the staff Christmas party, at the bargainous price of 65p per 500ml. Over the course of the evening I sampled a good 3 litres of this lager and proclaim it to be a splendid beer - a trifle strong, but nice crisp flavour and smooth finish.

There was a tin of some meat that you squirt out of a nozzle as well, but I couldn't bring myself to that...

Lidl Walkergate calling...

2006-11-18T16:45:00.000Z

Apologies fellow Lidlites that it has taken me approx 2 months to work up the stamina to post my first blog on this hallowed site. Many thanks for inviting me and the recognition that it is essential to establish links with other Lidlites, particularly those who frequent different stores. I should first offer a brief introduction to the Lidl that I shall be engaging with:

A mere 23 minute walk from our house is the Lidl “Walkergate”. Whilst we have lived here for 15 months I first visited this store only last week. “Why the delay?” I hear you scream… Unfortunately I have no sound excuse other than to accomplish this feat, one must turn LEFT at the end of our road. I had been turning right for all this time. What a waste. This newfound direction opens up a whole landscape of possibility. The site itself is situated in the suburb of Walkergate which on your Burgess Concentric Ring model of urban development lies in the ‘undesirable’ zone between rings 2 and 3 which also includes a disused factory, a disused hospital and a disused high street. In short this Lidl is truly a beacon of Hope in an otherwise feral landscape.

To contextualise further, it must be remembered that geographically, Lidl Walkergate is approximately 105 miles as the crow flies SE of Edinburgh (perhaps stopping half way at Jedburgh; crows are notoriously lazy) and thus is going to be more heavily influenced by global warming. Fluctuations in the internal temperature of the stores, not to mention magnetic variation due to latitudinal differences are not to be taken lightly. Its proximity to the North Sea also renders it susceptible to high winds, problematic for the standardised Germanic tin roof that houses the beating heart of this store. Variability of products relative to the Edinburgh store, not to mention staff attitudes (more in later posts, I can assure you) are clearly conditioned by these geographical specificities.

My first purchase involved a mere 2 articles wooed by the fact that Lidl was having an Italian week. (I rather like the notion of regional specialities and hope that in future we can look forward to perhaps a little more creativity in the choice of regions. Not to head office: Italy is hardly novel). I purchased a box of egg Tagliatelle and Green Pesto, clearly a classic combination.

The verdict? I was not disappointed. £0.46 sterling for a jar of pesto is clearly good value. Although I have to say the amount of oil contributes to over half of the jar’s contents rendering it fairly unsuited to the health conscious Lidl shopper (do these exist? I will be taking more note of the demographic in future visits). As for the Tagliatelle, you can’t go wrong with this. Apologies for the lack of images. These two products had been consumed before I had the chance to photograph. I must remember this flaw in future.

Niçoise Salad

2006-10-17T14:35:00.000+01:00

Run, run to the hills and never look back. This is vile. It looks bad, it smells worse. It tastes like sick.

I had high hopes for this, 99p for a salad in a tin sounds good (actually maybe not). Basically it consists of tuna, bits of bean, carrot, red pepper and potato. All well known components of salad niçoise....

It has a ring pull which is handy, but that's where the good points start and stop. This truly is a work of lidl greatness. When non lidlers think of lidl this is the kind of stuff they must imagine.

When I opened the tin his foul stench engulfed the office instantly. It was the smell of vomit, and the sight I saw looked like vomit. This was not a good start.

The tuna had settled on the bottom (the end you open) and so I was presented with this grey mass, surly there is more to this than that! Lesley suggested I emptied it out onto a plate. When I did this all the vegetables came out and the true squalor was there to behold.

I tasted it much to Lesley's surprise "I wouldn't put anything that smells like that near my mouth" (future boyfriends take note). Anyway, I dived in and tasted a bean. It was very soft. It had no taste. It must have been boiled to death before it entered the tin. So there goes any potential health benefits.

Then i tried a bit of everything. Vile. Vomit. Yuck.

It just taste of bad soup. The juices of the vegetables make it a vegetable soup with tuna thrown in. The tuna looks dodgy, almost grey in colour and has no taste what so ever.

I would describe this as a soup, not a salad.

Lesley says it tastes of vinegar. I wish. I like vinegar. It tastes and smells familiar but I can't put my finger on it. Bad vegetable soup I guess.

Verdict: avoid for health reasons.

new members and a promise to review more bad stuff...

2006-10-06T15:17:00.000+01:00

the joy of lidl has some new members. peter has yet to post anything, claiming the lack of a convenient lidl in newcastle for his (and david's) lack of posts. tony, however, has begun his lidling the way it should be done: with a review and a glass of lidl asti. well the lidl asti is really to celebrate my birthday today, but it's definitely the finest accompaniment to a joy of lidl post.

in any case, this afternoon's office conversation (tony has joined paul and i in the pabbay suite) has strayed into the need to taste more bad stuff for this blog. you see, whenever we pay a visit to lidl, we always select something that we think we're going to like. indeed, we walk past all the dubious looking tinned goods near the door and head for the more promising looking produce. occassionally we stray upon something horrible (like wednesday's prosecco adventure), but usually we pick something that tastes quite nice.

clearly this is to misrepresent the range of lidl products. so from now on we pledge to taste unpromising looking tins of stuff. paul has stated his intention to taste the tinned salad nicoise on various occassions, and he seemed keen on some tinned ravioli bolognaise that we passed in the (abnormally long) queue today. so, from now one, expect some far less positive reviews (remember haggis' fruit salad experience). of course, we might even be surprised and actually enjoy some of the stuff...

deconstructing enrobed mallows...

2006-10-06T14:35:00.000+01:00

Jam teacakes: 20 £0.95, yes that's right less than one british pound for 20 mallows....

'Real milk chocolate ENROBED mallows on a biuscuit base with a splodge of real jam'

Despite the illustration showing a 5 inch mallow monstrosity we were somewhat dissapointed to discover that the teacakes were in fact closer to the size of a stamp. Nevertheless, we decided to proceed with this mallow-tastic taste test experience...

Lesley commented that 'the base is too dry and it tastes better disassembeld'. Although, she is well known for being a dis-assembling-phile. The teacakes were not bad but the choclatey enrobedment was rather disappointing, more of a light covering some might say. Both myself and Lesley decided that the teacake could do with a little more jam. Paul maintains that he found the mallows irresitable despite the fact that they were rather dry on the mallow front.

Nevertheless, these teacakes were decidedly moreish and whilst this journalistic jewel was being written 5 were consumed in the office. Overall the biscuit based mallows proved to be a satisfacory afternoon snack and for a mere 95 pence are definitely value for money. Just remember not to be taken in by the misleading illustration on the packet.

sign up to lidl newsletter

2006-10-06T14:30:00.000+01:00

a call to all lidlers!

you can sign up to a lidl newsletter which allows you to receive news of all lidls special offers in you inbox!

do it, do it now!

money saving tips

2006-10-05T12:48:00.000+01:00

a regular visitor to our blog (who shall remain nameless so as to not bring shame upon him) alerted us to this great article

it reviews lidl, aldi and netto (never heard of that one) products and gives them ratings. it seems pretty extensive if a bit quantitative for this blog. what is all this weighting malarkey???

anyway thank you mysterious visitor for alerting us to this.

An Inconvenient Truth

2006-10-04T23:53:00.000+01:00

Fellow Bloggers and Lidlites...

I've just returned from the cinema after watching the film 'An Inconvenient Truth' based on a global warming slideshow presented by Al Gore. I have to say it was truly outstanding and i urge you all to take yourselves and encourage as many of your friends and family to watch the film while it is out on the big screen. The film i found didn't tell me anything i didnt already know, however it presented it in such an engaging and understandable way. I actually ended the film hoping it would last longer than it did. The inclusion of never before available statistics recovered by Gore due to his previous ties to the white house, revealing aerial and satellite photography, concise and well explained case studies and dare i say it the engaging, enthusiastic and at times witty manner of the presenter combine to create a superb piece of cinema.

It is worth noting that this film does not set out to, or at any time attempt to undermine the global warming focus with Al's presendential campaign defeat. This subject is mentioned briefly but it is intertwined with a myriad of short insights into the life of Al Gore and what influenced him to create this presentation, a presentation that he was giving even before he became vice president. You will find yourself wondering come the end of the film just how different things would have been had he gained office.

This film is truely compelling and is a great of example of how to make geography and science accessible to all.

For further information see: http://www.climatecrisis.net/

To keep this Lidl related it would be interesting to find out what Lidls environmental policies are, if it has any!?

Haggis - *****

yuck, yuck...maybe not?

2006-10-04T16:45:00.000+01:00

Prosecco, 10.5% vol, £2.99

"The Prosecco vines hold a special place in Italian wine making. They grow predominately in the Trevisco province in the region of Venice. White wine pressed from the Presecco grape carries the name of the wine from which it is derived. Presecco Del Veneto is superb as an aperitif or as a compliment to fish and seafood."

The beauty of this wine is the fact that it has string rather than foil on the top. The other beauty is that it has a picture of a corkscrew on the back with the text "for the open is required a corkscrew like in the drawing".

The wine is nice a fizzy and has the aroma of the wine the department gives away free at graduation. However, it tastes even worse. Lesley describes it as "bitter, it gets worse with every mouthful".

I would tend to agree, although after the second glass i am getting used to it. It just tastes like acid. This surely goes into the worst 5 product list. However, i am getting used to it now, maybe this is not as bad as we first thought. Maybe we cast it aside too quickly. Hang on i'll take another sip...........no, we were right first time.

The other bad side is the cork. It took me five mins to extract it! I broke out into a sweat!

I would never buy this again, unless you have seriously pissed me off and i wanted to extract revenge. On second thoughts this does have a use. The next time you go to a party take a bottle of this. It costs £2.99 so is cheap, but make sure you open it when all the good stuff has gone and you are drunk enough to drink anything. You save face bringing a bottle, but escape the agonising selection at the supermarket or off license.

Recommend? No! Do not let the string entice you into the vile world of Lidl Prosecco.

'Luxury' Caramel Shortcakes

2006-10-04T15:39:00.000+01:00

4 Luxury caramel shortcakes produced by Rowan Hill Bakery, 89p.

I have to state from the outset that i adore caramel shortcakes. I had wanted to review the apple crumble but when my eyes fixed upon these there was no going back!

These were great, they have a very generous portion of caramel lying on top of a digestive biscuit base with a chocolate crown. They were really firm, and stood up well. There is nothing worse than a soggy caramel slice and one that spills the caramel out when bit into (take note Greggs). But no troubles here.

Nothing more to be added, apart from these will go straight in the top 5. Greggs caramel slices are 52p each, these are 22.5p and far far superior in taste and quality.

Go and buy these now. If you want I will go and buy them for you (but don't expect them to survive the journey).

Thank you once again Lidl, where would we be without you?

failure to dismantle an orange cake...

2006-10-04T15:15:00.000+01:00

yes, you've guessed it: it's the lidl version of the jaffa cake. following on from the success of the jammy rings, paul and i thought we'd try these. lidl did offer us a choice of 'orange cakes', 'raspberry cakes' and 'cherry cakes', but we thought we'd go with the most like a traditional jaffa cake.

i can only imagine that these taste very like the mcvities version. i can't say for certain, however, because i have never eaten a fully assembled jaffa cake. you see, eating a jaffa cake is all about the experience of disassembling it and eating the constituent parts. my preferred method of deconstructing a jaffa cake is to bite off all the chocloate covered cake around the raised bit of orangey stuff. then i remove the chocolate covering the orangey stuff, separate the orangey stuff from the cake and eat the two separately. the 'choc me' jaffa cake does not allow for such easy dismantling.

i suppose this is because choc me are far more generous with the orangey stuff than mcvities. an orange cake is about the same size as a jaffa cake, but the entire sponge base is covered with orangey jelly. i did try disassembling one to no avail. instead i was forced to eat the entire assemblage. it tasted perfectly nice and everything, but i couldn't help but be disappointed at the lack of interactivity in eating one. it's just not as much fun if you can't play with your 'food'!

Alcopop!

2006-09-29T15:29:00.000+01:00

Yes, our first alcopop. we surely are scrapping the barrel now.

This is Liberte's Rum & Lime "a blend of rum and soda with lemon and lime flavour". 75p a bottle, 5.4 % vol.

It just tastes like sprite to me. Typical alcopop really, i guess this is why the kids love them. Not much else to say to be honest. Think of sprite and there you have it. Lesley and I both like it and would happily drink it again. I drank mine in about 10mins.

It says it contains colour, but it is clear. Lesley likes the minimalist packaging, so do I. It also has a screw top!

Recommended! Buy it for your 14 year old cousin.

(and yes Innes, we did drink this in our office).

Sweet Berry

2006-09-29T14:13:00.000+01:00

Another friday, another trip to Lidl in Newington!

This is a first for us, fat free sweets. 'Sweet Berry' are strawberry flavoured jelly shapes. They have a white base and strawberry body, and i assume they are meant to be the shape of strawberries but they're not.

They retail at 89p.

I have to admit to liking these. On the first one there was not much of a taste, it displayed a rather subtle flavour. However, the more i ate the more that fake strawberry taste came through. Lesley pointed out that if you chew them more then more flavour is released.

Externally they are covered in sugar which contrasts well with the foamy interior.

Like always I have eaten too many and now feel sick.

Lesley doesn't like them, she thinks the subtle flavour means you have to chew them too much.

A lukewarm recommendation on this one. I wouldn't buy them again but didn't find them too offensive. I just think sweet corner needs to try a bit harder on these ones, the potential is there.

(They also contain pork gelatine, not for the vegetarians!)

wild mice and white strawberry chocolate

2006-09-15T14:51:00.000+01:00

(no camera today, so photos to follow - promise)

so, after the success of our friday pub lunch, paul and i decided that it was nigh time for a trip to lidl. we emerged with a bar of amanie 'extra fine' white strawberry chocolate and a bag of wild mouse sweets.

on reaching the office paul decided to begin with some wild mice (89p). these a a foam-jelly composite sweet. the body is a marbled foam mouse with a long jelly tail. they look a bbit like brains with tails, but on closer inspection are definitely mouse-shaped. i thought the foam tasted slightly better than the jelly part, but both paul and i agree that the contrast between the two was great. they look somewhat disturbing, but taste good. the packet also informs me that wild mouse are fat free but, given that glucose is listed as the first ingredient, we remain unconvinced to their health-giving properties. and no spinach...

paul is a big white chocolate fan and the white strawberry chocolate (79p) claims to be 'finest chocolate', so we had high expectations. on opening the packet we were presented with the bottom of the chocolate bar (i managed to open it upside down), the appearance of which is vaguely reminiscent of a bad case of acne on peely-wally skin. all the strawberry bits had sunk to the bottom so turning it over made for a more appealing aesthetic. the chocolate was nice enough - not strawberryish enough for our liking and a bit sickly. we had one row of chocolate each and that was more than enough. strawberry chocolate is ok, but i'm not sure i'd go so far as to call it 'extra fine'.

DIY Tools of the Trade

2006-09-15T11:22:00.000+01:00

Are you tired of how whack your house looks? Do you long to turn your slum into a palace? Do you wish you had a tool that was up to the challenge? Maybe you've thought of putting up a shelf, servicing your pipe-work, changing a light bulb? Why yes i hear you cry!

Well now thanks to everyone’s favourite supermarket Lidl, DIY just became easier! The new 'DIY Tools of the Trade' sale, starting Monday the 18th of September sees a whole range of toolboxes, penknives, ladies briefs and other awesome tools slashed in price. For the man about the house, this is a must. Never again should you have to suffer the humility of a disappointing toolset. Thanks to Lidl you can now swing around your impressive tool without shame for all to see.

Like Yorkies, not for girls!

The case of the disappearing vitamin friends

2006-09-11T12:25:00.000+01:00

Lesley raised this concern a few weeks back on the afternoon of her party. Where are the vitamin friends, the best sweets Lidl sell? There were none to be had in the Newington or Leith stores.

Joanna and Paul took a trip to the Newington store on Saturday for a walk (this is what they do in their spare time). They went to get some spinach and new potatoes for a salad. Paul went to the sweets section to peruse the sugary goodness. But lo and behold, still no vitamin friends!!

So a call out to the other Lidlers. Maybe a letter to Lidl UK is in order, but before we pursue this course of action maybe the other lidlers could go and check out the case of the disappearing vitamin friends. Are they missing in your local Lidl? Or is it just a Edinburgh problem? We would love to know!

new additions to the joy of lidl

2006-09-11T12:12:00.000+01:00

it seems that the joy of lidl blog 'family' is ever growing - and expanding it's geographical range. our latest addition is david, also known as 'spark209', who will be lidling from lovely newcastle-upon-tyne. this makes paul is the only lidler that has met every member of this blog.

Lidl Airways?

2006-09-11T12:10:00.000+01:00

Finally Lidl is bursting free from just the normal discount supermarket fare. They are now offering discount flights on Air Berlin!

You obtain a voucher from your local Lidl to obtain a pin code and then vist airberlin.com/lidl to book your flights.

Lidl is "cutting fares, not service!"

Apology

2006-09-08T10:05:00.000+01:00

I feel I must apologise for the lack of lidling over the past few weeks. This has been unfortunate but necessary due to half the reviewers being away and myself moving flats.

Hopefully we will start up again on Monday after a weekend of lidling.

Hang in there, and thank you for your continued lidling support.

5 Fruit Salad: Did anyone else see that cherry?

2006-08-25T14:26:00.000+01:00

The 5 Fruit Salad is currently lying in my flat bin, still three quarters full of low-grade 'fruit' chunks. A fitting end for an item that promised so much and delivered so little. In fairness the product did what it said on the tin, it was indeed a salad compromising of five fruits:

pears pineapples peaches cherries and grapes .

Can i urge you to slowly take in the colourful, fresh, tasty looking photos i have provided of each of the fruits. In addition, i bring to the attention of the court evidence A, the 5 Fruit Salad tin label.

Mmmmm wipe away that stringy drool hanging from your chin and get yourself a clean pair of pants.

This morning at work all i could picture was the tasty fruits on the mesmeric label, lightly caressing my lips with my tongue in anticipation. Needless to say a few odd glances were cast in my direction from around the office. Once 1.40 arrived i briskly walked home to indulge myself in more taboo Lidl activities. I nestled down in my chair, fruit salad in one hand, spoon in the other and Neighbours on the TV. Imagine my expression when i pulled back the lid to be confronted by this goop. I shuddered, Angie Rebecchi looked more appetising than this mess!

The Science Part

The 5 Fruit Salad may as stated contain five fruits, however for a 500g tin i felt a little cheated to find a maximum of one and a half cherries in the syrupy mess. Now the tin does state that the cherries contain a food colouring (E127) but, unless consuming more than one and a half cherries worth of the stuff causes your face to go bright red i see no reason why more cherries could not have been included. In fact its a shame more food colouring wasn't used. The pineapple was tasteless, noticeably lacking the sweet zing usually experienced with pineapple slices. The grapes, which upon first viewing I thought were lychees, were devoid of colour as well as taste. The sloppy syrupy liquid the whole thing sloshed around in isn't worth more than a mention and the pears tasted anonymous. The peaches it must be said were actually quite nice. I just feel sorry these poor peach slices had to be mixed into this fruity shambles, never to be experienced in their delightful individualism. Yuk.

My final after thought...

what were those crunchy bits?

I wouldn't mind a ride on that...

2006-08-24T12:35:00.000+01:00

We recieved our weekly Lidl promotional mailshot yesterday, and our mighty Kraut supermarket is really going for the full-service approach...

They devoted 3 A3 sides to...wait for it...Essential Equestrian Items!

From lidl you can buy stirrups, breeches, nose bags - and best of all a BURBERRY horse jacket...

They had a female model wearing jodphurs and leather boots - looked well worth a ride.

The Mysterious Finkbrau

2006-08-24T11:04:00.000+01:00

Finkbrau is great. Not only does it taste great, it also carries a mystery. I noticed this the other day. The Finkbrau in the office is housed in brown bottles. Yet the Finkbrau in the flat is housed in green bottles.

Why is this?

My bet is that Lidl are just too cheap and use recycled bottles (which should be applauded), hence the consistency of bottles are not what you expect from the more expensive supermarkets.

What is your theory? Answers to be sent to thejoyoflidl.blogspot.com

Trailer

2006-08-19T20:58:00.000+01:00

I've created a trailer of sorts for The Joy of Lidl. As a result, I am now a Lidl God.

And you love it.

Donuts: The Creamy Hoop

2006-08-19T01:46:00.000+01:00

Wow, so I, Haggis, finally get to experience my first Lidl tasting session.

Having gate crashed Lesley's soiree it was decided that Haggis should finally be fully immersed into this rapidly growing cult. Donning my ceremonial man diaper and stripping down to my undergarments i took the mandatory induction beatings with the hint of a smile on my face. It was only later that i found out that this was actually the customary soiree activities of Lesley and guests, not the blazing inaugural experience I had spent the past week dreaming of.

Haggis likes donuts. It is no secret. In fact any sweet substance is a general hit with the Haggis, and as such, hopefully further reviews will follow detailing my sordid experiences of suckling ice cream out of a turkey baster. But i digress. Presented to me were a packet of '6 Real Dairy Cream Doughnuts', already opened and minus one unit. Cmon, you'd have thought that for a first timer like me they'd have tried to make the experience memorable. A brand new shiny packet, fresh from the shelves, receipt attached, tasting gloves lain either side and a small monkey butler to open the packet and light my post tasting cigar. You can imagine my disappointment. "Yeah, you've got to eat them now Haggis", slurs rummy, swaying slightly, most likely due to the copious amounts of cider he'd consumed thus far into the night. The packet, covered in a slight film of filth is thrust under my face. I brace myself.

6 Real Dairy Cream Doughnuts
Well, what more can i say really, a donut is a doughnut. Until now i'd never really put much thought into what they REALLY tasted like. It was not unusual for Haggis to consume packets of doughnuts in one night, in fact, looking back i think 24 hour spar back in Aber was only open
during the early hours to make a killing from my doh-nutty obsession. Chocolate, vanilla, jam, such details were brushed aside as the donuts were consumed in one swallow.

So now i find myself confronted with a 'Dairy Cream' donut, hmmm, i'm not a fan of cream. I remove one of the greasy, lightly sugared goodies from the packet. Smells ok. What the heck. I bite into its side, hard, attempting to take half in one go. Without warning one side of the donut crumbles, creating a small orifice out of which a creamy paste spurts onto my hands. Thinking about it, its a good job i didn't review those bockwursts. These things are messy. They contain both jam AND cream! I clean myself up and finish.

To be honest nothing really stood out about this donut for me, the dough itself was bland, almost rubbery. The jam tasted ok, but then it tasted like that jam you get in pre-made sponge cakes, a little odd, not quite right. I think that analogy applies to the cream too.

I think to be honest you can do a lot better than these. You get what you pay for, and unlike most of the other Lidl products reviewed so far, these are a let down.

Result
Swallowing not recommended

Lesley's Party!!!!

2006-08-18T21:02:00.000+01:00

Tasters in residence: Joanna, Lesley, Paul (unofficial lidl tasters: bronwen, huw and nick)

Ok so Lesley is having a 'soiree'. So what a great opportunity to road test some Lidl reds! We felt like we should go back to basics and hit the red wines as this was the initial impetus behind the joyoflidl.

Tarragona £3.99
Right first up a wine parading under the name 'Tarragona'. This is a Spanish wine made from a combination of tempranillo and cabernet sauvignon grapes.

The bottle says:

"After a maturation period of 24 months in wooden barrels and a further 36 months in the bottle, this wine has reduced perfect balance as well as achieving an intense ruby colour and a full bodied flavour...contains sulphite"

What we say:

Well I have to say this is rather enjoyable. It has a play-doh nose, which is a bit off putting. It really has just a woody taste due to its aging in wooden barrels. You wouldn't exactly describe this wine as complex. I think it is really quite quaffable. I think for £3.99 it really can compete with the muck you get in Vicky Wine or where ever. Top marks from Paul!!

Well I have to say my enthusiasm is not shared with the others. The others thought it smelt like play-doh and tasted like it too, if it had any taste at all. Joanna preceded to mix hers with some freeway cloudy lemonade. this did not improve things!

I say buy. The others say no.

Happy Ocean

2006-08-17T14:39:00.000+01:00

As an afternoon snack Lesley and I nipped along to the Newington Lidl to purchase some sweets. We were going to review the classic 'vitamin friends'. But alas there were none to be had.

So we plumped for these 'Happy Ocean' extra sour sweets. They are small fished shaped sweets, which are sugar coated. They are specially produced for Lidl, so I assume you can't get them elsewhere. They retail at 59p.

They are great! Really quite sour which makes you squirm a bit on your first bite. I like sucking them so all the sugar comes off, or just biting their heads off first. They come in three colour combinations (the head and body are different colours) - white+yellow, orange+yellow, green+yellow.

If you don't like sour sweets stay clear! I however love them. But be warned! The back of the pack has this warning that I did not heed:

Excessive consumption may include laxative effects

opps......

Bockwursts!

2006-08-17T11:25:00.000+01:00

Ahoy. I'm not intending to post on here everyday but Jesse and I sampled more Lidl fayre last night in the form of these mighty Panzer-Wursts.

Texture: Obscenely rubbery.

Taste: They are suprisingly tasty, and at about a quid for the jar, bargainous too. A bit salty, and needed a good dose of ketchup but otherwise not bad at all.

Overall: Not much of an after taste, just a slight urge to invade Poland.

FlapJacks!

2006-08-16T14:11:00.000+01:00

These flapjacks are not confined to Lidl - they are available in the vending machines in the Llandinam concourse. However in Lidl they are 45p, in Llandinam they are 60p.

Their description: Caramel Bake FlapJack - with caramel & chocolate flavour topping.

My Description: Solid. Like a brick.

Texture: Indescribable - the actual flapjack has a very sticky texture, and fills you up in the same way eating cavity wall insulation would. The chocolate is generally ok, though if you buy in Llandinam it'll be half melted.

Taste: Very sweet and sickly on the palate, but fading to a nutty finish. Reminds me of a Marathon bar.

Overall: For 45p its not bad, though you will spend about three quarters of an hour getting bits out of your teeth with your tongue.

Joy of Lidl on YouTube

2006-08-15T12:35:00.000+01:00

Joy of Lidl has now made it on to You Tube. Unhappy with the current standard of lidl movies out there we thought we should start producing our own.

The first set of videos are from the Asti and chorizo evening last friday.

Asti

Lesley cooking

I recorded them on my digital camera.

Hopefully sometime soon we will actually bring you a video of a shopping trip to one of our local lidls!

Stay tuned!

Asti and chorizo!

2006-08-14T10:42:00.000+01:00

Reviewers in residence: Lesley, Aidan, Joanna, Paul

This weekend saw a friday night tasting session at Lesley's.

We kicked things off with a bottle of Asti (£3.45). This has to be one of Jo's favourite wines. She loves it! I am not a fan of white wine, but this is so sweet, fizzy and appley I love it too. Throw the champers out, Lidl Asti is here! I am not joking, I would drink this over that muck called champagne any day!

I am unsure if Joanna and Lesley would agree with my raving review, but they throughly enjoyed it. At 7.5% it's not going to get you drunk, but this makes it perfect if you are hosting a little soiree. At £3.45 it's not going to break the bank either.

Verdict: why are you still reading this? Be gone and purchase!!!

The Asti was accompanied by a sumptuous Lidl pasta meal Lesley cooked. We had some Sconcigli pasta (89p a bag), with some fried red onion (44p for 6!) and chorizo (£1.79). Added to this at the last minute was some spinach (80p a bag). Finally some parmigiano was sprinkled over the top (£2.99). To accompany this, Lesley prepared us a salad. The basis of this was a bag of mixed salad leaves (99p), cherry tomatoes (75p) and some fresh basil (54p).

I have to admit that I love chorizo so this meal was always going to be great. Lidl chorizo is really good too. Much cheaper than in the other supermarkets and not sold in stupidly thin slices. The meal Lesley prepared was simple and effective, there wasn't too much going on on the plate. Easily the best meal I have ever had from Lidl, easily beating last weeks (sorry Joanna).

I think Aidan enjoyed it too, although he seemed to just pick the pasta out and ignore the chorizo and spinach. Therefore I had to finish this up for him a few hours later when I was hungry again. Top marks came from Joanna and Lesley too. Defiantly worth cooking again.

For dessert we were going to have some of the classic vitamin friends so beloved by Lesley. However the Nicolson Street store had none! We had to fall back on some cola bottles (89p). They were good, but Lesley and I both agreed they were not as good as fizzy cola bottles. At 89p I don't think they are that much of a bargain either.

As I sat back to watch a bit of aussie rules on the tv and the girls were chatting about girly stuff I reflected on a fine night of food and drink. I would certainly recommend the Asti and food. We were slightly shocked at the price all this came to - £13.59. However, this did include wine, and the parmigiano was not cheap. There was certainly enough food to be had for 5 adults.

Cycling offers at Lidl

2006-08-13T14:29:00.000+01:00

From tomorrow, Lidl are rolling (!) out some special offers on cycle accessories. And you could look extra-special if you were to purchase their Rain Cape (seen here) for that elegant "triangle look".

Ooh, it lovely! And only £5.99.

Visit the joy of lidl later in the week for a product review (assuming the Brettell Lane branch don't sell out in the first ten minutes).

lidl on you tube!

2006-08-09T08:32:00.000+01:00

here at the joy of lidl we not only deliver great product reviews. we also waste time looking for others who revel in the joy of lidl.

whilst cruising around on you tube i found these gems. the first two seem to be two friends walking around lidl because they are bored. i sense they do not have the same commitment or respect for the great supermarket chain we have, but it's fun anyway.

Part One

Part Two

this next one is from germany, entitled 'lidl arbete'. it is about a young male walking around lidl carrying a german flag and purchasing something. i couldn't be bothered to translate all the text at the start, so please provide this if you speak german.

enjoy!

jammy rings!

2006-08-07T16:20:00.000+01:00

tasters: lesley, jo, aidan and paul

this is a bit of a belated review as it occurred a few weeks ago, but of course as postgrads we are often pressed for time.

the product in question are a packet of jammy rings. they retail for 58p for 16 biscuits (3.625p a biscuit). unlike their illustrious brothers and sisters, lidl's jammy rings are centred around real jam. the more famous jammie dodgers have a raspberry flavored plum jam.

personally i found these biscuits pretty good, a bit floury but i thought this made for a better biscuit. they were certainly worth the 58p, and i am considering purchasing them for our office on a permanent basis.

jo thought that they had more jam in them than regular jammie dodgers, which is good as they are around 43% of the price. aidan was quite excited by the jammy rings, and won his seal of approval expressed through a jammy ring dance. lesley thought they were nice and not much different to a regular jammie dodger. hence this lidl product has to rank up there with the best tested so far! if they are as good as the 'real' thing, and factoring in the price, they are a must at any tea party. get down to your local lidl now!

Sofas & Cocktails

2006-08-07T16:02:00.000+01:00

Indeed a splendid evening had by all - especially Laura who made a rapid and noisy descent of the stairs in the morning, so desperate was she to regurgitate the smorgasbord from the previous evening...

The cocktails tasted like two pounds of silverspoon sugar in a pint of alcohol - one thing you can say about the Germans is that they don't skimp on the sugar in their fruit juice.....

The cocktails had the unusual side effect of making Steve Irwin watchable, and making myself and Lesley fall asleep on the sofa - from which I am sporting a bruise from an errant elbow, which I would be proud of had it not been inflicted by a girl.

I am working in the pub tonight, which means microwavble tea. So far I havn'e had the courage to try Lidl's frozen Doner Kebab but I might risk myself for this blog...

lidl cocktail night

2006-08-07T14:44:00.000+01:00

the joy of lidl has been on holiday, and were joined by adi and laura for a lidl cocktail extravaganza in wales.

we began with a communal trip to lidl to pick up provisions, spending a massive £34.83 in the process. jo (the domestic one in this ensemble) prepared a huge bowl of salad to set us up for the night. It was composed of: roast chicken portions (£1.99), salad potatoes (85p), rocket salad (99p), fresh spinach (80p), mozzerella (28p), roast peppers in oil (59p), and cherry vine tomatoes (89p). she mixed the oil from the peppers with some balsamic vinegar to make a dressing. adi had brought round some non-lidl wine, which we drank with the salad before starting on the cocktails. as this was not a lidl product, we're just not going to bother commenting on it.

for the cocktails, we had procured one bottle of (dark) 'overseas' rum (£7.99), a bottle of vodka (£6.99), a bottle of white vermouth and a bottle of red vermouth (both £2.49). by way of mixer we had cranberry juice (59p), pineapple juice (69p), 2 cartons of multivitamin nectar (44p each) and some diet lemonade (21p). we also indulged in some fresh lemons (44p) and limes (15p each) and an extra special ingredient - crushed cherry energy tablets, which explains the rather dodgy looking photo. it may also explain the trouble some of us had sleeping.

We mixed everything up in varying quantities in a jug. producing a grand total of 3 jugs of cocktail before we ran out of alcohol (each jug stronger than the last). in the morning we discovered that we had rather a lot of mixer left. as you can imagine the cocktails were very strong and i can't actually remember if they tasted good. we managed to drink our way through the 3 jugs - so they can't have been that awful. my fellow contributors may well be more enlightening as to the flavour of our lidl cocktails.

we also had a variety of lidl snacks to keep us going throughout the night: the salami selection from our first lidl tasting, which all taste exactly the same (99p); a packet of jam rings, which are soon to boast their very own blog entry (58p); 2 packets of cheese and chive snacks (59p each); happy bears sweets (75p); and schogetten chocolate (39p). much to our disappointment, the aberystwyth lidl didn't seem to stock our favourite lidl sweets, the vitamin friends. being (fairly) sensible people we had also purchased some lidl paracetamol (16p), which help ease our hang-overs in the morning (some more than others).

Shock horror! Non lidl product review

2006-07-21T15:59:00.000+01:00

We thought we would bring our devoted readers (if we have any) a review of a non lidl product. It was a dull friday afternoon in our office, so we thought we would review the wine we were drinking. Lesley also thought it would be a good idea to review a wine outwith the lidl range for a bit of quality control.

Lesley brought in a white wine. It has been frightfully hot this week in Edinburgh, so a white wine was a bit more appropriate. The wine was called Stratum, a sauvignon blanc from New Zealand. It usually retails for £7.59 a bottle - not that Lesley paid that much for it.

Sainsbury's say that:
This Sauvignon Blanc is produced from grapes grown in Marlborough. The 2005 vintage displays abundant aromas of gooseberries and capsicum on the nose. The palate is fresh and lively showing rich concentration and a long, lingering finish.

We say:
Reminiscent of freshly cut grass, and spring meadows. Very quaffable and perfect for such a hot day. A nice pasta dish or grilled fish, such as salmon, whould go well with it.

Verdict:
Fantastic! Top notch, tally ho! One would quite happily indulge in this wine again. Maybe a bit expensive, especially for those of us used to Lidl prices, but one should treat themselves once in a while.

fink br'a'u

2006-07-20T11:49:00.000+01:00

fink br'a'u is our favourite lager.

admittedly, none of us is all that keen on lager and we find it difficult to distinguish between good and bad lager, which probably explains why fink brau is our favourite. the thing about fink br'a'u is that it is extremely cheap; a box of 24 250ml bottles costs about £5.50 in lidl. it is a bit fizzy; but at less than 25p a bottle, who is going to complain?

Australian and Chilean Reds

2006-07-17T20:06:00.000+01:00

So this weekend 'the joy of lidl' kicked off with two reds: an Australian cabernet sauvignon and a Chilean malbec.

We decided to take advantage of the glorious sunshine on Saturday afternoon with some fruit picking in West Lothian. On the way home, laden with berries, we stopped by the Lidl in Leith to pick up supplies for our tasting.

Still taking advantage of the sunshine, we moved the kitchen table outside into Paul and Jo's (very) recently cleared garden. On Saturday morning it was something of a jungle, but by the evening it was identifiable as a patio again! Jo had prepared a sumptuous feast of mostly lidl products; a potato and bean salad, bread, humus and a selection of cured meat to accompany the wine.

Paul couldn't find his camera, so we were unable to document this inaugural event in process. He has now found it in an awkward place, which means we can show you the empty bottles. We decided to begin by taking advantage of one of Lidl's current wine promotions, giving us what we thought might be a better wine for our money. This seemed particularly wise, given that we instinctively fear the cheaper recesses of the Lidl spectrum.

Rosecreek Cabernet Sauvignon (2003)
(normally £3.99, but was on offer at £2.99)

The label claims:

Sharing its home with kangaroos and koalas, this Cabernet Sauvignon has a distinctive flavour of fully reipened berries with a hint of chocolate. Enjoy the balanced play between blackcurrents and refined tannins.

Perhaps surprisingly the description on the label was not a work of fiction. Paul was particularly keen on this one, he would even go so far as to describe it as his favourite Lidl wine ever. Of course, that isn't the bold claim it initial appears to be - not to anyone with much experience of Lidl wine anyway. You would struggle to find a better bottle of wine anywhere for £2.99 though.

The Rosecreek was very quaffable, with a nice distinct upfront taste and a lingering finish. There was certainly no ‘squirm’ factor (the screwing up of the face that often accompanies a glass of cheap wine), and it probably got better the more Paul drank. Jo and Lesley only made it through one glass each, but Paul could quite happily have spent a whole evening drinking a bottle of this while watching a nice spot of bbc four.

Verdict: a great success! If only all lidl wines were like this. Truly a great wine for £2.99. We probably wouldn't trek the length of the city to buy it, but it was more than adequate.

Buoyed up by the success of the Rosecreek we moved on to the Cimarosa Malbec (2004), also reduced from £3.99 to £2.99.

This label promises:

The Malbec's character, with a vibrant crimson colour, is formed by intense aromas and the taste of ripe berries, interspersed with a pleasant, fruity and floral note. Enjoy this wine to all kinds of meat and cheese.

Unfortunately, our troubles began before we had even opened he bottle. The cork broke while we were trying to open it, which gave the wine more than a slight garnish of cork, giving it a lovely gritty texture to compliment the unpleasant flavour. Jo described the wine has beginning with an insipid whack in the face - a pathetically limp-wristed slap if you will - only to round off to nothing at all. Frankly, the lack of after-taste came as something of a relief. The wine lacks body and is very unsatisfying, with a flavour slightly reminiscent of lemon pith. Unlike the Rosecreek this has a high squirm factor, which meant that none of us could face a whole glass of it.

Verdict: just don't! This was a truly vile wine; even with the price tag of £2.99 you expect better than this. The corky garnish did not help things either. If you like a very cheap, corky wine, buy it; if you have any taste-buds whatsoever, steer well clear!

so what is this journey all about?

2006-07-11T14:55:00.000+01:00

so you maybe asking yourself the impertinent question, 'what is this all about and why should i care?'

one day whilst procrastinating, we stumbled tom chance's 'lidl wine project'. whilst we felt this was a very valid and well crafted attempt, we thought that stopping at white wine could not possibly do justice to the great range of lidl products.

hence, we came up with the crafty plan of doing a product by product tasting guide to the quality products our favourite yellow and blue faced supermarket offers up to us monetary challenged individuals.

we were impressed with tom's methodology and overall data analysis. however, we being humanities scholars we felt uneasy with the scientific 'rigour' displayed by tom. while we appreciate tom's efforts, we thought it high time for a more qualitative approach to lidl. so, rather than claim to provide any objective comparison, we have decided to witness lidl through exemplification: to attend to the detail and experience of each product in its singularity.

we begin this bold new adventure - which we hope you will share with us - this saturday, 15th july. we will depart with a couple of bottles of red wine to get to know the lidl wine family a bit better. the wine will be accompanied with some lidl snacks which will also be under review.

and so it begins....

2006-07-11T14:41:00.000+01:00

welcome to a new type of blog........

a blog that takes you beyond the realms of the ordinary......

into the deep recesses of that highstreet supermarket lidl!