Chianti

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

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

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

Hot piss!

Lidl have created a new website especially for recipes!

www.lidl-recipes.co.uk

Buck Rogers in the 25th Century night.

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

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

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

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

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

Lidl Dreamteam

Happy haselnuss to you!

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.