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Good food in regular supermarkets

  • 17-01-2025 10:25pm
    #1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,177 ✭✭✭✭


    A thread for where to buy good produce in regular supermarkets.

    I'm not talking about my butcher, fish monger, baker or greengrocer I prefer to shop in, but specific produce from the giants we have to shop in week to week. So if you were to say "organic eggs from Fallon & Byrnes (which I love) or fresh spices from your local Asian market it wouldn't be in the spirit of the thread. I hope that's ok.

    I'm going to start with my few and look forward to learning from your few.

    • Lidl Tomatoes - The ones on the vine in the plastic (I know, sorry) wrapped punnets. Good, even in off season.
    • Lidl pink onions - sweet for salads, cheap enough for stews.
    • SuperValu's own sun dried tomatoes - They're the best.
    • Lidl Ginger - Huge, easy to peel, chop and grate.
    • Aldi Garlic - the ones in the purple net. Strong, fresh and not scabby so easy to manage.
    • Tesco packets of Salted Almonds - Good value, taste great.
    • Lidl Cotes du Rhone Villages - Dirt cheap, if decanted and served at the right temperature I find it very good.
    • Dunnes Stores Chicken Kiev - affordable, on the bone, proper chicken joint.
    • Aldi Rías Baixas Albariño white wine - in a blue bottle with a lovely fish label. Really nice white wine.



Comments

  • Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 12,172 Mod ✭✭✭✭igCorcaigh


    +1 for the Lidl vine tomatoes, they sell them loose in my local store.

    I'd give the Lidl nuts a +1 too, very good value.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,177 ✭✭✭✭John_Rambo


    Yep. The Lidl Alesto peanut and corn mix in the orange package is hidden with various other packages is one to seek out.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 30,638 ✭✭✭✭HeidiHeidi


    Dried mango in Aldi - delicious, streets ahead of the Lidl or Supervalu ones.

    On the cheap and cheerful front - Tesco own brand fruit pastilles are ridiculously cheap and the nicest ones i know of anywhere



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,177 ✭✭✭✭John_Rambo


    The Lidl smaller tomatoes on the vine in the plastic punnets are better than the big ones that are loose.

    I hate to push plastic wrapped produce, but unfortunately they're far superior to the loose ones.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 17,568 ✭✭✭✭the beer revolu


    Lots of things I'd heartily agree with here.

    Those tomatoes are my go to tomatoes, Tesco do a similar looking pack but they taste terrible in comparison.

    We also buy that Cote du Rhone it's been a regular for some years now.

    We also buy a lot of Lidl nuts. Their cheap blue and white bag peanuts are excellent (most of the time). I can also vouch for that peanut and corn mix.

    Tesco wine gums are the best wine gums I've tasted (I wouldn't bother eating Maynard's) but they are quite inconsistent in that no two batches taste quite the same. Still, at their worst they are better than branded and at their best they are out of this world. It's bonkers how much they change from batch to batch - texture and flavours change.

    Lidl bread is generally very good but recently discovered that Dunnes organic sourdough is excellent.



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,177 ✭✭✭✭John_Rambo


    Dunnes Sourdough is baked by Tartine, an organic Bakery in Dublin. They bake for the best restaurants in the country, they're stuff is really really good.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 22,831 ✭✭✭✭The Hill Billy


    SuperValu coconut milk is cracking. 80-odd percent coconut compared to under 60% in the other well-known brands.

    I started following Sophie Morris recently - she gives super tips on own-brand products from a nutritional POV. Worth a follow.



  • Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 4,067 Mod ✭✭✭✭Planet X


    Chicken Kiev……on the bone? New one for me. We make it with flattened out chicken breasts, wrapped around garlic butter, breadcrumbed etc etc.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 21,521 ✭✭✭✭Alun


    Yes, they call them "cherry" tomatoes but they aren't really, they're somewhere in between the normal large vine tomatoes they sell and the cherry tomatoes.

    I buy them in the winter because they're the only ripe tomatoes I can find anywhere at that time of the year, but in the summer I buy vine tomatoes in my local Pettitt's SuperValu in Bray that come from Wexford.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,119 ✭✭✭✭LambshankRedemption


    What is an inorganic egg?



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 17,568 ✭✭✭✭the beer revolu


    The classic chicken Kiev has just the little wing bone still attached.

    It's pretty much a fillet.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,177 ✭✭✭✭John_Rambo


    Do you have any go to produce that are available in the supermarkets that people may not be aware of?



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 30,638 ✭✭✭✭HeidiHeidi


    Based on this post I went slightly out of my way to get to a Dunnes to get a sourdough - my goodness, that is GOOD! I'm very much looking forward to dunking it into my homemade soup for lunch!

    I'm a big fan of Dunnes middle-range juices as well - in the plastic bottle, not from concentrate and very good value IMO - their Valencia orange and Mandarin ones in particular. (I hate that they're in a plastic bottle though)



  • Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 12,172 Mod ✭✭✭✭igCorcaigh


    And those Italian flatbreads (Piadina) in Dunnes are really good too!



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 17,568 ✭✭✭✭the beer revolu


    Unfortunately, though, they've stopped doing the Mediterranean flat breads - these were originally in Aldi but disappeared and subsequently turned up in Dunnes who sold them for a few years. Why do so many products that I like get discontinued?



  • Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 12,172 Mod ✭✭✭✭igCorcaigh


    Oh no... I haven't shopped in Dunnes for a while :(



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,988 ✭✭✭WesternZulu


    I still get them in Dunnes, both the wholewheat and normal ones.

    Dunnes have come a long way in their offering I must say in the past few years. I'd rate their food on the whole as the best across all supermarkets. A lot more Irish stuff too.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,177 ✭✭✭✭John_Rambo


    They had to. As soon as Aldi and Lidl got traction in Ireland it was time to move. Either beat the Germans on price (impossible) or scale up. They scaled up and created the "market" with Whelan's butchers, Sheridon's Cheese etc… the buyers started buying better produce and they started using different faces to promote the food.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 877 ✭✭✭Homesick Alien


    One where the hen has not been fed organic feed. So most eggs are inorganic.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,895 ✭✭✭crusd


    The only substantive difference between free range and organic is the farmer didn't go to the expense of certifying their farm organic and the expense of sourcing certified organic feed.

    The best eggs will be farmers market eggs which will rarely be "organic" due to the expense and effort required to certify organic



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 877 ✭✭✭Homesick Alien


    Yeah I mean I keep hens myself but their feed isn't organic, but everything they dig and scratch for is. I would also take "free range" with a massive pinch of salt. If you look up how much space a hen needs to be considered free range it's depressing. I agree that they're more likely to be properly free range from a local market than from a supermarket.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 17,568 ✭✭✭✭the beer revolu


    They've been gone from both Cork City centre stores for a couple of months, I'd say.



  • Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 12,172 Mod ✭✭✭✭igCorcaigh


    Tesco Mackerel In Katsu Curry Sauce

    Nothing special or sought after here obviously, but I always pick up a couple of tins when I'm in Tesco.

    Heavy on the star anise; not your typical curry flavour.

    Handy to have in the cupboard. +1 canned fish. 👍

    Post edited by igCorcaigh on


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,177 ✭✭✭✭John_Rambo


    That's a brilliant one, one I'd never ever dream of buying. But I will now.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 995 ✭✭✭mikep


    The Lidl organic tomatoes in the tray are my favourites.

    Tesco finest Irish vintage cheddar is amazing. Aldi used to have a brilliant one but the Tesco one now beats it by miles.

    Also Tesco finest Manchego is delicious.

    Tesco own brand crème fraiche is far superior to the competitors.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 482 ✭✭Ludikrus


    Dunnes own brand sour cream is excellent and cheap.

    Dunnes simply better tinned Italian tomatoes are great for sauces.

    Aldi skin-on frozen chips are good for an air fryer.


    Lidl Minestrone soup is nice. Good for a shop bought soup (most of them are mank).



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 887 ✭✭✭Boardnashea


    I think the best cheese is from M n S. Not a lot of Irish in the cheddar department but at least there is a good range of sources and they are taste like real cheese - something that is often lacking in Irish cheddars. And often VERY good value in the larger blocks.



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