Aldi... what do you recommend?

Anyone else finds the specially selected ribeyes quality to have gone down or is it just me and their new packaging? Perhaps it was the carton box that kept them firm and in shape, but now they mostly squashed and unappetizing. Looks like a different product altogether. Used to be my fav for price/quality, not anymore now.

cheers, I must pick it up next time out. Is the sauce nice? Pad thai sauce has been a problem for me in the past as one of the main ingredients is tamarind paste. Im not sure what it is but I dont think tamarind lasts long once it is opened, have often used some a month after opening and its not as good as the first time directly after opening. It seems to congeal itself or something.

I only buy the regular rib eyes but jaysis it is a hunt to find a packet with two steaks that have good marbling. Last week I flicked through about 12 packets on the shelf and almost all of them were completely red with very little fat. I finally found one right at the back of the shelf with some fat, was almost thinking maybe a staff member moved it there so they could grab it for their own dinner later!

I cant comment on the Specially Selected ones as I only get them the odd time. But one thing I have noticed is that Aldi have this habit of when the price of their suppliers costs goes up instead of raising their own prices and keeping the product as it is what they do is keep the price the same but downgrade the product.

This was evident with their own brand Snackrite tortilla chips, they were ridiculously cheap at 35c but then food price rises come along (corn is up 25% in the last 12 months) and instead of putting an extra 5 or 10 cents on them they put a totally different product in the same packaging. Now they taste like cardboard and Ive stopping buying them whereas before they were decent enough. The also did the same with the Dairyfine chocolate buttons, they were nice and then last year they completely changed and were disgusting, I stopped buying them. Would much have preferred that they raised the price in order to keep the recipe but they dont appear to for their own products.

I'm after creating a deliveroo account and in the middle of creating an order for an elderly friend. There are quite a few products missing (seems very limited), but also some products are there but only have one option or flavour for them. I have him set up on his laptop, is there a wider range available in the app?

For example, he wants to add an 8 pack of Guinness, but they only seem possible to order individually, He orders multipack of crisps that he has for the great grandkids when they call in, but they only have Cheese & onion, and he can order couscous, cheese and salads, but can't order crackers or water biscuits.

If there is a wider range on the app, I will try and get him on to a tablet or bluestacks on the laptop if he can grasp it. Or is there a way to add items not on the deliveroo site?

Also - Aldi might want to remove "Free Delivery" from their website, as when ordering there is a €2 fee until €25 is reached in basket, but delivery is always €4.50 (it says on the website) no mater how near or far you live.

EDIT - I just noticed

Thanks, never noticed them, but after all that today, he decided that he is going to go with click and collect.

He couldn't get a lot of stuff he wanted on the deliveroo site, and the stuff he did go for, he had worked out that it was costing him a fair bit extra, even above the delivery costs. I'll collect for him a couple of times a month and I'm sure there will be others too. It just means it won't be as quick.

The Toffee Crunch replica bars in the Orange wrapper that they have at the chekouts are surprisingly good - better than the brand name ones

The rib steak burgers were tasty I thought

Not a recommendation... Unfortunately almost the opposite.

I was there today and at checkout I saw a box of chocolate bars was almost ready to fall onto the conveyor belt so moved them back. 'Rosin's' dark chocolate and orange, mint crisp and 70% dark chocolate were the flavours.

I bought the orange one. I can't think of what chocolate bar it is identical to. Not great in any case, and no way worth €1.99.

I wouldn't be a massive chocolate person, but every now and then. I would be the type to leave a bar unopened for months in the fridge - much to others annoyance 😄 I can buy one to put in fridge even with others there that I have forgotten about, then a random movie week.. Boom

I don't think I have eaten Lily O'Briens stuff, possibly though. White cardboard wrap in Tesco?

Anyway, I much prefer the Moser Roth bars in Aldi, I have only tried a couple, I think Lidl too. But not a fan of that Roisin bar.

Yeah thats them.

Yeah, that Roisín's chocolate is pretty awful - really sugary.

BTW, there is no good reason to put chocolate in the fridge, in Ireland. It just dulls the flavour and causes a 'bloom' on the surface (harmless).

So many people default to putting all chocolate in the fridge. Drives me mad, especially with darker chocolate. Unless we are having one of our rare heatwaves and you are eating dairy milk, please stop putting your chocolate in the fridge (this is mostly addressed to my family).

I'm guessing you've never had a purple yorkie straight from the fridge, paired with a hot cup of strong tea.