Lidl

I’ve always been a fan of lidl and I’m particularly keen on my local one in bedminster. The car park is spacious and there’s always spaces, you need to remember your £s for the trolley.
The shop itself is well laid out, I don’t like the fact that the fruit and veg isn’t In chilled containers but there we go.
They sell good quality branded and own brand produce very cheaply and they achieve this by having a no frills approach, you need to pay for bags and they whizz you through the checkouts super quick but overall the shopping experience is relaxed and pleasant. Their lasagnes, tortellini and Greek yogert are all really good and they so sell lovely ice cream — their prosecco is the best I have tasted (and I’ve tasted a lot!)

Right next to Morrisons along Fishponds road you would think I would have noticed this shop before when I often frequent Morrisons for my groceries, but I really hadn’t. Lidls came up in conversation a few weeks ago with one of my friends who was raving about the place, saying that you could literally get you’re weeks worth of shopping for half the price of Tescos — so low and behold, I had to check it out. This branch is actually pretty sizeable and has a lot of stock, and the prices are very very cheap — so it is true, you can get your groceries for a lot less money! However, I am personally not a fan of the place and will be sticking to Tescos. Here is my experience in a nutshell:
For starters, there doesn’t seem to be any particular order within the store, and it took me forever to find what I wanted. Secondly, all the products are Sweden or somewhere so all the language is written in Swedish and it takes a while to find the English version. Thirdly, they just don’t have many of your standard basic foods — such as a decent cheddar cheese! And last of all, they only had one check out open, so the queue was massive and I ended up waiting for such a long time!
I don’t know why I found the whole experience such a struggle and an effort, but I really did, and although it is definitely cheap as chips I just can’t be bothered with the place. However, if you have a lot of patience and the jumble sale style shopping doesn’t bother you then give Lidls a go, because you will be saving money, but it just wasn’t up my street…

Lidl has a reputation for selling cheap cheap cheap food and drink. Although this is partly true, I would say that you could get most stuff cheaper at Asda.
What Lidl do have though, which no other supermarkets can profess to having, is a wide selection of foreign foods rather than their english equivalents. This makes you feel like you are in a supermarket on the continent rather than being in england!
Located down the road from the Tobacco factory this is a popular shopping stop for people living the other end of Bedminster to the Asda store.
What I do find odd is that Lidl seems very spacious, it is almost as if they can’t find any stock to fill up the store, as if it is closing down… which it isn’t.

I can’t pass this shop without that Afrikan Boy song popping into my head «One day i went to Lidl, I went to shoplift at Lidl…»
Not that I have ever shoplifted at Lidl, but the prices are indeed a steal. The fruit and veg is a bit up and down at this store and I don’t really like goats cheese and cheddar from here. They do a range of very tasty salamis and meats, super cheap for tinned food, juices. They also do an excellent range of catfood called Opticat. Beware the junk food aisle, so good its dangerous.
I also love the range of weird and wonderful items they have — recently they had a fantastic range of gardening tools for example at ridiculously cheap prices.
There is ample parking here and I have chained my bike to the railings of the supermarket trolley bay without any problems. This LIdl tends to be quiet most of the time and is a far more peaceful and fun shopping experience than Asda in Bedminster.

Ok, so it’s not the most glamorous place to review, but it is definitely one of the nicer supermarkets to frequent in the area. For starters, it’s mostly quiet, thus enabling you to remember what you actually went in there for. Not only that, but there are some interesting European variations on our trite British food and drink brands. And they’re generally cheaper, but equally as tasty as popular British brands! They also have more interesting names, such as Linessa, Crusty Croc, Marlene and Solevita — amazing! If you have a sweet tooth like me, try the Linessa range of yogurt ice cream — positively dreamy. As for the extensive range of cheap but glorious chocolate, you’ll be in heaven if you’re a chocolate lover. Now’s the time…