We’ve had a few days of rain since we’ve been here, so haven’t been out and about as much as we’d planned… We’re not complaining; it’s warm and we have had several sunny days, but since it is ridiculously busy in town (apparently it’s the busiest week of the year), we have stayed local and pottered about.
However, we have been doing the odd ‘compare and contrast’ review of the local supermarkets. If you are of a similar age to us, those words may take you straight back to O and A Levels, so I hope you aren’t too traumatised to continue reading.
We’ve an Aldi, Lidl and Masymas all within about 10 mins walk of our campsite as well as several of the fabulous Chino shops.
What is a Chino shop? (and is she being exceptionally rude?) I hear you cry!
No, I am absolutely not, as you can see they are self named and fabulous! A sort of mixture of a pound shop, B and M, and The Range, and we love them! The window gives a glimpse of the more bizarre items available, but inside is a treasure trove.
From sliders to screws.
Small electrical to plastic tablecloths.
Sewing and craft supplies (I may have over purchased ribbon - but all of this was similar to the price of a few meters at home), to Paella pans.
And the most random item that made me chuckle most - a bedpan!!
These are fabulous shops where you will find whatever it is you need, and plenty of others that you don’t! The quality is generally acceptable, and it is possible to spend hours wandering around. We’ve been to a few, but this one up the road from our winter abode has managed to meet all our needs to date, only surpassed by the one we visited last year with Jamie and Justin - that was on a whole other scale!
Of course, when we have exhausted the Chino shop, there is always Aldi and Lidl to explore. I can categorically say for us, here, Lidl is far superior to Aldi.
Aldi has super cute little trolleys, and their middle aisle is densely populated with very different produce to those at home - has anyone seen a whole leg of cured ham in a UK Aldi? That said, we left empty handed. Just not feeling the food we found was for us. Interestingly, and somewhat worryingly for me given my allergies, we discovered crustaceans and molluscs in many products you just wouldn’t expect them. Fresh breaded chicken, spaghetti carbonara packets, yes I know we can make it ourselves and at home we would, but it’s convenient in a packet when we’re in the van (unless it tries to kill you - that’s slightly inconvenient to be honest!). Thankfully Jamie had warned us, so we carefully check every ingredient list when we shop for food in Spain.
However, Lidl is a dream (although not open on a Sunday!). I’m loving wandering the aisles. The choice of breadsticks alone could captivate me for hours - I’m working my way through the different versions and will try to remember to provide feedback once my research is complete.
The fruit and veg are plentiful, tasty and delicious. They actually taste like veg used to…
The shelves full of beans, bottled veg, olives etc. are colourful, very different to the occasional jar of pulses we get at home and there are a great variety of choices. I love things like this, Ian not so much, so I have resisted to date as storage is minimal and we are eating out a fair bit, but some might make the journey home!
There are however other significant differences, and I don’t think you find these in UK Lidl, but maybe I am just more observant here. Pigs trotters are definitely not something I have seen anywhere other than a butcher at home.
The frozen section has all the usual things, but (and as you will realise from my allergy comment, not something I generally look at when shopping) the selection of sea based frozen creatures was mind boggling to me. There were enormous whole fish, bags of sardines, small worm like substances even with google translate I was baffled by (any ideas??) and even what appeared to be a pick and mix seafood style.
One reassuringly familiar section though was Lidl Middle aisle.. You can’t beat a Parkside selection of random tools and such to fill up your already bulging garage.
The only other ‘proper’ supermarket we have visited thus far is Masymas, sadly no internal photos, but I can say they have fabulous fruit and veg, but are a little pricier than Lidl.
In summary Lidl is our favourite for a mix of local and recognisable produce at great quality and price. Masymas provides quality produce but is so not cost effective and carries a smaller range of products. Aldi was certainly cheap, but it just didn’t have food we wanted to eat.
However, if there was a shop that sums up rainy day Benidorm based shopping for us, it is the Chino shop, a veritable feast of the useful, tacky and quite frankly bizarre.
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