Entertaining Family and Friends with Aldi Review

Reviewed by Hannah Abbott
Sometimes nothing beats an evening in with friends and Aldi’s range of nibbles and alcohol is the perfect accompaniment to the company.
For me and my friends we are all about the dips whilst the hubby is all about the nuts.
Dips
There is a wide variety of dips available in store, our store in Hyde is relatively small I believe but still had a huge choice. For me the 4 way dip is always the best choice. Aldi have made a brave choice in changing from the usual 4 choices to include:
• Thousand Island
• Salsa
• Tangy Cheese
• Sour Cream and Chive
I’m not a fan of Salsa personally but hubby enjoyed that saying it was just the right spice for him. The Tangy Cheese had a strange flavour, I couldn’t decide if I liked it but I also couldn’t stop eating it. Thousand Island is my favourite I just wish the tub was slightly bigger or that there was a choice to buy it individually unlike my other favourite of onion and garlic. I was a little disappointed when I realised that this wasn’t in the 4 way tub but the smile was quickly put back on my face when I saw the individual tubs.
Houmous
Knowing my friends like healthy treats and that they like to eat Houmous but not having a clue about Houmous personally I was relieved to see small pots of different flavoured Houmous which gave everyone a bit of something different. Perfect to keep everyone happy.
Snacks to dip
Aldi has a huge choice of nibbles for dipping. I was a little disappointed that my store didn’t have any plain breadsticks but they were stocking shelves at the time so I’m sure it was just my timing.
• Cheese twirls – puff pastry twirls with cheese. These were possibly a little too cheesy for our taste but when accompanied with either the sour cream they were delicious.
• Gourmet Crackers with sea salt – it’s rare to find anything that has salted sea salt that isn’t over powering but these were very subtly flavoured which was perfect. With a texture like Jacobs crackers it was a little strange to then switch to the other Gourmet crackers that were so different.
• Gourmet Crackers with Rosemary – if you aren’t used to Rosemary these will be too overpowering. We don’t use Rosemary at all in our home so these proved a little too much for our simple palettes. Although lovely we could only eat one or two of these.
• Crisps – Aldi have a huge range of crisps. I got Tortillas and ready salted. The tortillas were perfect with the salsa and for me ready salted crisps are always fab with dip. They are over salted for eating without the dip though.
Alcohol
Aldi is one of our favourite places for alcohol. They have a great range of wines of varying prices. They have a huge selection of other drinks too including cocktails and varying fizzy alcohol. I usually enjoy Vodka but don’t drink often. The individual cans are a great idea so I was a little disappointed at the lack of choice that Aldi had of these drinks with only Bourbon and Cola available. But their other ranges more than made up for what this section lacked.
For me I am all about the fizz. I love their Prosecco which is much more affordable than many competitors, this time I chose to try their Strawberry Bellini – Perfect. It was even more perfect as it was slashed in price to only a couple of pound. I am also one of those people who drinks Bucks Fizz all year round and Aldi’s is one of the best.
My sister and her husband are wine drinkers, knowing that they like white and Rose I got one of each for them to try. The Rossellini Zinfandel Blush is a dry rose with a strong fruity aroma. The Liebfraumilch was slightly sparkling with a mild dry taste. Both priced under £4 each make these a great buy.
But my best buy from the whole shop was Pear and Lychee cider. My husband adores Lychee but it is so rare to come across so finding this cider for only £1.25 was amazing. He was a little sceptical at first as he doesn’t like cider, but after realising it had Lychee in he was quick to try it. Not only was he quick to try it he was quick to send pictures to his brother to get him to head to Aldi. He also shared it all over Facebook getting it known.
Pear and Lychee Cider – 5/5, you managed to get my husband to drink alcohol that isn’t beer.
Nibbles/Alcohol – 4.5/5 – great choice and very reasonably priced.
Overall Rating: 4.5/5
For more information or to find your nearest Aldi store visit www.aldi.co.uk.



