Lidl

This humbly sized Lidl manages to pack an astonishing number of products inside, albiet not organized in the most intuitive of fashions.
Looking for something chocolatey? It might be in any of five places across the store, so the strategy when coming here is really to prepare to investigate the entire store thoroughly so that no gem remains hidden under your discerning gaze. Furthermore, since their offerings can and do change even from day to day, it’s not as though you can always make a bee line straight for what you are looking for either!
But their prices are competitive even when their selection itself is limited — it’s somewhat likely they’ll have what you’re looking for, and unlikely they’ll have the particular brand you had in mind. I think this store is best for discovering new things and embarking on a snack safari, as it were.
Among the things I was pleased to find during my last visit were cheap German rye bread, kinder egg three packs, chocolate covered marzipan logs, and advent calendards. They really shine this time of year, because Lidl is great for seasonal items, like Halloween and Christmas.

The Lidl in Pinner is not very big. It sells a range of food and grocery items and also has an aisle for their non-​food special offers. My dad absolutely loves this shop — if its cheap and is advertised in the newspaper as being on offer he will pop down to Lidl and pick it up even if he doesnt need it!
Personally I have never done a proper grocery shop here — it feels far to small and I am still a bit dubious about some of the brands and I don’t think I would want to buy meat from here. Their fruit and veg is fantastic though — even in this small branch there is a good range and there are special offers which make some of the fruit in particular really good value and much cheaper than the bigger supermarkets nearby.
I love Lidl in Pinner most for the sweets and chocolate though and they also have a good range of alchohol — the cheap brands of the well known premium spirits can be bought here. Lidl’s version of Disarrono Ameretto should be avoided at all costs though — its awful!
The shop is a little bit grubby sometimes I think and the worst thing is that once you go in through the turnstile the only way out is through the checkouts which are incredibly narrow so you either have to buy something just to get out or annoy people and squeeze past.

This is one of those supermarkets where you see people either buying a buying one or two items, or they’re stocking up with a box full of a particular item that’s on special offer that week.
Personally, I wouldn’t go here for my regular shopping but it has been one of those places to go in my lunch hour. The labels are all foreign but the quality is of a reasonable standard although it’s best to try one before stocking up on something just because it’s cheap because it may not actually be what you’re used to — I purchased tuna many years ago and didn’t like it.
Besides food — and they have an aisle of fresh food which is good quality — they also have aisles of clothes, homeware, presents and the like. This changes week by week and you can get a bargain although, it helps if you know what the price of the item is, sold elsewhere, so that you can make a comparison.
The first thing you may notice is the fact that there’s no canned music — for me that’s very welcome. I complained long and hard some years ago about the awful music in Tesco which you couldn’t get away from as they had installed screens in every aisle (Tesco must have had a lot of complaints — you still have to ensure the screens but the music is much less irritating!) So the atmosphere in a Lidl store is akin to being in a library — it’s very hushed.
My main criticism, no baskets, only trolleys for which you need to remember to have a pound coin on you. Secondly, they charge you for carrier bags. Personally, I don’t hold with paying to advertise someone’s company so always take my own.
This store has a car park which is located behind and above the store. The stairs being you down past the gym which is on the main road and, to reach the store as a pedestrian from the main road you walk down a wide, but well lit, corridor to reach the entrance turnstiles.
On the whole, an interesting place to shop but not for your main shopping.