I'm generally a sucker for foreign supermarkets (where in a country can you get a better feel for daily life?), but I'm particularly fond of visiting Lidl markets in Europe, along with their similar competitors like Penny. On any trip to Europe, I try to stop at one at least once.

The reasons are pretty simple. First, the stores are small, so it doesn't take much time. Second, the stores have a variety of merchandise, so I'm almost certain to see something "different" from what I'd find in the US. Finally -- and perhaps most importantly -- the stores are cheap. With the dollar extremely undervalued against the Euro, there's almost nothing I can rationally buy in Europe. But there's still plenty of small, inexpensive things I can pick up at Lidl to take home for myself, or as small food-related gifts. Like I've smuggled many a Kinder Surprise egg home for the kids, as well as other unusual chocolates (often European holiday chocolates for Christmas and Easter). I also buy unusual dry goods -- often sauce packets for recipes that are uncommon in the US (when I'm back home, I then use Google Translate to read the package instructions).

And I buy wine at Lidl, too. It's often astonishingly inexpensive compared to European "supermarket wine" -- and usually just as good. List night I had a $3 Vin de Bourgogne that I bought at Lidl that was as "complex" as a $10 wine in the US. Alas, the "liquids rule" means I have to commit to checking my luggage if I want to bring home wine, so I either pass on the wine, drink it in Europe or bring back a couple suitcases worth (although I only buy a couple bottles at Lidl, preferring better stuff if I'm going to go through the trouble of hauling wine back to America).

I have been to a couple Aldi stores in the US, which kind of replicates the discount market experience of Europe, but it's not QUITE the same. Although I'll admit to also stopping at a US Aldi if I pass by one.

Are there any other Flyertalk fans of Lidl? And is there any chain of this sort that's better than them?