The ever-deadly Irish Times Value for Money feature by Conor Pope featured Nespresso machines this week.  I recently had the use of one, and think they’re an interesting topic for a discussion on ‘value’, as the whole concept strikes me as one of the most wasteful things I’ve ever seen, ever. The three biggest issues [...]

I’m drawn to some great half price offers in Dunnes this week – but not on food. Finish Dishwasher tablets are down from €16.99 to €8.49, while a big giant value pack of Bold Two in One is down from €25.99 to €12.99. When it comes to household items such washing powder and dishwasher tablets, [...]

In today’s Pricewatch, Conor Pope discusses the growth of own-brand products in Irish supermarkets, and points the way towards thousands of euro in annual savings. An interesting and useful article.

I might be missing something here. Over the past few years, luxury expensive food shop Donnybrook Fair has been popping up all over wealthy Dublin suburbs. Most recently, they’ve appeared up in Stillorgan shopping centre, right beside Tesco (on a side note, I wonder what Stillorgan’s anchor tenant thinks of its new neighbour). It doesn’t seem [...]

My aunt and uncle recently visited from Derry. They’d been washed out at the Laytown races and, disappointed with the lack of decent food options on offer, decided to come straight down and pick up a bag of fish and chips. Although I’ve whined about the cost of of a bag of chips, we do [...]

Update: The ice cream is only €2.29, not €2.99. My bad. That’s purdy good value. Tried and tested on a jury of our peers: Aldi’s new ice-cream range. And the result – more reasons to love Aldi. Coming in three flavours – Madagascan vanilla, caramel fudge, and the pièce de résistance, triple chocolate – each [...]

M&S recently sent me some items from their new Mexican selection, and it’s confirmed my new found grá for this cuisine. I’m consuming large amounts of burritos and fajitas lately; I ate out at Boojum earlier this week, I’m a big fan of Pablo Picante’s and Taco Taco, and I’m looking forward to trying out [...]

One of our readers, Mitchell O’Brien, sends us this excellent guide to feeding a family on a budget. We eagerly await his next installment: As I am a keen amateur chef and with money becoming tighter, I’ve been trying to mind the meal budget without compromising on quality, variety and the fun of eating for [...]

It was this time last year that Cheapeats covered a price comparison survey by The National Consumer Agency of Ireland that showed a drop in food prices in Ireland in the first half of 2009. Well, it would seem that dream is over and prices are creeping back up across the board. All was revealed [...]

Why spend a fortune on dessert? They’re rarely spectacular, especially in some Chinese, Indian, and Italian restaurants, where they’re often pre-bought and formulaic. One regular offender is cheesecake, which can and should be one of the most delectable of sweets – but mostly isn’t. I used to feel a meal out wasn’t complete without dessert, [...]