Not as cheap as one thinks. (Iceland)

Member Name: two2too

Product:	Iceland
Date:	20/02/09 (38 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: None really

Disadvantages: Low quality food. Works out more expensive than fresh

I thought I would give Iceland a go as I suppose like everyone these days the "guy" on the street is being made to suffer for our government"s ineptness at keeping the economy level. Well, they wont suffer will they. Anyway I am sorry, I digress.

I bought some selection of curries, at £1.50 each and some vacuum sealed pork chops and plain old frozen cod. Well, they can"t go wrong there can they? I said to no-one.
Ha! the chops were stronger than the soles on my Scarpa walking boots. Yes, I followed the simple directions. They were grilled. Next time I will slo-cook them for myself. Must be tender and tasty that way. Wrong again. They were very chewy indeed, in fact possibly the worse chops I have ever tasted.
Also at same time I bought some plain skinned and boned cod chunks, a pack of four for £4.00. Well, I thought fish should be fine. The first meal I did was fish Layonaise, not sure of spelling. Anyway its basically cod, sliced spuds, sliced onion, butter, grated cheese, a tin of chopped tomatoes poured over the top. Stuff is all layered in a casserole dish and cooked for ages as for some reason the potatoes take ages to cook. When the dish was almost cooked I checked it and could not believe how much water was in dish. Well, the fish was tough, tasteless and had like a sort of membrane over it, bottom line, it was horrid. The final two bits of cod I just defrosted and was going to grill them. I noticed quite a bit of water on plate when it was defrosting. In fact a lot. So I got some tissue and wrapped each bit and squeezed very hard. The fish was like a sponge, loads of water just running out of it. I kept on going and going with this action and could not believe how much water had come out of the fish. I weighed the remaining bit before and after, well, it worked out that the weight had reduced around 40% - that is disgraceful. The dog ended up with the fish as that too was horrible.
Now I normally get my fish from the man who has the franchise in our local Tesco. He is a lot more costly for fresh cod--BUT--when I worked all the weights out he is actually about 20% cheaper than that rubbish sold at Iceland. So folks, it looks cheap but it is not. It is exactly what it says, cheap stuff. The pork is probably old sows that have been used as breeding machines, well, the fish, I have no answer to that but stick to fresh it is honestly cheaper and better for you. I bought a huge side of fresh cod for just over £5.00 I got 5 good fillets off it. no added water and much better value.
I don't plan on using Iceland again, as I firmly believe it very sub-standard food they sell, which at the end of the day works out no cheaper than best food. Four fresh, large chops can be bought for about £5.50 you only need one of those but with Iceland two is needed for a decent meal, plus the butchers tastes good and of course is tender. If you want good food it is well worth paying for it.

Summary: Will never use again, would rather do without.