We compare M&S and Aldi Valentine’s Day meal deals and there was one clear winner

They say money can’t buy love - but it certainly helps having a few spare bob in the pocket when spending on days out, presents and even food. So when Valentine’s Day comes along, it’s no surprise a premium supermarket like M&S is the place many people find themselves searching for that special evening meal.

And with a £20 deal on offer including a starter, side, main course, dessert and prosecco, it’s no surprise the refridgerator aisles are busy on February 14. However, there’s some new(ish) kids on the block too, bringing meal deals at an even cheaper price in a bid to cash in on St Valentine.

ASDA and Sainsbury’s have deals worth £15, Morrisons for between £15 to £17, Tesco for £12 and, wait for it, Aldi with a range of specially created food items which can be bought individually.

So, what better use of company expenses than to put the most expensive, M&S, and the cheapest, Aldi, to a taste test to determine which will sit better on the dinner table tomorrow night (February 14).

We always get told never to judge on appearance, but the look of the food, from it coming out of the oven to it sitting on the plate, has to be good. And when picking out the items from the shelves, I have to say M&S won all hands down on.

The food can clearly be seen under the cardboard packaging at M&S and you can’t get away from the luxury style. At Aldi, meanwhile, I could have just been picking up Friday night’s microwave dinner, to be honest.

The premium supermarket continued to be ahead when it came to cooking. Unlike the Aldi main course which required work adding sauces and cheese halfway through, the M&S food just had to be placed in the oven.

And when it came to serving on the plate, I can let you be the judge of which dishes looked better.

Starter/Main course: Three course meals are never a thing in our house, so I combined the starters and main courses together for this experiment. From Aldi, I served up the wild mushroom arancini (£2.99) and breaded chicken breast parmigiana (£5.99). It came out looking dry, but I have to say it surprised me. The arancini balls were not quite melt in the mouth, but they were soft inside and tasty while the chicken was tender and well supplemented by the rich tomato sauce.

Meanwhile, from M&S I went for the well-sized leek and cheese souffle tarts with the cod with tomato, paprika and sherry sauce, plus asparagus. Boy, it was good. The tarts were deliciously cheesey while the cod was fresh and nicely flavoured. The asparagus, from Mexico, was thick and tasty. I thought Aldi was good, but this was simply a step above. My partner agreed as she cleaned up the plate quickly.

Dessert: Now, this is where it got interesting. I was genuinely taken back by how bad Aldi’s Chocolate Melt in the Middle Heart sponge cake (£2.99) with caramel looked, but then how good it tasted. The sponge took just a minute to hear in the microwave, yet still it was consumed faster by my partner and I from the cardboard sharing bowl. Beat that, M&S, I thought.

It was close, but M&S did it again. I don’t even like profiteroles. But the pastry and cream was fresh. The only drawback was the unusual raspberry icing on top. I happily got through two profiteroles, while my partner finsihed the rest, even wiping up the last bit of cream from the plastic tub. At this point, I should also mention that the prosecco bottle was almost gone. No drinking and testing? Not in my house.

Verdict: Sorry Aldi, you’ve done your best and I was geninely impressed by the food - but with M&S costing just over £8 more and including a bottle of prosseco, there’s only one clear winner for taste and value. Money can certainly help buy love tomorrow night.