Northside Shopping Centre is a horrid monstrosity of a building, containing a grim, down-at-heel…read moreshopping centre. The building itself is notorious as one of the worst eyesores on Dublin's northside. There were plans to demolish it and the surrounding area and to build a gleaming sixteen story tower in its place, but these plans might have been put on hold given the penurious state of the government's coffers. Just look at the state of it. It's sooo gross. There are a couple of decent shops in the place, though. There's a Dunnes (isn't there always) and a Superquinn (very middle-class) and, somewhat shockingly, a Peter Mark's. But apart from these, there isn't much else to write home about. And it has a Graham O'Sullivan's which to me screams manky-windblown-shopping precinct. To be honest, it probably wouldn't be that bad if they just made the building nicer. But given the current economic collapse, I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you.

Not too bad a place. A few roughish people about as you'd expect, but nothing too serious and not…read moreas issue really. A new coffee shop just opened in the centre of the centre and is nice, if a little expensive. Not the worst place in the world to waste a lunch break, but if you want a bit of shopping and better food options you'd be better off hitting the Omni Centre, which is close by and has better food options.

Popped into Lidl in Baldoyle tonight…read more I've been in Lidl stores in Spain and in Ireland and they all look the same and the products are Im guessing all the same around the world too. I've been in this particular store many times over the past few years as its close to my parents. The staff havent changed over the years and neither has their manners. Besides the fact that not one of the staff is irish doesn't lend itself to familiarity. They never smile, never pass the time of day nor do they seem to care or value your return. The queues are never less than ten persons in line and although there are 5 checkouts there is never more than two open at any one time. When scanning items they dont seem to care that you are trying to pack at the same speed they scan which is impossible as we are not programmed like they are to be robots. Its dreadful customer service but I suppose you get what you pay for. Some of the deals can be good if you happen to be in the market for that particular item at the time. (Car accessories for example, jump leads, bulbs, etc can be much cheaper than the likes of specialist stores like Halfords) Thats the only positive. Lidl are the Ryanair of the Supermarket world. You only use them because they are no frills and cheap.

This is my local Lidl. As someone who's moved here from Canada this has become my go to grocery…read morestore because of the location and the prices. Everything here is pretty inexpensive, which has become really important since I'm still looking for a job. I mean I need to eat, but I can't afford to pay Marks & Spencer prices for basic groceries. So 18 cent ramen noodles from Lidl it is. Actually, I got three shopping bags full of groceries and it was only 16E. This Lidl, which not as big as say the Tesco over at Clarehall is bigger than some of the others I've seen around the city. The have a decent selection of some houseware stuff as well like pots and pans. The staff aren't super friendly, but Lidl isn't the kind of place where you're going to go and have a 10 minute conversation with the staff about your dog (I've seen that happen at other grocery stores back in Canada). They are quick and efficient, and I haven't had any issues here yet. The one thing I find odd here is how short the lanes are at the end of the til to repack your groceries. You basically have to stuff everything into your bags and then reorganize them on the table/ledge at the windows. It causes a bit of a panic attack, but the prices are so cheap it's worth it.