I do commend Tesco on getting an interesting range of exotic fruits. I saw that they had Dragon Fruit, Pomelo and Chikoo. I got a packet of the Chikoo to try as from the packaging it said it tasted just like caramel and should be nice and sweet. It wasn't quite like that but therein lies the problem. The kind of bulk buying and planning that goes on, I do tend to fine that the fruits, although look like and colourful, never come up to expectations when compared to other stores.

The sweetest oranges and pomelos I have found outside of the smaller asian shops were from Lidl. OK, they may not have the biggest ranges but what they do have in terms of fresh fruit and veg is all at the point where they are ready to be eaten.

If you like chocolate and you like shopping on the Internet then you will like this web site: Montezuma's.

They are not just an Internet mail order outfit but have many shops around the South.

I popped into one in Winchester and they have a great range, all wierd and wonderful. It can seem pricey but probably no more than Thorntons and so on.

Chocolate and chilli, you have to be brave to mass produce that. I bought the Choco:Block which is a hefty square chunk of solid chocolate.

I was walking around Marks and Spencer in Newcastle yesterday with my parents just to kill time before going for dim sum at Happiness Inn and was milling around the fruit section. It is more eye-watering than mouth-watering. £9 for a basic fruit salad. It was a fairly large plastic container but it didn't contain nothing more exotic than some apples, grapes and melon. Now if it had guava, dragon fruit, mango, rose apples, mangosteen or lychees then I might think differently.

Now Lidl, they do fruit and veg at fantastic value and quality. Don't let those large M&S American strawberries fool you, you know they are just all glamour and no taste.