We asked Joe what the difference between this and karaage was. He said, “not much but there are egg whites.” I’ll eat anything that basically comes down to two words: “fried” and “chicken.” 

I didn’t take pictures of everything, but we also ordered seaweed salad, edamame and tempura udon.

Sainsbury’s House 2015 ‘Torla’ Rioja £4.60

Finding good wines under £5 is a difficult task: tax and duty makes up about £3 of a £5 wine, so there’s very little left for the actual wine. I’m always tasting the cheapest wines, in the hope of unearthing a gem, but it’s very rare I find one worth recommending for a fiver. 

Sainsbury’s have outdone themselves with this red Rioja. It’s part of their basic ‘House’ label, but it really punches above its weight (and price bracket). The wine is bursting with juicy fruit and ends with a savoury twist, making it food friendly and perfect with a midweek dinner. It doesn’t have the vanilla oak or complexity you might expect of more expensive Riojas, but it is delicious and a real bargain.

Cimarosa 2015 Carmenere ‘Reserva Privada’ £6.99

You can’t expect to get great sparkling wine for under £7, but there are some bargain gems to be found. I got wines from the UK supermarkets and filtered out the best to save you the time and money... 

The contenders

I asked all of the UK supermarkets for their sparkling wines that were £7 or under (without being on offer).

Wines were provided from:

Co-operative

Lidl

Morrisons

Sainsbury’s

Tesco

Waitrose

The test

It would not be fair to show the labels of each wine, as people are easily swayed by a nice design, so each bottle was wrapped in foil.

There was one wine that was £15+ included (an entry-level Champagne) so that people didn’t assume all wines would be ‘cheap’.

The wines were tried by seven different people.

The winners

The best sparkling wines under £7:

BEST BUY Tesco Cava Brut £4.99 When revealing the wines, it came as a shock that one of the top wines was under a fiver. This has featured on my site multiple times, including a wine of the week back in 2012, so it’s a consistent performer. One of the best bargains in the UK. “Good flavours...all day session wine...finished the glass.”

Morrisons Cava 2012 ‘Signature’ Brut £7.00 A few people guessed that this was the £15+ Champagne, which was thrown into the test as a decoy, so it definitely was one of the winners on the night. You can’t ask for any more from a £7 bottle of fizz. “Very nice...good quality...would buy.”

Special mentions:

Bella Cucina Prosecco Extra Dry £5.50 (Tesco) The highest performing Prosecco in the tasting. Available at a bargain price. “Tasty...great bubbles...more please.”  

Co-operative Cava ‘Truly Irresistible’ Brut Reserva £6.99 One of the few wines that received generally positive comments from everyone. A very good option under £7. “Nice and dry...a little buttery...easy to drink.”

The whites, reds and rosés

Italian red wine goes with food. That's a generalisation... but it's the country I go to when I want a red wine with a simple midweek meal. There's a certain savoury edge that many Italian reds have that make you crave food; the grape variety barbera makes wines that do just that.

This wine, available only in the Co-op, comes from one of Italy's most famous areas for the barbera grape and it's oh so easy to like. Next time you're picking up an easy dinner – pizza, pasta or the like – then pick up a bottle of this bargain Italian red. You can't ask for much more for £7.

Colour: Red

Made from: Barbera

Say it: Bar-bear-ah

Made in: Asti (Piemonte, Italy)

Order it: Can you grab another bottle of the Bar-bear-ah dahs-tee from the Co-op?

Drink with: Simple midweek meals

Priced at: £6.99