At home restaurant meal boxes

[robertsradiofan]

Hi all

After a year of cooking meals at home I can officially say I am very bored of it!!

We have tried Gousto, we liked it but found the full priced boxes are a bit over priced and we kept having quality issues with the meat being sent.

As a nice treat for the weekend we have been looking at some of the restaurant meal boxes around, basically meals which are pre-prepared and couriered and all you need to do it heat up.

Has anyone had any which were a success? For me and DP most are around the £50 mark plus shipping so not much less than what we would pay to eat out- and we still have to do the washing up so I don't want to spend that money unless it's going to be good.

Any recommendations please?

If you’re looking for something that is completely pre-prepared and you just have to heat up, look at the Cook and Charlie Bigham ready meals.

If you like Indian food I highly recommend Doosra.

www.doosra.kitchen/curry-by-post

Don't just take my word, they're on Trip Advisor.

Best Indian food I've had since I lived in the midlands.

Patty and Bun do the most amazing burger boxes 😋

I'm trying out the Pieminister box this weekend. More expensive than a takeaway but a bit of fun, we've supported the local independents plenty through the pandemic so not feeling guilty on that front.

We'd resisted the concept so far despite hearing lots of good things as cooking elaborate meals is one of the few entertainments left! Also near-restaurant priced meals without the experience. Heard good things about the Elite Bistros ones though.

Came on to say Patty and Bun. Sooooo good, I’ve developed a slight addiction

I’ve also had Rick Stein’s box and really rate that.

Hi

Not sure if it £50 per person or £50 for the total

However, we have had banquist three times now. Meals ranging in difficulty of their 4/5 and 3/5 for difficulty. Once we had the cheeseboard. We always get one bottle of wine.

Absolutely amazing. We do it together as an experience as well as the fabulous meal. The 4/5 rated difficulty took us 5 hours start to finish (cooking and eating).

@LongTimeMammaBear thanks for the Banquist tip! I’ve just ordered a dinner. It looks incredible.

@Ostryga it really is. My tips about it though, read the recipe AND watch the video. We kept stopping the video as my knife skills aren’t the same as a Michelin star chef for sure!

I needed more bowls and more knives : utensils as suggested.

If you get the cheeseboard, have some grapes or pears too.

We were very happy with banquist. Our next one comes next week.

Anyone tried Pasta Evangelists and could give me an opinion on them?

We had a box from our local Michelin Starred restaurant in Birmingham in May last year (first lock-down) which was fantastic. Two meals for two people £90....not cheap but it replaced going out for a normal birthday meal to a good non-Michelin Starred joint. They did do a national delivery service but have not repeated it this lock-down. We had Patty & Bun once; my wife and daughter loved it but I thought it very over-rated. Hello Fresh has been good for a change, particularly the Pork & Apple Burgers with Sage Chips we had on Monday (YumYum).

I was impressed the two boxes we've had from Nico. Looking forward to the march one. I think that at £60 they are fair value given they include wine, delivery, 4 courses and sides...Proper restaurant style food that I certainly can't cook myself. home-x.com/pages/home-by-nico

Very little prep required for Nico. Just warming and adding sauces, garnishes etc. There are others that are more of a cooking experience.

I'm been thinking of trying Rick Stein.

@robertsradiofan I wish I could eat out for that price !

I can recommend dishpatch.co.uk

There were a few things wrong with the first meal, so I told them.
They handled it beautifully, & were very generous with compensation.
I checked the restaurant on T.A. after the event, & might not have ordered had I done so before !
Subsequent meals have been fine; I check T.A. for food, but ignore the comments about service.
They've got Hartnett & Ottolenghi on board, but I've never been quick enough to order as they sell out very quickly.

Lots of brilliant ideas on here lots to look into - thanks!

Omg I'm drooling at the banquist menu!

@LongTimeMammaBear thanks for the tips! I can’t wait, I’ve got the venison one coming in 2 weeks. Mother’s Day present for myself

I tried several. The dishoom bacon naans are amazing. Also pizza pilgrims pizza which you can cook in a frying pan (we have an ooni oven so can use that). Honest burgers were very good - kids loved these. Cote at Home was also very nice and not too expensive - portions are large. Padella pasta was fab - I go there often for their beef shin ragu and it is great to be able to have it at home.

@bearlyactive

Anyone tried Pasta Evangelists and could give me an opinion on them?

I subscribed to them for a while. I’d say that they were probably a step up from supermarket fresh pasta + sauce but not nearly as good as you’d get in a half-decent Italian restaurant.

I also found quite a lot of their sauces tasted similar and I got bored, but that’s not an issue if you only want a one-off.

We have the Coté Apres ski one coming tomorrow, can't wait....

coteathome.co.uk/apres-ski-box/

Hugely recommend Hoppers at home box- Sri Lankan food, absolutely delicious and easy to do. They have a restaurant in soho

These look amazing!

Dishoom bacon naan pack was lovely.

I want to try Momma Bains but they keep selling out.

Good ol' advertising/stalking algorithm .... after looking at Patty and Bun based on this threads recommendations, an Instagram advert popped up with a code "PATTY20" for 20% off!

@paxman

I want to try Momma Bains but they keep selling out.

Seem to be in stock now?