Lockdown 3 – food kits to order nationwide

As we near the end of Lockdown #3 in the UK don’t forget that it will take a bit longer for all hospitality venues to fully open up. So make sure to continue to support your favourite restaurants and hospitality venues by ordering these food kits with nationwide delivery! All food kits have been tested by real people, from Bristol, to rural Wales, from Bath to London, and I’ve included their experiences alongside my own:

 

Lockdown 3 – food kits to order nationwide

I’ve been stuck locked down in Bath with my family for the last 2 months. As we are all big foodies it’s nice to have a special occasion or two to look forward to – and that always means a quality meal or other edible treat! My definition of a food kit is a complete meal that needs some heating/finishing at home before you can eat. Here are some of the food kits that we’ve been enjoying, plus some that food bloggers across the UK have enjoyed as well:

• Brunch
• Dim Sum
• Middle Eastern
• Burgers
• Poutine
• Fish
• Thai
• Indian
• Ramen
• Vietnamese
• Sweet Treats

 

Brunch food kit: Dishoom bacon naan rolls £17 for 2, vegan option available

So you may be familiar with Dishoom’s bacon naan rolls from their brunch menu in restaurant. Well these kits enable you to recreate these naan rolls at home. The trickest bit is getting the naan bread right, so they give you an extra dough portion to ‘practise’ with! Kits include 3 naan dough balls, streaky bacon for 2 (or vegan sausages), coriander garnish, cream cheese, tomato-chilli jam, ingredients for Dishoom’s Chai and instructions for everything.

You can also upgrade your kit to include mimosas for two if it’s for a special occasion brunch! This is a fab way to get the Dishoom experience at home until the restaurant’s re-open (especially if you live outside of London).

 

Brunch food kit: Le Swine £14 for 2

Another bacon sandwich kit that I enjoyed in lockdown 1, was the Le Swine kit. A real treat, at the time they only delivered in London and included optional duck eggs.

Now that they deliver UK wide, the eggs aren’t an option, but you get, old fashioned middle bacon, bacon butter, milk and onion buns, fresh sage, homemade chipotle and mushroom ketchups & details on how to cook and assemble!

 

Dim Sum kit: Ping Pong ready to steam dim sum min order £42

In order to make lockdown 3 more fun we decided to celebrate Chinese New Year at home, with decorations, special sparkling tea, and lots of beautiful dim sum from Ping Pong. The minimum order at the time was 8 dishes, which is a perfect amount for 4 hungry adults. I think we ordered one of everything non vegan!

We had duck rolls, har gau, spicy chicken dumplings, prawn and chive dumplings (the green ones above), chicken and cashew nut dumplings, char sui buns, and prawn and scallop sticky rice. Everything arrived in packaging that could then be used to steam in the microwave, or if you had a steamer you could use that instead. As everything was sent frozen and defrosted partially in transit, we couldn’t freeze it, but they give a shelf-life of 4 days in the fridge. So even if you are locked down on your own you can order and eat over several days.

 

Middle Eastern feast: Ceru at home from £40 for 2

Ceru is close to my heart, I first ate their food at Standon Calling festival when they did a pop up feast. Since then I’ve eaten at their South Kensington and Soho restaurants and also got the opportunity to taste Ceru’s menu before they opened the restaurants! The food is Levantine – basically an area that encompasses the Mediterranean and Middle East, with lots of different influences. We ordered the lamb menu for 2 and then added additional home cooked dishes and salads to bulk it out for 4 (plus to cater for picky dad). They also have chicken, beef and vegan menu’s available.

The lamb menu includes slow roasted lamb shoulder, zucchini & feta fritters,  spiced roasted potatoes, houmous dip with a choice of Greek pita bread or seasonal crudités (we chose the amazing soft pitta and made our own crudités) and homemade baklava for dessert. They also offer an option to pair wine with your meal, and having tried the wine list at Ceru, I recommend doing this if you are adventurous and want to try a wine from a different region.

This feast was a little more involved to pull together, we had to make or reheat all the food, and then dress with the included sauces and garnishes. The end result was amazing, but just a warning if you want something ‘ready to heat and eat’. It really makes you appreciate the effort that the chefs at the restaurant go through to make the meals!

 

Burger kits: Burger and Beyond double bougie burger kit £33 for 4 burgers (freezable)

Alex from Gingey Bites highly recommends the burger kit from Burger and Beyond:

This is a burger to beat ALL burgers. Beef patties, American cheese, beef fat onions, pickled onions, beef gravy and marrownaise sandwiched into a butter toasted sesame brioche. ? For £33 for x4 burgers, it’s a steal in my opinion. The others have gone into the freezer for a later date. One each was more than enough.

I highly recommend this kit, will be blogging it over the next few days too, to show you how it call came together. ?

 

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Poutine kit: The Poutinerie £15

Karen from Lavender and Lovage had the Poutine kit from The Poutinerie:

I’m a bit of a Poutine addict, I don’t why the combination of seasoned chips (fries) with gravy and cheese curds should be so addictive and delicious, but it is. I can make poutine at home here in the UK, without travelling to Canada, but the essential ingredient, squeaky cheese curds, is difficult to source. So when The Poutinerie offered to send me one of their DIY Poutine kits to make at home, I leapt at the chance!

They sent me one of their Original DIY Poutine kits, which arrived overnight, well packed in temperature controlled packaging, ensuring it was still chilled. The kit comprises: chips (fries), special seasoning salt, gravy and cheese curds. It was super easy to cook, following the instructions that  Poutinerie sent with the ingredients, and 20 minutes later we were sat down enjoying it for lunch. They even sent 2 of their poutine serving boxes should you prefer to eat it street food style.

Most Canadians I’ve met will tell you that a good poutine depends on a GOOD gravy, and the gravy that was in the kit was rich and thick with a delicious taste. The portions are generous, and served the 2 of us with plenty of gravy and seasoning salt to spare. To be honest, we could have shared the chips, but we were pretty hungry after a morning of outside work, so we scoffed the lot! You can order these home delivery DIY Poutine kits by visiting The Poutinerie and then just sit back to wait for your poutine fix to arrive!

 

Fish kits: Stein’s at Home from £40

Stein’s at home has several menus to chose from. Karen from Lavender and Lovage tried out the Hake menu and I tried out the Lobster menu with my family. Key points on these fish kits (steak and vegetarian options are also available!):

• The boxes offer restaurant quality food delivered to your door. They offer Rick’s classic dishes that can also be found on the restaurant menus
•  The boxes are full of fresh, sustainable Cornish ingredients
•  Each box includes three courses for two people, so it is the perfect order for a special night in, or order multiples for a family dinner
•  It is an interactive experience. The food comes mostly cooked, but it is for you to finish the dishes off at home. Simple yet fun and a chance to create some iconic plates
•  Delivery is UK wide every week

Hake Menu £45 for 2

Starting off the evening with some delicious “Rick’s Smoked Mackerel Pâté” served with Sourdough Bread with Mixed Salad Leaves from Padstow Kitchen Garden. The Smoked Mackerel Pâté was delectably creamy with a subtle smoky taste and just a hint of citrus. Perfect with freshly toasted Sourdough Bread and Fresh Salad Leaves. 

The main course on my Hake Menu is Grilled Hake Piperade with Serrano Ham, and a Lemon & Pimenton Thinned Mayonnaise….served with Buttered Potatoes with Fresh Mint. The hake was utterly delectable and the crispy skin and tender flakes fish were perfect with the tangy piperade, salty Serrano ham and the smoked paprika mayonnaise. It was a restaurant quality meal that I was able to prepare in my own kitchen. 

And to finish my spectacular Rick Stein menu, it’s a classic, Sticky Toffee Pudding with Cornish Clotted Cream….utterly decadent and just right for this wet and windy evening.

(Katie edit: my Mum and Dad tried this menu and had plenty of Pâté left for lunch the next day – Dad loved the Sticky Toffee Pudding too!)

Lobster Menu £100 for 2

As you might expect for the price tag on the Lobster menu, it’s one for a special occasion! I got this menu with my Mum and Dad when my sister and I were locked down there, and having a special meal every once in a while perked us up. So we ordered 2 boxes as each contains a 3 course meal for two.

The starter was grilled scallops with a hazelnut and coriander butter. We all love seafood and especially scallops and these came pre-prepared, all you have to do is put the scallops in the shells and grill, then top with the butter. The scallops were divine!

For the lobster main, the cooking was a little more involved. We had to take the prepared lobster out of the shells and mix it with the thermidor sauce, before putting back in the shells to grill. The lobster was served with new potatoes and mixed salad leaves. We found the lobster very tasty, however the various stages and different sized pieces meant that some of it was slightly over cooked (we still ate it all).

After all the fish we needed a break before dessert! So a little later we plated up half of the chocolate pave, which was served with a chocolate sauce and crystallised peanuts. I’m glad we only served up half of this dessert as it was super rich & really chocolately. We had the rest for dessert the following day, which was an unexpected treat.

 

Fish kits: Fish For Thought oysters from £8 for half a dozen oysters

Fish for Thought is based in Cornwall focusing on sustainable seafood & fish and supporting the Cornish fishing industry. We’ve had wonderful & fresh ‘shuck at home’ oysters, lobster and also this amazing lobster mac and cheese:

And these juicy scallops, with pea puree and chorizo jam:

They have a fabulous range of fresh fish, seafood and shellfish, they also do occasional specials like the lobster mac and cheese. The current one is surf and turf, lobster and rib-eye steaks – very special!

 

Thai kits: Farang at Home via thedishpatch from £55

Kavey from Kavey Eats reviewed Farang at Home Thai kit:

Our Farang feast was the first we ordered via restaurant-meals-at-home platform thedishpatch, back in October 2020 and it was delicious. Known for their modern Thai menu, Farang’s home kit included a whole chicken in a fragrant spiced sauce, pork belly with hoisin, salmon in a satay style sauce, potato massaman, and an aromatic portion of rice. Marketed as a meal for two, we had plenty of chicken and sauce leftover for a second dinner the next day.

 

 

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Indian kits: Clays Hydrabadi Kitchen mains c£14

Kavey from Kavey Eats highly recommends Clays Hydrabadi Kitchen

Clays Hyderabadi Kitchen was a relatively new restaurant when the pandemic hit. Even when we were able to eat out (between lockdowns) their restaurant didn’t allow for the mandated ventilation and distance between tables, so they were unable to open. Instead, owners Nandana and Sharat pivoted to home meals, offering nationwide delivery very early on. Their food is primarily from the couple’s home region of Andhra and wider across Southern India.

Whilst some of the dishes are familiar, there are several that you don’t often see on UK menus, including bhooni kaleji (chicken livers), Shaba-style egg curry, Baghare Baigan (baby aubergines in a thick, rich sauce), and a fabulous set of Hyderabadi biryanis. Every dish we’ve tried has been fantastic! All the food arrives fresh and vacuum-packed so it can either be enjoyed in the next few days, or frozen for reheating later. We’ve done both and the food is perfect either way.

 

Ramen kit: Shoryu Ganso Tonkotsu Ramen from the Japan centre £23 for 2

My sister loves ramen so much that she made my mum buy special bowls to serve this in. The Shoryu Ganso Tonkotsu kits from the Japan centre provide all the ingredients you need to do-it-yourself ramen with minimal effort! The kits come with everything you need to turn yourself into a ramen master and make awesome Shoryu at home. From original hosomen noodles, 12-hour tonkotsu soup stock, the all important toppings and step by step instructions, it’s all in the kits.

We added our own boiled eggs to this bowlful, but everything else you see is included in the kit. The flavour and comfort levels are high and make this totally worth doing, even picky Dad enjoyed this one slurping away with the rest of us!

 

Ramen kit: Matsudai Ramen from £7.99

Kacie from The Rare Welsh Bit recommends Matsudai ramen:

After running a series of sell-out pop-out events in Cardiff, self-confessed ramen geek, James Chant of Matsudai Ramen – Wales’ only dedicated ramen spot – confirmed a seven-week residency at local bar, Blue Honey Local. Shortly after, COVID-19 struck and he was forced to shut shop.

Not one to admit defeat, James began delivering his highly acclaimed ramen in the form of frozen meal kits containing everything you need to make your very own ramen from the comfort of your own kitchen including broth, tare, oil (combined) and noodles. The ramen is available in a variety of flavours, from super-rich tonkotsu and tori paitan broths; to more delicately balanced shio and shoyu; and hearty, umami-stuffed miso bowls. Vegan and veggie options are also available.

Following the immense success of these meal kits within Cardiff – often selling out within minutes of going on sale – James is now delivering his kits UK-wide and even received a mention in Jay Rayner‘s online column in The Observer and The Guardian earlier this month. Kits are available for purchase on Matsudai collections (but be warned, you’ll need to act fast to avoid disappointment!)

 

Vietnamese kit: Little Viet Kitchen £55 for 2 via thedispatch

Kavey from Kavey Eats enjoyed Little Viet Kitchen:

Even before the pandemic, Vietnamese food is not readily found in our rural corner of Wales, so nationwide delivery of restaurant kits offers a great way for us to enjoy the cuisines we miss.

The feast box we ordered came with tamarind tofu skewers with sweet chilli sauce, chicken lemongrass curry, tenderstem broccoli with crispy onions, jasmine rice, and banana and red bean rice parcels.

Instructions on cooking and reheating the various elements of the dishes were straightforward, everything was delicious, and the portions were generous for two people.

(Katie edit: I’m going to have to try this!)

 

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Sweet treat kit: Shuk London Babka kit £20 for one, double kits from £32

Whilst this isn’t a ‘meal’ as such it became a favourite mid-morning coffee snack! The Shuk date, pistachio and chocolate chip cookie babka is delicious and gained fans from all the family (my nephew likes dates as Grandad likes them and anything with chocolate gets the thumbs up from the 3 year old!).

Shuk send you the dough, flour for rolling, the various fillings and toppings and the babka baking mould.

I would recommend watching the videos on how to assemble and plait on their Instagram before you go for it. I think mine came out very well!

 

 

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So what are you looking forward to ordering first? Let me know in the comments below!