It’s been a couple of years since I’ve used a meal kit company – a service that delivers all the ingredients (except staples like oil, salt, and pepper) required to create a hearty meal in about thirty to fourty five minutes. When the pandemic hit, these services became even more popular, a promise for families to continue to get gourmet meals without venturing into supermarkets. As I started to get junk mail and magazine inserts promoting a huge array of companies, the intrigue set in… how have they changed since I’ve last used them?

First off, I tried Good Food, one of the newer entrants established in 2016 and claims they are Canada’s #1 meal kit delivery company.

Meal Choices and Pricing

With a choice of 18 recipes each week, it’s a company that has the least options. Somehow it didn’t hurt my experience as I found their pictures and descriptions more enticing, even with a smaller selection it was difficult to narrow it down to three. They try to help the process along with various filters (easy prep, low carb, family style, brunch, excluding certain ingredients, etc.) and when all else fails, they also sell ready-to-eat meals, combine and dine (a sauce that gets added to rice or pasta), and even a host of grocery items.

Prices are in the middle of the pack at $11.95 a serving (assumes 3 meals per week for two people) or $72 a week. Although, they do have a fair number of recipes with premium ingredients, which tacks on a supplementary cost that can raise the final box total.

Customer Service and Ordering

I was a little miffed that I had to call in to cancel my service (most allow you to manage this online), but they were quick to answer and cheerfully cancelled the subscription without giving me a guilt trip. Punctuality may be their downfall as out of the two weeks I used Good Food, the second delivery didn’t arrive during the stated 12-hour window (8am to 8pm) and finally came at 9pm. I’d suggest your delivery the day before you need the meals just to be safe.

I did enjoy the text notification feature where they let you know the box is on the way (at about the hour out point) and you can then click the link to track the van in real time. It’s a good option for those living in condos or those who don’t like having the box sit too long at the door.

It’s the only company that delivers 7 days per week in my area (Toronto) and if you pay $9.99 a month, you can skip managing ordering each week and just get them to deliver the next day whenever you desire. In most major cities, you can also pay a one-time $6.99 fee for next day delivery as well. This makes it great for individuals who find it difficult to place an order ahead of time or need to travel unexpectedly.

If you do sign up for the weekly subscription, you can pick recipes for the next four weeks and skip deliveries up to three months in advance.

Ease of Cooking

Maybe it’s the recipes I chose, but I found most required at least three pieces of equipment - a sheet pan for baking something, a pot, and a frying pan. Luckily, those who cook in my household don’t need to do dishes.

Their sheet pan meals cut this down to one item - the only problem is their recipe calls for a large restaurant sized sheet pan. For those who have large ovens you can easily rectify this by purchasing a new high lipped pan. But for those with an older oven *raises hand* or live in a condo with smaller ones, good luck fitting everything onto one sheet pan. I sensed it already after seeing how much more space my chicken and potatoes occupied compared to the recipe card.

In the end, I prepped the veggies on another sheet, but had to guess how much additional cooking time to add using two sheets. Using the higher range of the cooking time worked perfectly. It did mean the chicken probably lost an extra infusion of flavours but the potatoes turned out crispier than they otherwise would have been as well. So, all in all, a win.

The Taste Test

I really enjoy their spice blends, which adds tons of flavours to the meal. Each recipe generally also incorporates a sauce/condiment and a fresh garnish (green onion or parsley) so put together makes for a tasty dish with many layers of flavours.

A great example of this is the smoky BBQ spiced pork chops with potato and bean salad where the pork chops and salad both use the spice blend. The meat also gets finished in a sweet smoky BBQ sauce and the dressing for the salad combines creamy mayonnaise, more of the seasoning spice, and a thick zesty vinaigrette. The final finishing of fresh scallions in the salad gives it a burst of freshness and has become a side I’ve recreated for other nights.

Even the rigatoni alfredo is enhanced with lovely marinated artichokes that helps give the otherwise creamy sauce a nice hit of acid.

Environmental Factors

All the spices, condiments, and herbs does come at a cost – Good Food uses way more plastic than other delivery companies. It probably doesn’t help that they put ingredients in bags that are much larger than necessary, like these green beans that end up only occupying a third of the packaging.

Conclusion

If only Good Food wasn’t so plastic laden, they would have been my top choice of the three I tried in 2021. Yet, I can’t get over all the waste that’s created, especially if this is a service that’s supposed to be every week – god help our planet.

While my finished products don’t necessarily look as good as their stylized pictures, it nonetheless tastes like a gourmet creation. Good Food, just know that potato and green bean salad has left a mark in my recipe repertoire. 

If the above has intrigued you, sign up and try a week for yourself. Goodfood is offering Gastro World readers $40 to go towards their first two orders for new customers. Just click on this special referral link to go to their website.

Before COVID, when someone mentions “instant ramen”, a square of hard dried noodles is what comes to mind. That goes into a pot of boiling water for about five minutes and a powdered soup gets prepared, sometimes enhanced with another packet of dried seaweed and vegetables. Many are spicy, but you’ll need to find a delicate balance of the soup base to water… one false move will leave you with a kick at the back of the throat. I don’t know about you, but sometimes I literally cough when too much powder is added.

Then COVID hit and Ramen Raijin reinvented the concept of instant ramen. Theirs is a frozen circular disk that literally incorporates everything – the broth, noodles, and various toppings that are a far cry from the rehydrated vegetable fragments. In about the same time it takes to boil water to create the dried version, the frozen disk goes into a pot until it melts and is heated through.

And there’s no guessing games with Raijin’s spicy tonkotsu ramen ($12). The spicy-miso pork broth has enough chili to flood your mouth with flavours, but the fiery finish is subdued, and the miso adds a lovely creamy finish.

Perhaps it was all the tightly packed vegetables (corn, slivers of cabbage, bean sprouts, and green onions) and the extra minced chicken mixed into the soup base, but the spicy tonkotsu did take a couple minutes longer to prepare than the non-spicy version so the noodles ended up being a less chewy than the other.

The noodles in the Hakata tonkotsu ramen ($10) turned out perfectly and Raijin’s Hakata-style rich pork broth was just as creamy and umami laced as anything you’d find at a restaurant. Something about the freezing process makes me like the pickled ginger more, it’s mellower and melts into the broth nicely. It’s all finished with a rather thin slice of pork belly cha-shu, kikurage mushroom, green onion, and enough sesame to add a nutty finish to the soup.

Will the frozen ramen overtake the delivery and takeout options across the city? While close to the “real deal” they are still missing some of the beloved toppings like a gooey onsen egg and the crispy fresh toppings that can make it sing. The additional garnishes are easy – you can easily get a dried seaweed snack pack and finely chop scallions – but the elusive egg is more difficult. Raijin provides a recipe with the order confirmation to allow home cooks to recreate them at home. But all the work for one or two eggs … let’s just call me lazy.

To augment the meal, as the lone slice of cha shu isn’t the most substantial, Raijin offers extra pork or a host of frozen appetizers, some care of Zakkushi on Carlton just down the street. The yakitori momo ($8.50) goes bag and all into boiling water for five minutes and then you’re presented with four skewers of juicy chicken yakitori. The sauce is waterier than the lovely glaze you’ll normally find at restaurants, but in a pinch these will do.

Before placing an order, ensure your freezer has some room as for deliveries there’s a minimum $50 order size (about five ramen) and a $7 delivery fee. If you create that room if your freezer, the delivery fee is waived for a $100 purchase.

I love and value the ingenuity entrepreneurs have shown during this crisis. Dried instant ramen, you’ve been disrupted. 

One thing I loathed about Grandeur Palace was their ridiculous wait times. I would channel my inner Zen master while waiting for a table on weekends. It was a test of patience that I rarely had, so while I really enjoyed Grandeur’s dim sum, it’s a restaurant I hardly visited.

Then COVID struck and now Grandeur’s pivoted to “all day” dim sum and from 10am - 3pm, essentially the normal brunch hours, any small, medium, or large dishes are $3.88. No trying to order before 11am, when the special pricing is normally in effect, there is now five blissful hours to get your dim sum hit.

The only small hiccup is getting an order placed, which essentially means going old school and calling in. Of course, there’s always the trusty delivery apps, but you’ll be paying a premium – the $3.88 dishes will instead range from $5.85 to $7 before all the ancillary charges. So, get used to redialing starting at 10am and after a dozen tries, you’ll hopefully get through.

As with all my other dim sum experiences, takeout and delivery just isn’t the same. As soon as the lid is lifted and the steam escapes, the dish starts to wilt - it’s as if the protein packed dumplings are a plant. The wrapper on the steamed shrimp chive dumplings starts getting sticky and hard (although Grandeur smartly places them further apart, so they don’t meld together). They’re just as huge as normal, but the filling is skimpy on the chives, so they end up tasting like har gow.

While still the size of a golf ball, the shrimp sui mai loses a lot of its juices so they’re much harder than at the restaurant and sits in a shallow pool of liquid causing the wonton wrapper to become soggy. But when you haven’t had one of these pork dumplings in a few months, it still tastes awfully good, despite the sad state.

Forget about the deep fried savoury glutinous dumplings with meat. Any crispiness disappears, and it becomes a sticky chewy ball. I have no one to blame but myself – of course anything deep fried would be a disappointment. But I so wanted a bite of that five-spice laced pork with the slightly sweet chewy wrapper. At least the flavours were still on point.

The steamed rice noodle with shrimp was the dish that’s closest to what you’d find at the restaurant. They’ve always made it a bit thicker, so it held up to the travels and the consistency and texture remained consistent.

Strangely, the glaze on the honey sauce beef short ribs ($7.68) sort of melts off, leaving the top pieces lacking flavours and the bottom soaking in sauce. Do yourself a favour and open the takeout container upside down so that the sweet sauce recombines with everything. It’ll taste a lot better.

Following traditions, I had to finish the meal with the stir-fried lobster e-fu noodles ($18.88). Grandeur doesn’t skimp on takeout, really packing the noodles into the container so it’s not the easiest to portion out without having lobster fly everywhere. If I were the restaurant, I’d add a bit more savoury sauce to cover everything since the noodles will get soft regardless – it would allow the noodles to stay untangled.

Perhaps the lobster e-fu noodles aren’t ordered with as much gusto in takeout as the crustacean didn’t taste the freshest – not rancid or off, just not nearly as clean as normal.  

Me Va Me locations have been popping up around the city as quickly as it takes to say their cheerful sounding name. Serving an Israeli Middle Eastern menu, their most famous item is the laffa a thin chewy bread that’s a cross between a tortilla and freshly made pita. Restaurants are equipped with a taboon clay oven so that these can be made fresh and on location.

The falafel laffa ($11.95) wrapped up several airy chickpea fritters, which arrived warm with delivery and would have been amazing if eaten fresh and hot. They go nicely against the cooler sauces that I incorporated plenty of for maximum flavour - hummus, tzatziki, tahini, and hot sauce! With all the condiments, there was a chance the wrap would arrive soggy. Yet, lettuce helped form a layer between the bread and the other ingredients and added a nice crunch to the wrap.

After enjoying all the great flavours in the laffa, the lacklustre chicken shawarma plate ($17.75) was a let down. It comes with a sizeable portion of slightly dry chicken, tons of grilled vegetables, and a dense cold dry pita … but then only one measly tahini sauce to flavour everything.

Having had my fair share of shawarma plates, most places provide at least two condiments - tahini and garlic sauce - and many even have extra sides like pickles, beets, and tabbouleh. Instead, Me Va Me serves theirs with a huge side salad, which while great value isn’t the tastiest. I’d much rather they eliminate the salad and provide things that would enhance the overall plate instead.

We did order a couple of their dips, but they didn’t impress and reminded me of the prepared ones found in supermarkets. The fried eggplant ($3.95) started off nicely with big chunks of smoky eggplant, but the ketchup-like sauce they incorporated into the dip made everything way too sweet. Meanwhile, the babaganoush ($3.95) had so much mayonnaise added that it would be better classified as eggplant aioli. This is definitely not something you’d want to just eat a spoonful of plain.

Their laffas are by far the star of the menu. In the end, Me Va Me wasn’t a complete bust, but is a one hit wonder.

Have you ever encountered a situation where you’ve lived in a neighbourhood, but felt you overlooked an area and now wish you discovered it sooner? For me, it’s Huntingwood Square, a strip mall at Birchmount and Huntingwood in Scarborough.  I must have driven by the plaza hundreds of times while traversing Huntingwood trying to miss the busier arteries. Little did I know it’d be home to some well-loved authentic mom-and-pop places, one of them being Chris Jerk Caribbean Bistro.

And when I say Chris Jerk is known and loved, I’m not kidding. The weekend crowd is well documented online, so I thought I’d be smart and visit on a random Tuesday instead. Arriving ten minutes to 11:00am, before the restaurant opened, there were already a couple of cars parked around the entrance. By 10:55am, someone started a line. Before the doors even opened, there were ten people queued up. All on a regular Tuesday.

Chris Jerk serves up an array of Jamaican food, but there’s a couple of surprising things on the menu like the shawarma plate and even more popular shawarma poutine. It seemed a little out of place, but then I learnt about Chef Taylor’s background at Me Va Me and the menu made more sense.

Even so, I didn’t feel like shawarma. What had me salivating was the other meals I’ve seen, substantial well-rounded meals. Unlike most places, the containers aren’t merely filled with rice, peas, a protein, and perhaps a tong of coleslaw. At Chris Jerk, each meal also arrives with vibrant buttery stir-fried vegetables and sweet soft fried plantains. It’s a full-sized affair where you’re bound to have leftovers.

As soon as I saw the large pieces of oxtail ($16.95) I was ready to dig in - you’re lucky there’s any pictures that’s part of this post. Boy was it tasty: thick and meaty with more than enough of the lovely gravy to mix into the rice and peas. While it was tender, it wasn’t braised so long that it fell off the bone. You could still pick up each piece and get a bite of meat and jellied cartilage all together.

I wasn’t quite sure how I felt about all the chickpeas accompanying the curry chicken ($12.45) but, in retrospect, the crumbly legumes with the juicy chicken were a nice combination. Despite the vibrant yellow hue of the sauce, the spices weren’t too powerful. Everyone seemed to ask for hot sauce on the side, something I’ll pick up next time to add a bit more heat to the dish.

In fact, nothing is overly spicy. Even the jerk chicken leg ($3) was rather tame tasting like barbeque chicken with a jerk element, equally sweet to spicy. I’m glad we only purchased a side order as it would have been a disappointment – when one orders jerk chicken you want that hit of flavours, this was not it.  

If you ever visit Chris Jerk and see a line-up, don’t get too scared. It moves fairly quickly with their order, pay, leave phone number, and get out of the store system. In about 15-20 minutes when your meal is ready, you’ll get a call. At that point, head back into the cash register area and the fragrant to-go package is presented. Good food takes time, and these hearty meals are worth the time. 

In 1933, amidst a major earthquake and tsunami that left over 1,500 people dead and 7,000 homes destroyed, Kaoru Morimistsu decided to open Hattendo in Minatomachi, Hiroshima with the hopes of bringing some joy to the population, in an otherwise devastating time.

It’s not the over-the-top type of joy like a loaded funnel cake or deep-fried Mars bar. Instead, their signature cream buns ($3.69 each) are delicate sweets. Think of their joy as a gentle reminder to take time out for yourself and a sly wink that it’s okay to have a small treat.

The original custard version is the lightest of the bunch and tastes barely sweetened. Surely this can’t even be bad for you when the solid bun seemingly turns into pillowy air that disappears in several bites.

One step sweeter is the azuki bean cream bun where the fluffy cream is laced with finely blended red bean, so you get a hint of the flavours. It’s nothing like the rich thick paste you find in other azuki products, the milky cream is still the star.

I expected the matcha cream bun to the powerful with its vibrant green hue, but in Hattendo fashion, the green tea flavours were restrained. The filling did have a slight bitter finish, but so mild that if I didn’t know I was eating I wouldn’t have pegged it as being a matcha bun - there wasn’t that traditional grassiness that you get from the product. True matcha fans may be disappointed.

For a real indulgence, the chocolate cream bun will taste the most decadent, with the filling having a rich chocolate mousse feeling being denser and creamier than everything else. As the heaviest of the buns, you’ll want to leave this for last if you’re having multiple buns, which isn’t a difficult task as these palm sized buns seem to disappear so quickly!

Our household enjoyed the hazelnut cream bun ($4.19) the most – one of the specialty flavours for the warmer weather. A winning combination of luscious sweet cream and earthy nutty hazelnut, it had a surprisingly strong taste for something that looked so light. I also enjoyed the little bits of nut sprinkled throughout the filling that added a nice texture against all the soft elements.

You can enjoy a full meal from Hattendo since they serve two savoury products as well. The tamago burger ($5) takes their cream bun and fills it was a finely chopped egg salad. Interestingly, the bun’s whole flavour and texture changes and becomes denser, sort of like a brioche hamburger bun that smells more like milk than butter. It’s tasty, but the egg salad could use a pinch more seasoning considering the thicker bun.

The egg salad sando ($6) is more balanced since the crustless white milky bread is so light. It’s absolutely delicious with the delicate minced egg salad sandwiching a lovely soft boil egg. If you like egg sandwiches, you must try the sando.

The jury’s out on the matcha annin tofu ($4.95), while I thoroughly enjoyed the dessert’s silky texture, the combination of almond tofu with matcha is an acquired taste. I did, however, love the reusable glass container it’s served in. If you’re a Maison Riviera petit pot yoghurt fan, you’ll want to check these out – and bonus, the lid is already included.

It's almost as if the ghost of Kaoru was channeled in June 2019 when Hattendo expanded into North America opening in Toronto. Somehow, they knew people outside of Japan would need some joy as well. With the COVID fatigue setting in, I needed a pick-me-up. And since Hattendo also delivers, it’s a sweet smile you can send to yourself or loved ones.

• Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
• 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
• 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
• 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
• 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
• 10 - absolute perfection!

• Taris on the Water
• Tide and Vine Oyster House

Does anyone else associate food with seasons? Hot pot or shabu shabu screams winter while hot dogs and burgers is synonymous with summer. In the fall, every time I tuck into a bowl of soupy noodles or pork bone soup it reminds me that winter is coming. So, what exactly do I associate with spring?

Salads come to mind – perhaps more from necessity as I attempt to shed the winter insultation that’s not needed when shorts and bikinis make an appearance. A recent meal from My Roti Place made me realize a veggie samosa evokes a spring feeling. I know, it sounds odd. For me, samosas are that bridge between the hearty winter (on account of the potato stuffing) and the promise of sun to come – just try not to smile when you see that lovely golden crust and colourful chutneys.

At My Roti Place, the filling of their veggie samosas ($5.95 for two) is even more reminiscent of spring: the potatoes are mashed and mixed with peas and other vegetables to create an airy light bite. Meanwhile, the wrapper is still a thicker variety that soaks in the oil – it would be great if these were drained a bit longer – so it’s not necessarily fully summer friendly.

Since it was my first visit, a classic roti seemed like a smart start, the shell is super thin and slightly chewy so that it helps hold together the thick saucy filling but melts away as you’re eating. These are a knife and fork eat as the saag paneer roti ($11.95) incorporated huge chunks of the soft Indian cheese and plenty of thick green spinach sauce that just tingles the tongue at the medium spice level – I think I can advance a step in my next order.

While the spinach-based roti was tasty, the mom’s classic curry was even better and will become my go-to sauce mixed with any protein - a safe combination is pairing it with chicken ($12.95). My Roti Place doesn’t skimp on the meat as there were large pieces of chicken breast scattered throughout.

I do need to figure out how to best re-heat the roti the next day. The go-to toaster oven method was decent and created a bit of crunch around the taller edges, but the centre was still so mushy. Maybe I’ll toast it in a frying pan next time to develop a crust on all sides.

The dinner arrived with complimentary fried chip rings (savoury with a hint of spice) and dessert. Normally, I’ve shy away from gulab jamun as they are too sugary for my liking. My Roti Place’s version is a perfect balanced ending – I can best describe it as an old fashion plain Timbit soaked in a sweet thin sauce, you’d associate with crème caramel. It’s absolutely delicious.

Our meal started with a sunny samosa and ended with a golden gulab jamun. It’s official, spring is in the air.