Fine bytes for high steaks

Dinner for two with delivery £45.35

DELIVEROO Online

Deliveroo is the newest online delivery service to hit the streets of our capital. Their aquamarine jackets and scooters zipping through traffic to provide a better class of takeaway. The food we love direct to our door in as little as half an hour? It almost sounds too good to be true. Even the most stalwart of takeaway giants can’t promise service that quickly.

So we decided to put it to the test; and when better after a weekend of camping and The Man and I are too tired and muddy to go out in public.

This is obviously a slightly different review, a test to see if it really is possible to provide restaurant quality food to the home or office, rather than a review of an establishment. So we needed to order from a restaurant we had visited before that we would have a control sample to compare against in our experiment. We decided on Smoke Stack. The novelty of takeaway steak too tempting for our hungover bodies to pass up. I went for the 8oz rump, whilst The Man went a little more classic with a 10oz ribeye.

The Deliveroo website is nicely designed and easy to navigate. Sleek clean lines and that aquamarine which exudes the implication of freshness. It’s all mobile optimised and I’m surprised there is not yet an app for that, but I imagine it’s in the pipeline. Ordering is simple, putting in the postcode brings up a list of about 10 restaurants who deliver to the area. Certainly not a list to rival the quantity available elsewhere, but it’s early days and already there are a few places you’d never have dreamed of being able to eat at home. Delivery time for Smoke Stack is apparently 35 minutes. We place our order and start the clock.

I’m pleased to see that the restaurants don’t appear to have added any premium and the delivery charge of $2.50 also seems reasonable. Smoke Stack accepts the order and about 3 minutes later we get a phone call. How would we like our steak cooked? Medium rare please. So some small teething problems. A text box for allergy and delivery instructions will need to be implemented.

Twenty minutes have passed and the restaurant have played their part, it is down to the driver. He has 15 minutes to pick up and get to our door. Seven minutes later the bell rings, and as he runs up the last few stairs I’m astonished and a little impressed with how quick it was.

The steaks are eagerly unwrapped from their foil parcels and unceremoniously plated in our kitchen. So how does it compare? The simple answer is well. There may have been a slight issue with ordering steak, as obviously not reaching so high a temperature in the first place means it cools a lot quicker, but it is by no means cold, the chips are nice and hot and the cooking standard doesn’t appear to have suffered at all.

The dining area could definitely do with a hoover, and I’m not convinced that eating from your lap will take off, but it was a nice treat which is what a takeaway should be. I mentioned before I was glad there was no premium on the food, but after thinking about it is there? When eating out at a restaurant are we not also paying for the experience, service and the privilege of not clearing up afterwards? £40 for two top quality cuts of beef is not bad at all at a restaurant, but it starts to seem a bit steep when you’re elbow deep in suds later on. If you’re savvy about where you order from online it is quite possible to get restaurant quality food for half the price. Of course there is a plethora of greasy pizzas, undercooked chicken, dry burgers and cold chips; but there is also carefully crafted burritos, beautiful fresh Thai, truly authentic Italian and sumptuous old favourites. My point is that £45 for takeaway for two is almost too much. And if I’m restricted (for good reasons) to restaurants within a 10-15 minute drive, I’d rather just make the walk and receive the full experience, with a proper table and no washing up.

Food 4/5

Service 4/5

Time 5/5

Value 3/5

Final 4/5