This is Che’s first guest post on my blog (let’s hope more comes from his pen). He has become an addict of FreshMenu and has been ordering from them every chance he gets. Here’s his thoughts about them from when he first started out about 15 days ago… Please leave your comments, if for no other reason then just to make him feel good. :P
Written on July 30th 2015
Last evening I get a message from my local Electricity board engineer that they are going to pull the plug for most parts of today (nearly 8-9 hours). Starting 9pm I got into a frenzy working like a machine to finish a batch of Granola that had to go in the oven before the electricity gods took a break. The thing with putting anything in the Oven is, you spend a fair bit of time twiddling your thumbs waiting for the magic to happen. One aimless click led to another and there, I was on Freshmenu’s website. In the past friends had some good things to say about their service, food, blah blah. But..hey ! I live outside the city… In most cases I am out of “Coverage Area” which includes my Airtel mobile connection. I was thinking to myself “hmm..pretty cool service to have if I lived inside the city”.
What started out as an attempt to check the area they serve food to, ended up in me signing up on their website. The Website signup experience pretty much sucks compared to the same on their app.
Now that I’d signed up… I still couldn’t find details on which areas in Bangalore Freshmenu serviced. The photographer in me perked up to all the cool food images on their app and in an attempt to “test waters” I placed my first order for lunch at 12:30 in the night. I was pretty sure that I will either get a mail or a call in the morning saying “Sir, We don’t serve food to your area”. Selecting the Cash-on-Delivery option, I had nothing to loose.
10:10 am today I get my first call from Freshmenu. “Sir, Can you give us the landmark to reach your house please”. I was pretty sure even now that once I describe the jungle I live in, I will get the “Sorry Sir..”
My first surprise… ”You are a little far…but not that far from our Hennur Kitchen...we will send you your food soon”.
My second surprise came another 30 minutes later from the delivery personnel “Sir, I will be there a little early...Hope its fine by you”.
My third surprise..They were the first service provider who didn’t call me for directions and landed straight at my gate! Boom... I was completely bowled over! So was the wife... After a few customary images I got down to eating the food.
Asian BBQ grilled Chicken (Non Veg)
Rs. 250.00
Cinnamon, Star Anise mixed with beaten Lemon Grass, Galangal, Celery Stick, Kafir Lemon and sauteed. It is then added with BBQ sauce, chilli paste, dark soy and simmered for 15 mins to prepare the sauce. Boneless chicken is marinaded with the sauce, grilled and served with a drizzle of the same sauce and noodles. (Source)
The food was warm and well packed when it arrived. The chicken was juicy and grilled to perfection. I even fought off the wife from digging into my plate and licked the BBQ sauce clean. Lunch done by 1:00 pm… Burrrp...
5:30pm The wife and me agreed that we shall try Freshmenu again for dinner and see if things work out the same way. This time I paid up online and the whole ordering process was a breeze. 5 minutes from me placing the order, I got the customary “Where do you live Sir” call. I really hoped that post my last order a coupla hours back they should have known that.
6:00pm I get a call from the same delivery guy (Syed), stating that there was a little confusion over whether I was under the service area. He confirmed all is fine and the food will come a little late by 6:30pm (I was promised 7pm delivery when I placed the order).
6:30pm The food gets delivered on the dot… The gluttons we were, the wife and me under estimated the portions. Between two of us we ordered the following for dinner...
Tex-Mex Titanic Chicken Burger (Non Veg)
Rs. 250.00
An all-American jumbo burger with home-pounded chicken patty spiced up with chopped jalapeno and cumin. It is then layered with cucumber, tomato, lettuce and mustard mayonnaise and nestled between a sesame bun. (Source)
Greek Salad with Roasted Chicken (Non Veg)
Rs. 150.00
Earthy combination of garden fresh onion, cucumber, tomato, peppers graced with feta cheese and olives tossed in lemon vinaigrette. (Source)
Spicy Chicken Schnitzel Sandwich (Non Veg)
Rs. 200.00
Chicken breast marinated in salt, pepper, herbs and garlic which is then pounded, coated with bread and pan-fried. It is then layered with cucumber, tomato, English cucumber, iceberg lettuce and nestled within a home-made bread. Served with a house salad. (Source)
Summer in a Jar
Rs. 300.00
A bright arrangement of vanilla sponge topped with strawberry mouse and then strawberry crush, vanilla sponge, blueberry mouse and blueberry crush. Wait it gets better, on top of those layers, vanilla sponge topped with mango mousse and mango pulp. Before being closed it crushed nuts and cookies are sprinkled over it. (Source)
Everything was packed to perfection… A few pictures later, we were ready to dig in.
The wife’s Tex-Mex Titanic Burger was humongous!
My Schnitzel Sandwich was very good indeed. My only grouse was that the bread was a tad soggy and I couldn’t hold it while chomping away. The house salad that came along was fresh and crunchy! The Greek Salad with the Vinaigrette was spot on!
Summer in a Jar was outright sinful! We expected a tiny “jar” but it turned out to be quite big. I ate my half of the Jar at the end of my meal and Nirvana it was! The wife couldn’t get to the Summer in a Jar as she was stuffed by then.
We both were in a food coma at the end of our so called “light” dinner. At 900 bucks it was a tad pricy. But totally worth it for the great bistro quality food at my doorstep!
Overall… Freshmenu.com… Chapeau… You guys bowled me over every step in the process from the ordering to the grub hitting the spot bang on! You have a fan boy in me!
