Nothing excites this Derby foodie more than news of food service being augmented, which is why I couldn’t wait to check out Deliveroo.
If you want to know more about Deliveroo, check out my previous blog here. In a nutshell, the company delivers high end, restaurant and gourmet food to your home or office (as long as it’s within a 2.6km radius).
The website is really user friendly. When I punched in the postcode, it automatically threw up the list of restaurants that operate within that radius and time-zone. I love the website, which is clean, easy to navigate and if you change your mind on what to order, removing items from your basket is really quick. You choose a time-slot from the drop-down menu, pick what you want to eat, pay (there is a £2.50 fixed fee per delivery) and you’re off.
After a little deliberation (not much, we were hungry as hell), I excitedly placed an order from ASK Italian Restaurant in Derby. Described on the ASK website as a modern Italian serving long, stone-baked pizzas and antipasto on wooden boards, we couldn’t wait to check out contemporary, high-end food via Deliveroo.
What’s great about ordering via Deliveroo is that you’re kept up to speed every step of the way. From placing the order, to when it is dispatched, right up to when it arrives at your destination (in my case, my work office), the banner on the website considerately keeps you in the loop.
One of the key facets to consider when dining out is excellent customer service. Sure, the food has to be great but so does customer service and I couldn’t fault Deliveroo as the driver arrived bang on 1pm. He was polite, the epitome of courteous and having handed me my food, pedalled off merrily into the sunset.
Now, with Deliveroo, I was expecting restaurant ready food. The packaging was sturdy and easy on the eye. I was with the driver a few minutes tops, so food from the bike, to my desk was circa 3 minutes if that. We ordered:
2x Garlic Bread with Mozzarella
1x Salsiccia Pizza with Chillies
1x Insalata di Pollo e Pancetta Salad
2x Honeycomb Cheesecake
2x San Pellegrino Aranciata Rossa Blood Orange canned drink (which was also refreshingly gorgeous).
Total £51.90 (including £2.50 Roo Charge). NOTE: I was credited £50 from Deliveroo, the rest I topped up myself.
The food was lukewarm bordering on the verge of cool. When dining at a restaurant, you expect the food to be hot, and this was unfortunately not the case. I had to remind myself that Deliveroo is a service offering high end restaurant food, not just a regular take-away.
The quality of the food was decent. The garlic bread was average and my Salsiccia pizza was good (crisp base, delicious sauce and a generous amount of cheese). My colleague loved his salad, which was perfectly dressed. I managed to purloin a fork-full, and it was indeed very good. The seasoned chicken was tasty and the sweet mustard dressing sublime.
The taste of the honeycomb cheesecake was excellent. However, I felt disappointed (as did my colleague) by the cheesecakes’ presentation. Both pieces were placed in one box, with no separators and had got a little squashed in transit and chunks of the base appeared to have become lose and were scattered in the box. This was such a pity, as this is one of the best cheesecakes I have ever had.
One of the key points of Deliveroo, is the promise of delivering amazing food. If I was hosting a dinner party and I ordered restaurant food, I would expect it to be hot and presentable, with minimal handling. If I was served the Deliveroo take-away in a restaurant, I would have been sending back the tepid garlic bread and slightly battered cheesecake. It’s a pity, because I really wanted to enjoy Deliveroo. From a customer service point of view, it’s amazing. From a food aspect, it really needs to address the heating and food presentation issues.
Would I order via Deliveroo again? Maybe in the future, when it has addressed the aforementioned issues. I am still dreaming about ASK’s delicious cheesecake, but I may just walk down and eat it in the actual restaurant (which is circa 7 minutes away on foot).
For more information about Deliveroo, please go to website www.deliveroo.co.uk now.