From Bancone's rigatoni with black truffle to sparkling fresh seafood from Scotland via The Harbour Cafe and a Thai feast from AngloThai - we give a whole bunch of new meal kits and deliveries a go.
Poons Wontoneria
The finished wontons - scattered with spring onions and that amazing dressing.
What: Wontons from Poon's, delivered by Joy at Portobello
Ever since the Poon's Wontoneria was launched at Joy for Chinese New Year, it's been serving up weekend wontons for collection and delivery. The wontons in question come from Amy Poon and her father Bill, whose restaurant Poon's always had quite the reputation for its pork wontons. Now you can get these to cook up at home - there's always a pork version on offer, but you might also find seasonal additions like the current chicken and wild garlic versions.
They couldn't be easier to make either; we just popped ours into a pan of boiling water and a few minutes later they were ready to be sprinkled with the spring onions that are included, and doused in maybe the most addictive chilli vinegar sauce we've ever had the pleasure to try. Amy Poon says they're working on bottling that too - so look out for that.
How much: Each box is £18 for 16 wontons and also comes with a pot of chilli vinegar dressing.
Follow them on Instagram: @poons_wontoneria
Buy now: Order for delivery or collection online
Holborn Dining Room pies at home
The finished kit - everything you need for a proper pie day at home.
What: Pie dinners by Calum Franklin from Holborn Dining Room
It's not hyberbole to describe chef Calum Franklin as a pastry god - after all, his pastry creations have made the fortunes of his Holborn restaurant and turned him into an Insta star on the way. Now, those pies are available in meal kit form as part of the Rosewood Dine At Home service.
We tried the chicken, chestnut mushroom and tarragon pie which comes fully made - literally all you need to do is bung it in the oven. There are also sides of supremely buttery mash, heritage carrots and gravy which are all warm-in-bag jobs and can be heated up in the same pot, making this a very easy meal to assemble. Best of all it tastes even better than it looks - what we'd call a great, posh ready meal.
How much: £45 for two or £75 for four generous portions.
Follow them on Instagram: @holborndiningroom
Buy now: On the Rosewood Dine At Home site
The Harbour Café meal kits
Our meal from the Harbour Cafe (with a few add-on extras)
What: Meal kits from Harbour Cafe in Elie, Scotland
Chef Amie Elles represented Scotland in this year's Great British Menu. Her seaside restaurant in the East Neuk village of Elie in Fife may be a long way from London, but thanks to the joys of nationwide meal box deliveries you can still enjoy her food at home.
We tried the box for one which consisted of sourdough bread and butter, three huge prawns with marie rose sauce, half a lobster with seriously garlicky aioli and some Andalucian potato salad and East Neuk Market Garden green leaf salad & house dressing. To finish there was a lovely Tarta de Santiago. If the chances of you heading to the seaside anytime soon seem remote, then this great value box is a lovely taste of what you're missing. We particularly liked the bib and hand-drawn placemat from the restaurant that came with our delivery.
How much: £40 for one.
Follow them on Instagram: @theharbourcafeelie
Buy it now: on the Harbour Cafe at home website.
Pizza Pilgrims and Patty & Bun's Burgizza
The finished article - pizza and burger combine for the Burgizza!
What: Burger meets pizza
Two restaurants that have managed to very successfully move online are Patty & Bun who were one of the first to launch a burger kit and Pizza Pilgrims with their frying pan pizzas. And now they've joined forces to create the mighty Burgizza.
This is essentially two kits delivered together, with a recipe that lets you take ingredients from both of the boxes to create a meatball sub. For instance, the sub itself is elongated pizza dough while the meatballs are a mix of a burger, parmesan and brioche bun, covered in San Marzano tomato sauce.
it's a really fun kit to make and you can choose to make two huge subs or just the one - and still have plenty left over for both a burger and a pizza.
How much: £34.95
Follow them on Instagram: @pizzapilgrims and @pattyandbun.
Buy it now: on the Pizza Pilgrims website.
AngloThai's Songkran kit
The finished noodle dish. We're very pleased with how our crunchy fried noodles came out.
What: A Thai new Year dinner from AngloThai
Anglo Thai have teamed up with Restaurant Kits for this kit to celebrate Thai New Year - which takes place between 13-15 April.
There are two parts to the kit. First off are the amazing whiskey and soy pork skewers - just grill and dunk in the tamarind and chilli ‘jaew’ dipping sauce of theirs which we just adore.
Then it's onto the main event - ‘Khao Soi’ - Chiang Mai’s famous curried noodle dish. For this, you're roasting or grilling the chicken, boiling the noodles, warming the sauce and then pulling the whole dish together with garnishes. A great touch to this is that you keep some of the noodles back for frying - to create a crunchy noodle nest as the finishing touch. All that and it also comes with traditional Thai spoons and chopsticks and an AngloThai playlist.
How much: £38
Follow them on Instagram: @anglothai.
Buy it now: on the Restaurant Kits website.
Fallow's Corn ribs and burger box
Now that's what we call a good burger...
What: Corn ribs and burger box from Fallow
Named Hot Dinners readers' restaurant opening of the year in 2020, Fallow have been itching to get back to business and fill out their large terrace space with their loyal fans. But in the meantime, they've put two of their most popular dishes up for delivery - their burgers and corn ribs. Each are available in a variety of combinations and you can choose from meat or veggie burgers.
We opted for the meaty version - ours used beef from UK dairy cows supplied by Mr Txuleta and were, as a result, particularly tasty. The set comes with everything you need, including burger sauce, brioche buns and - for the corn ribs which you'll need to deep fry, kombu seasoning. We'd strongly advise you add in a bottle of their excellent Negroni to your order.
How much: From £40 for two people
Follow them on Instagram: @fallowrestaurant
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