WHEN a pizza company brings out a pizza named after a seriously tasteless television program, all that was good about takeaway food has been destroyed. I mean can you imagine the ‘Burke’s Backyard Burger’ or the ‘Sex in the City shish kebab Wrap’?
WHEN a pizza company brings out a pizza named after a seriously tasteless television program, all that was good about takeaway food has been destroyed. I mean can you imagine the ‘Burke’s Backyard Burger’ or the ‘Sex in the City shish kebab Wrap’?
What is the world of takeaway coming to? It’s hard enough for me to get my head around the thought of facing a takeaway burger at the best of times (hangovers accepted), let alone getting on the blower and ordering a family size ‘Big Brother’. You half expect to see some acne-faced bloke with pink ears rocking up at your door step with a microphone attached and TV camera hiding in the background filming the next series of a new reality series titled ‘What the Jones’s eat during a week’.
So, where is takeaway food heading?
Back in the good old days, takeaway was a choice of pizza, fish and chips, dodgy Chinese or a frozen lasagna from the supermarket. Oh, and I do remember the occasional souvlaki from Café Grekko after the Steve’s Sunday session. These days, however, takeaway food has established an entirely new medium.
Gourmet takeaway food, or ready-to-go meals, has captured a market seeking a healthy alternative to the established fast foods currently available.
Following the success gourmet ready-to-go meals have enjoyed in America and Britain, we in Australia are now able to find a very good selection of these meals available in selected outlets across Perth.
Marks and Spencer’s in the UK have had amazing successes with a range of prepared or semi-prepared meals.
These meals are appealing to time-conscious corporate punters who find themselves far too busy and unable to drive a supermarket trolley. Or they simply can’t cook to save themselves, and know that, when entertaining guests, all they need to do is be able to recognise the ‘bing’ of the microwave before inviting guests to sit down and enjoy ‘their’ gourmet creation.
Pikey’s big brother team decided to get together one evening and road test some of the gourmet ready-to-go meals currently available in outlets such as Fresh Provisions, the various growers markets and some of the better decked out supermarkets.
We decided that the fairest system of rating these meals was simple to each vote out our least favourite meal until we had just one meal, the ultimate gourmet takeaway. Where do we get our ideas?
We had selected a range of meals, ranging from pasta to lamb shanks, and included one freshly cooked gourmet delight from Hot Box in Nedlands.
As the tasting and voting progressed it was evident that some of the selections were better off being used to kick-start the compost heap. There were, however, a few jewels you would welcome after a hard day’s work and a couple of minutes of nuking.
Pasta Fresca cannelloni proved to be an ample serving and, as an added bonus, had some flavour. The price was also appealing at $5.95.
Chanterel offered a wrapped pancake full of creamy chicken and mushrooms and, if it wasn’t for a few of Pikey’s big brother team members ganging up, this pancake could have gone all the way, especially for the price, $6.49
Lamonts city store entered the challenge with two offerings, one a pasta faftella pesto dish and the other was a mixed vegetable dish. The pasta dish was a little bland, but the vegetables hit the spot with a delightful mixed bag, including some tasty sweet potato. The only disappointment was the price, with most of the house agreeing that there wasn’t enough bang for your buck at $17.50 for a large serve.
Hot Box had the advantage of being the only cooked-to-order meal. The service was fast and efficient, and the dahl, the Thai fried noodles and Japanese beef with ginger were all well received. A few arguments broke out over the votes, but the general consensus was that that dahl and the beef got to stay another week. Costs were $6.50 for the dahl, and $9.90 for the noodles and beef.
Mount Street Café produced a stunning effort with its coq au vin. The dish had plenty of flavour, some spice, the meat was tender and the sauce was ample enough not to have dried out while still in the microwave. So good was the Mount Street Café’s effort that most would have been surprised to learn it came out of a container. Delightful at $10.29.
The Loose Box has a reputation second to almost none in Perth, and we would have been disappointed if the lamb shanks didn’t live up to expectations. The shanks were vacuum sealed into a bag that were placed into boiling water for just five minutes. We then cut of the top of the bag and out came the shank, together with a tomato-based sauce. The meat on the lamb shanks was very tender and the sauce rich and flavorsome. You could not have cooked this at home any better at $12.95.
In the the overall judging, the house members couldn’t go past the lamb shanks from the Loose Box, however, Mount Street gave those shanks a nudge. I do feel, however, that we have a way to go yet to match it with mentality of the US and Britain when it comes to this sort of food.
What is the world of takeaway coming to? It’s hard enough for me to get my head around the thought of facing a takeaway burger at the best of times (hangovers accepted), let alone getting on the blower and ordering a family size ‘Big Brother’. You half expect to see some acne-faced bloke with pink ears rocking up at your door step with a microphone attached and TV camera hiding in the background filming the next series of a new reality series titled ‘What the Jones’s eat during a week’.
So, where is takeaway food heading?
Back in the good old days, takeaway was a choice of pizza, fish and chips, dodgy Chinese or a frozen lasagna from the supermarket. Oh, and I do remember the occasional souvlaki from Café Grekko after the Steve’s Sunday session. These days, however, takeaway food has established an entirely new medium.
Gourmet takeaway food, or ready-to-go meals, has captured a market seeking a healthy alternative to the established fast foods currently available.
Following the success gourmet ready-to-go meals have enjoyed in America and Britain, we in Australia are now able to find a very good selection of these meals available in selected outlets across Perth.
Marks and Spencer’s in the UK have had amazing successes with a range of prepared or semi-prepared meals.
These meals are appealing to time-conscious corporate punters who find themselves far too busy and unable to drive a supermarket trolley. Or they simply can’t cook to save themselves, and know that, when entertaining guests, all they need to do is be able to recognise the ‘bing’ of the microwave before inviting guests to sit down and enjoy ‘their’ gourmet creation.
Pikey’s big brother team decided to get together one evening and road test some of the gourmet ready-to-go meals currently available in outlets such as Fresh Provisions, the various growers markets and some of the better decked out supermarkets.
We decided that the fairest system of rating these meals was simple to each vote out our least favourite meal until we had just one meal, the ultimate gourmet takeaway. Where do we get our ideas?
We had selected a range of meals, ranging from pasta to lamb shanks, and included one freshly cooked gourmet delight from Hot Box in Nedlands.
As the tasting and voting progressed it was evident that some of the selections were better off being used to kick-start the compost heap. There were, however, a few jewels you would welcome after a hard day’s work and a couple of minutes of nuking.
Pasta Fresca cannelloni proved to be an ample serving and, as an added bonus, had some flavour. The price was also appealing at $5.95.
Chanterel offered a wrapped pancake full of creamy chicken and mushrooms and, if it wasn’t for a few of Pikey’s big brother team members ganging up, this pancake could have gone all the way, especially for the price, $6.49
Lamonts city store entered the challenge with two offerings, one a pasta faftella pesto dish and the other was a mixed vegetable dish. The pasta dish was a little bland, but the vegetables hit the spot with a delightful mixed bag, including some tasty sweet potato. The only disappointment was the price, with most of the house agreeing that there wasn’t enough bang for your buck at $17.50 for a large serve.
Hot Box had the advantage of being the only cooked-to-order meal. The service was fast and efficient, and the dahl, the Thai fried noodles and Japanese beef with ginger were all well received. A few arguments broke out over the votes, but the general consensus was that that dahl and the beef got to stay another week. Costs were $6.50 for the dahl, and $9.90 for the noodles and beef.
Mount Street Café produced a stunning effort with its coq au vin. The dish had plenty of flavour, some spice, the meat was tender and the sauce was ample enough not to have dried out while still in the microwave. So good was the Mount Street Café’s effort that most would have been surprised to learn it came out of a container. Delightful at $10.29.
The Loose Box has a reputation second to almost none in Perth, and we would have been disappointed if the lamb shanks didn’t live up to expectations. The shanks were vacuum sealed into a bag that were placed into boiling water for just five minutes. We then cut of the top of the bag and out came the shank, together with a tomato-based sauce. The meat on the lamb shanks was very tender and the sauce rich and flavorsome. You could not have cooked this at home any better at $12.95.
In the the overall judging, the house members couldn’t go past the lamb shanks from the Loose Box, however, Mount Street gave those shanks a nudge. I do feel, however, that we have a way to go yet to match it with mentality of the US and Britain when it comes to this sort of food.
