When I was a child, I hated orange marmalade. I associated it with hard toast and tea at my grandmother’s friends homes. I felt those old ladies were cheap and wouldn’t spring for the good stuff, strawberry or raspberry jam.
Now that I’m old myself, I know better. There is nothing quite as delicious as the bittersweetness of a good orange marmalade. A good orange marmalade is complex, outrageously bitter – a stand in for the biggest tragedies in life -, while bright and sweet – for the nicest memories. For two decades now, orange marmalade has been my favorite.
While I love orange marmalade, I’m not a big jam eater in the first place, so I didn’t have any at hand when I decided to make a roasted lamb recipe that called for it. Rather than go for my usual grocery store marmalade, I decided to do a bit research as to what is considered the best orange marmalade out there. Surprisingly, it’s not always the fancy brands. Wilkin & Sons ‘Tiptree’ Orange marmalade might look fancy – because it comes from England, it has a weird name and an old-fashioned label -, but in England it sells for just $3.70 for the 12 oz bottle (at today’s exchange rate). Of course, it was over twice as much in the US – $8 at Amazon, to be exact – but that was actually less than many other imported marmalades.
Unlike American – and other imported – marmalades, this one lists only two ingredients: sugar and seville oranges. It has plenty of slices of orange peel and a rather thick consistency. It’s very adult and absolutely delicious. It is a tad too sweet, but just a tad. Despite its low original price, it feels like a high quality marmalade. I like it.
Some weeks ago, my husband and I decided to go on a lunch date and thought we’d give Farmhouse Kitchen a try. We had been there before, during the pandemic, and had had a lovely lunch on the patio – except for the noise from the construction next door. The restaurant had closed and reopened since, and we were hoping to have better luck – though as the weather was turning, we figured we’d have to eat inside this time. As it happens, Farmhouse Kitchen in San Leandro – part of a small chain – has turned into Farmhouse Kitchen Express and they no longer have indoor dining – the whole of the restaurant has turned into a kitchen. Indeed, they don’t even have waiters or even checkers to take your order: you have to order and pay online (better have a credit card). They do have a terminal in the restaurant you can use to order, however, though it’s a little bit clunky.
We did hang out in the patio while we waited for our order, and it’s nice-enough, though it seems in need of care. Of course, this has been a very rainy spring, so they might be waiting for the weather to turn nice before they work on their patio (I know that’s what I’ve been waiting for myself). Weather you eat there or not, the food comes in to-go containers.
I got the yellow curry with rice ($16) with beef ($4). It was good, but a bit on the spicy side. The curry that depth and it was well developed, but it wasn’t anything extraordinary. I think for the price, it should have been better. I also got a couple of crispy roti ($3) to go with it, and these were pretty good but they were swimming in oil. They were crispier and denser than others I’ve had, but they were still very nice with the curry. The oil, however, made limited how much of them you could eat.
Mike had the roti mataba ($15), a “crispy roti stuffed with curried potato and ground chicken,” which came with yellow curry, ajad (Thati cucumber salad) and a samosa. He enjoyed all of them very much. They were too spicy for my taste, but I’m a lightweight.
He also had the pad thai ($15), which comes with shrimp. He thought it was quite good for a pad thai, though nothing mind blowing.
In all, we felt the quality of the food was pretty high, but also that the prices were on the high-side and not really justifiable for take-out food. We probably wouldn’t go back, given other alternatives in town. But if we did go, we’d order from home first.
This Hayward Unicorn serves delicious and very affordable Indian food.
Shahi Darbar is one of the many restaurants which opened in suburbia towards the end of the pandemic, though I only learned about it a few weeks ago when I started researching restaurants to go with my friend group this month. I tend to look for restaurants close to San Leandro that are reasonably priced, vegetarian friendly and get good reviews. Shahi Darbar fit all of those requirements. And, indeed, it was a great choice. The food was delicious, the service excellent, and it was cheaper than most of its competitors.
My friends and I visited Shahi Darbar on a Wednesday evening. They don’t take reservations, but we didn’t need one. The restaurant is large and was relatively empty – they do seem to do quite a bit of to-go business, however. The menu is quite ample, including not only the Indian staples you get at all Indian restaurants in the West Coast, but a wider array of appetizers, breads, kebabs and vegetarian dishes (don’t miss the ones listed as “meals”), in addition to Indo-Chinese specialties. They also have monthly specials which includes dishes that I’d never heard of before. What they don’t have, very unfortunately, is my favorite: pasanda.
We started dinner by sharing two orders of fish pakora ($15). The little pieces of fish were very good. The breading was very crispy, perhaps a tad too salty but very flavorful. The fish had that melt-in-your-mouth quality that makes this dish so wonderful. We all enjoyed it.
I had the lamb korma ($15). It was probably the least successful dish of the evening, mostly because it was unlike what Indian restaurants in the West Coast usually serve as such. Kormas here are usually nut forward, creamy and with mild, somewhat fruity flavors. This dish tasted far more like a tikka masala sauce. It was average-to-good as that, but it’s not what I was expecting or wanted. The lamb itself was a bit tough, so probably from a leg rather than shoulder, but it was well cooked. I did order a chicken tikka masala ($14) to go, and this one was, surprisingly, nuttier (both in flavor and texture) and crispier, though it also lacked sweetness. I liked it better than the korma, however. Both dishes were ordered mild but they had a kick to them. It was fine for us, but it wouldn’t be for someone who can’t handle any spice.
Mike had the butter chicken ($14). He was very happy with it, and would give it an 8-9 in a 10-point scale. That’s quite generous, for him. I wouldn’t go as far as that, but I thought it was pretty good. I definitely liked it better than the korma. This one did taste like a butter chicken sauce. He ordered it “medium” but it was probably on the mild side of that, barely more spicy than our other two mild curries.
My friends Elektra and Donovan both had the Shahi Darbargoat curry ($15), one of their specialties. They both seemed to like it well enough, but I didn’t taste it.
Parker ordered the bhindi masala ($12), which included okra, onions and other vegetables, and she was very, very happy with it. She thought it was delicious.
But it was Katrina, who ordered the chole bhature ($13), a dish of puffed up bread served with a chickpea curry, who was the happiest. Indeed, she was close to deigning this dish the best thing she’d ever eaten. It was the combination of the flavorful curry with the bread that made it work so well. I wouldn’t be surprised if she became a regular for this dish alone.
We also got jeera rice ($5, for a portion large enough for two) and a bunch of butter nan ($3 each), which were pretty average but did their job.
I had a very tasty sweet lassi ($5), which seems to be sweetened by some red syrup. Whatever it was, it was good, if a tad sweet.
In all, we had a very good meal and we closed the place down – we only felt a tad guilty, but we did leave when they turned the lights on. The restaurant itself is quite plain – the darkness does help give it an ambiance -, but comfortable. Service was very attentive. We learned that they will do individual bills, if you tell them before you order.
In all, though we have several closer Indian restaurants to us, I’m sure we’ll return.
Shahi Darbar 26953 Mission BLVD , Suite F Hayward, CA (510)363-9286
This year marks the 25th anniversary of my international food project. For twenty five years, I’ve been exploring cuisines alphabetically. And yet, after such a long time I’ve only gotten through the K’s. As I enter my late 50’s, it’s clear that this project will never be finished – though perhaps my daughters one day will take it on themselves.
I am thus both celebrating the end of the “K’s,” while making a change in the project. From now on, I’ll prioritize national cuisines – in the hope of at least being able to get through those before I die. I’ll still cook regional, ethnic and historical dishes – but not as often. I’d already started doing just one dish from these non-national cuisines, and I’ll mostly continue on that vein.
I also explored the cuisine of the Kachin people in the Burmese highlands, of Kashubian-Canadians and Korean-Americans and of the Kurdish people and Kurdistani Jews. Finally, I explored K-Mex cuisine, a fusion of Korean and Mexican that is having a moment in Southern California.
I’m not a big fan of pork, but I need to get some to make some Latvian meatballs as part of my international food project. I saw this New York Style Sausage Company Ground Pork on sale at Safeway, but something made me suspicious. Upon close examination of the photo, I realize that this product says “No preservatives” and then, under very small letters, hard to see in the blurry photos online, it lists the ingredients in the package: pork, sodium lactate and lemon juice concentrate. And what are sodium lactate and lemon juice?, you might ask. Preservatives.
I’m not sure what the point of this deception is, but the fact that they are so obviously deceitful makes me just not want to buy items from this company.
The restaurant of the Berkeley City Club was designed by and named after Julia Morgan, but does the food match the architecture?
Another trip around the sun, another anniversary, another quest for a restaurant to visit. Mike wanted French. I wanted to stay in the East Bay. I came upon Julia’s. Again. I’ve considered dining there so many times, that I couldn’t actually recall whether we had been there before. I resorted to looking through emails and old photos to see if we had. We hadn’t. So I made a reservation.
During my freshman year in college, many decades ago by now, I lived in a dorm a mere half a block away from the Berkeley City Club. I was curious about it then, and remained though the decades, but never had an opportunity or a reason to go inside. The building, designed in a medieval style, not unlike that of Heart castle, Julia Morgan‘s most famous building, is beautiful. Being ignorant of architectural terms, I can’t quite describe it but anyone interested can surely find many pictures online. It has an indoor pool that while lacking the magnificence of the ones in San Simeon, still evokes them. I’m considering spending a night at the hotel just to be able to swim in it.
Julia’s is located in the second floor (stairs and elevators available), in a rather small room with a beautiful fireplace and medieval tapestries hanging around it. There are windows on both sides of the room, though we didn’t quite manage to seat by one of them. The clientele seems to be mostly older people – though that includes us now. I remember how, in my earliest reviews back in the 90’s, I used to feel conspicuous for being young.
Dinner started with bread and butter (quite good), and we then shared the Country Style Pork Cognac Pâté ($19), which came with a small undressed salad, fig jam and mustard. The paté was really good. It didn’t really worked very well with the fig jam, the flavors didn’t quite vibe together, but the fig jam was good on its own. We both remarked at how much we enjoyed this appetizer – and I think it was probably the highlight of the evening. I can’t imagine they make the paté in house, and I wish I knew where they got it.
I had the Duck à l’Orange ($37), and this was a big disappointment. It was beautifully presented, mind you, but it failed in all levels. The duck itself consisted of two thick slices of duck breast, served on the rare side. It was on the tough side and had very little flavor of its own. The orange sauce could have been anything, it didn’t particularly taste of oranges, and while it gave the duck very needed moisture and seasoning, it wasn’t what I’d call “yummy”. The fondant potatoes it came with were tasteless, dry, dense and crumbly. There wasn’t enough sauce to eat them with, and by themselves they were a waist of time. I did enjoy the single piece of leek I found, but I’m not a fan of endives, and this one did not change my mind. In all, this dish was a failure.
Mike fared better with his Grilled Veal Chop ($39). It was well cooked and tasty, flavorful and tender. He appreciated it wasn’t incumbered by any sauces – the red wine sauce on the side was very light and didn’t overwhelm the meat. He also liked the veggies it was served with, a mixture of De Ciccio broccoli, trumpet mushrooms, baby carrots and zucchini. He appreciated the variety of textures they brought to the meal, and that their light taste didn’t compete with that of the veal. Finally, he really liked the little potato grain muffin he got, he found it very tasty – as did I.
For dessert, I had the Orange Cake ($13), which came with a tiny amount of poached oranges, crème fraîche and a bit of caramel. I actually enjoyed it. This was another very adult (read, old person’s) dessert. There wasn’t much sweetness to it, which I wouldn’t have been able to deal with, but it did have the orange flavor I missed in the sauce for the duck. The cake itself was very crumbly, it fell apart in each bite, and on the dry side but it worked. The crème fraîche added moisture while further taming the sweetness. I was happy.
Service was quite attentive, and despite my duck, we had a very good time. Our reservation was at 6:30 PM midweek, and I’d recommend this time for both commuting north into Berkeley and for finding a parking spot close to the restaurant.
This Hayward Himalayan restaurant has very good food
Last night, my friends group got together for our periodic “girls night out” – which now includes “boys” from time to time – and we decided to try The Gurkha Kitchen in Hayward. It had reviews, the prices were reasonable, and it’s relatively close. I’m glad we did, we were all very happy with the food, the service and the experience. I didn’t take photos, however, as I didn’t want to impose my hobby on my friends.
The Gurkha Kitchen serves Himalayan and Indian cuisine and has four locations in the Bay Area. The restaurant in Hayward is relatively small and pretty informal but pleasant enough for a casual dinner. They seem to have an outdoor space but it was a chilly night.
We started by sharing the fish pakora ($12) and buffalo momos ($16) appetizers. They were both served from the kitchen pipping hot. The fish pakora came in two-bite chunks. It had the right amount of breading and the fish was nicely seasoned. It was, however, pretty spicy – it left my mouth numb, though I have quite a low tolerance for heat. I’d order it again. I was quite impressed by the buffalo momos. These were larger and a different shape than the momos I’ve usually had and had a good amount of very tasty filling. The dough was chewy and thin, perhaps made with rice flower?, and it came with a bright and creamy “momo chutney” that we all enjoyed.
I hesitated between ordering the gurkha chicken ($18) and the Kashmiri lamb ($20). I was intrigued by the former as I don’t think I’ve had it before. However, I’m not a fan of bones in my curries and this included bone-in chicken. The Kashmiri lamb, however, was boneless so I ordered that – as did my friend Donovan. The Kashmiri lamb had a tomato based curry and omitted dairy. It was quite tasty, with the right amount of spiciness for me. It wasn’t quite as good as my yougurt-based rogan josh, however. The curries are served with plain rice.
Parker ordered the Thakali Thali Goat ($21) which came with small servings of goat curry, raayo ko saag (mustard greens), kalo dal (split black lentils), vegetable, rice, and achar (a condiment made with pickled veggies). She was very pleased with all the food and couldn’t finish it.
Aamani had the Aloo Bodi Tama ($15), I believe. She also quite enjoyed it.
We didn’t get drinks, but they have complimentary unsweetened chai which two in our party enjoyed.
We also got some butter and garlic nan. The butter nan didn’t seem to have any butter on it – not that I minded – and it was thinner than most nans I’ve had.
Service was very friendly and we enjoyed our time there. They also have a lunch buffet for $15, which includes momos on weekends. I’m sure we’ll try it.
A second visit to this popular San Leandro brewery
Last week, we met our friend William at Fieldwork Brewing in downtown San Leandro for a long awaited catch up. It’s amazing how time flies.
William suggested Fieldwork as he frequents its Berkeley location and we were game. Mike and I tried it a year or two ago, with our friend Elektra, and while we weren’t impressed by its expensive pizzas, we did appreciate the patio-like atmosphere.
Fieldwork is a small but expanding chain of tap rooms situated in the Bay Area and surrounding counties. They offer a wide variety of beer as well as pizza and other bites. The San Leandro location is at the Washington Plaza, in front of the downtown Safeway. It features a large enclosed patio, with both picnic-style tables and benches and lounge-type chairs around gas fire pits. It’s open air, though they have a retractable roof they can close down when it rains. They also have some indoor table and bar seating.
We were there before dinner time, so we just got some beers and appetizers. William had a tasting of 3 beers, and I went for a 1/2 glass of Hills & Valleys American pilsner ($5), which I enjoyed very much. It was a bright, easy to drink but balanced and flavorful pilsner, without the bitter tones often found in this style of beer.
We shared some Honey Calabrian Wings ($16), which were very spicy and quite messy. They probably weren’t sweet enough, but they weren’t bad. the portion was quite generous (or we weren’t that hungry).
We also got the Brussel sprouts ($13) and they were a hit at the table. They were nicely caramelized.
We had the pizzas once before and we also felt they were OK but overpriced – their small pizzas are $19 to $25. They are now offering all their pizzas in “Detroit style,” with a thicker crust, so I might enjoy them more. I’m usually not a fan of “Neapolitan style” thin crust pizza, their other choice.
What annoys me most about Fieldwork is their ordering system. You have to scan a code and order and pay online. You can also go into the restaurant and order at the bar, but of course that means waiting in line (if there is one). Waiters bring your food and drinks, but if you need anything you need to go inside the restaurant to get it.
Fieldwork Brewing 100 West Juana Avenue, San Leandro, CA (510) 564-4298
This meal delivery service has a complete new concept, but does it work?
I have been using Locale for about a year. In its original concept, it delivered meals prepared by local restaurants for you to reheat. Then, a couple of weeks ago, Locale announced that it was changing concepts altogether. Rather that delivering restaurant-prepared meals, it would prepare the meals themselves. They promised the meals would be “healthier” and they raised both meal prices and the price of delivery. They seem to want to compete with Factor, rather than with a local service such as Shef.
I tried the new concept – mostly because I still had over $100 in a gift certificate I needed to use – and while we liked a couple of meals, the lack of selection and the price led me to unsubscribe.
How it works
You subscribe to Locale and choose a plan of 4 to 12 individual meals to be delivered. You choose the specific meals you want to get by Friday and they are delivered to your house the following Monday.
Cost
The cost of each meals varies by how many you are subscribed to get. This ranges from $18.50 per meal when you subscribe to get 4 to $15 when you are subscribed to get 12. Delivery is an additional $10, and you need to pay a $1 deposit for the glass jars the meals come in. My initial 6-meal order came to $116.50 or about $19.50 per meal. That’s equivalent to a meal at a regular restaurant. There is no tax, however, as the meals are delivered cold.
Packaging & Delivery
The meals come in glass jars, which are placed in a cooler with a cardboard divider. A freezer pack keeps them cold. Locale picks up the cooler and jars when it delivers a new order.
The Food
Locale offers only 20 meals which change monthly. I’d describe the meals as falling within modern American cuisine. Locale advertises the meals as being high in proteins – and they do have generous portions of meats, so I believe that is true. Several of the meals I got, however, were also very high in starches – which are not particularly healthy. In all, these are large plates of food, though probably not large enough for two meals.
Locale also advertises the ingredients as being organic and the meats as being “pasture raised, grass fed, wild caught,” – but I take this claim with a grain of salt. For example, their chicken might be organic, but it’s not “pasture raised,” – it comes from Petaluma Poultry, a factory farming operation which doesn’t offer pasture raised chicken and has been accused of animal abuse. Its “Rocky” and “Rosie” brands are available at supermarkets.
How long the food keeps
Each meal had a “best buy” date which was 3 to 5 days after delivery. Everything was still fresh when we consumed it within this time period.
Making changes & cancelling
While their website is sparse and annoying to use – sometimes requiring multiple log ins -, making changes is quite easy. You can change how many meals your subscription to a smaller or larger amount of meals – the latter brings down the per-meal price. You can also easily skip weeks.
Cancelling was easy but confusing. When you go to the cancel page, there is a button that says “Pause my subscription”. If you click on it, it gives you a choice to “cancel,” instead. However, if you choose “cancel,” it takes you to another page. The trick is to not click on that button and simply provide the reason for cancelling.
Customer Service
Customer service has been pretty good, they respond by e-mail within a couple of days.
The Meals
Sesame Crusted Wild Tuna with Cold Peanut Soba Noodle Salad and Bok Choy
My husband enjoyed this dish very much. The salad had a variety of textures, which were brought together by the tasty, spicy peanut sauce. While the sauce was spicy in itself, it mellowed when mixed in with the rest. The tuna was flavorful and fresh, and this was overall a good dish. My husband thought it was worth the price, given that it was a generous portion.
Thai Organic Chicken Coconut Curry with Bone Broth Brown Rice and Thai Basil Leaves
This was another disappointing dish. The curry was light, bright and tasty, but ultimately underdeveloped. It didn’t reach the yuminess of your run of the mill Thai yellow curry. The chicken was cooked separately, and cut into very small pieces, probably to disguise its dryness and lack of flavor. The problem is that it then had no texture to add to the dish. The brown rice was fine. I did like the basil leaves on top, they added an extra element of freshness to the dish, but it probably could have used more. While the portion was sufficient, in all I felt this dish was too expensive for what it was. For the same price, I can get a much yummier yellow curry at any Thai restaurant.
Organic Chicken and Green Tea Piccata with Bone Broth Barley Risotto, and Roasted Rainbow Carrots
This dish was almost identical to the Thai chicken dish above, except that it came with a “green tea piccata” sauce, and it had carrots and spinach leaves instead of basil. The chopped chicken breast was the same, probably from the same batch, but here the sauce was too thin and too sparse to actually hide the dryness and lack of flavor of the chicken. The carrots were fine, but the raw, undressed spinach leaves added nothing. Who wants to eat raw spinach leaves? I did like the piccata sauce, even if I couldn’t really tell it had green tea in it, but there wasn’t enough of it to soak all of the rice in addition to the chicken. And once again, this was a very starch heavy dish – which makes it not at all healthy. I’m afraid I’ll be hungry again once my body processes all the sugars in the starches. I’d definitely not order this again – indeed, I only ate it because I was hungry and I had already paid for it (and almost $20!). I definitely wouldn’t order it again.
Grass-Fed Steak Fajitas Salad Bowl with Avocado Tomatillo Crema
I wasn’t fond of this dish, but this is partly my fault. I should have looked more carefully at the ingredients before ordering it. The main problem was that I am not a fan of most of the ingredients in the salad. I find lettuce hearts too crunchy, raw bell peppers and raw onions too strong and I just don’t like the texture of black beans. The tomatoes, which I normally do like, weren’t ripe enough. The avocado tomatillo crema was pretty good, but too spicy for me. Probably my favorite part of the salad were the pepitas.
As for the meat, when I read “fajitas,” I expect slices of medium-rare skirt or flank steak. That’s what was shown in Locale photo of this dish. Instead, I got cubes of what I think is probably top round – the meat was pretty lean, but it lacked the fiber and the chewiness I like in beef. The marinade was pretty tasty, however. This is not a dish I’d order again.
Grass Fed Steak Plate with Roasted Rainbow Carrots, Heirloom Marble Potatoes, and Chimichurri
Locale has been selling a similar dish out of its Tenderleaf kitchen, so there weren’t many surprises here. First, there was a lot of food. The portion of steak was perfectly adequate for dinner, and there were enough carrots and potatoes to feed an army. The few spinach leaves, however, seemed to be there pro forma.
Unfortunately, both the steak and “veggies” were unseasoned (or severely underseasoned); I’m someone who prefers to salt food before it’s cooked. The steak was tender and chewy enough, without having too much gristle, but I really didn’t like the taste. The chimichurri did a god job of hiding it, but what’s the point of eating steak then? The chimichurri sauce was fine, it had that acidic tone that most American chimichurris have, but there was nothing to complain about it. In all, it was a competent meal if not particularly noteworthy. I wouldn’t order it again, because it’s simply not worth the price and because pan grilling a steak is very easy and gives you better results.
Puerto Rican Grass Fed Beef Shepherd’s Pie with Okinawa Sweet Potatoes and Arugula Salad
This was an interesting dish. I wouldn’t classify it as a “shepherd’s pie” as it wasn’t a pie and didn’t have mashed potatoes; it was more of a picadillo mixed in with sliced sweet potatoes, peas and other undistinguishable ingredients. It had a gritty, interesting texture that my husband liked better than I. The flavor, however, was all there. It was bright and citrusy and very balanced. The arugula came with a lemon curd vinaigrette which was also pretty tasty. In all, a pretty good dish. My husband would order it again.
I have unsubscribed from Locale and don’t expect to try it again, given their very high prices.
I just tried Gobble again and it hasn’t changed too much in all these years. I’ve updated my original review from 2019.
Of all the meal kits out there, Gobble may just be my favorite. The food is very good and it can be prepared in about 15 minutes. They accomplish this by using simple recipes and sending you some pre-cooked (lentis, rice). That convenience has a price, and Gobble has among the highest prices in the industry. Still, if I could afford it, I’d probably stick with Gobble because it gives you the satisfaction of mostly cooking a meal, without the necessary expenditure of time. Plus they have a good selection of international fare.
The Plans
Gobble offers plans for 2 or 4 people. You can order as few as 2 meal kits a week or as many as you want. Cost is $15 a serving (or $17 if you only order 2 meal kits) – that is $30 per kit for 2 or $48 per kit for 4. You also have to pay $10 shipping, regardless of how many kits you order. Thus, the standard plan of 3 meals for 2 people per week costs $100.
As other companies, Gobble usually offers discounts for its first week. Currently, you can get two meals for two for $18 with my referral link (and I’d get a $20 credit if I happened to be subscribed when you use it).
Gobble also offers lunch and breakfast subscriptions, but I haven’t tried them.
The Food
Gobble offers mostly American and European food with some Asian, Indian and Mexican choices. They have numerous beef, chicken, seafood and vegetarian (but not necessarily vegan) choices every week. The dishes do take about 15-20 minutes to put together and most were quite tasty.
The dishes are simpler than those offered by other premium meal kit companies, but the ones I had were nice enough. Cooking speed is also achieved by sending some ingredients pre-cooked, you just have to warm them in the microwave. These precooked ingredients (rice, lentils, roasted sweet potatoes) were surprisingly tasty. Indeed, my daughter thought the rice was the best part of the vegan meal she had.
Pre-roasted sweet potatoes sent by Gobble
Ingredients seem to be fresh and of good quality, though I had some issues years past. Instead of one or two steaks for one of the recipes, I received beef slices – which made cooking them according to the instructions difficult. I contacted customer service and they gave me a $15 credit, which was nice.
Ingredients for one of the meal kits
Another problem – one that seems ubiquitous with meal kits – was that the portions of meats/seafood sent were of different size and shapes, meaning that you could not cook them at the same temperature without burning one. This I found annoying. This problem seems to be ongoing years later.
One piece of tuna was long and thin, while the other one was small and twice as thick.
Finally, some recipes require the use of multiple pans, though you can modify them so you only use one at the time, albeit that takes longer. As someone without a dishwasher, minimizing the number of pots and pans I use is a priority for me.
The Shipping and Delivery
I was now able to get my meals on a Monday. They were promptly delivered in the morning and I got a text when they arrived.
The Packaging
The kits come in a recyclable cardboard box, just like those from other meal kit companies. They contain non-recyclable insulating material and freezer packs that have to be discarded in the trash.
Inside the box most of the ingredients come in plastic bags organized by recipe. Cold ingredients are at the bottom of the box, between freezer packs.
The Results
I found that the recipes I made in my last order, in 2025, were not significantly different than those in years past.
Caramel-Glazed Cobia with Coconut Rice & Chinese Broccoli
This was a perfectly pleasant dinner. It felt a little bit rushed to cook, but it was simple to prepare and the results were very good. The coconut rice was tasty, the fish well portioned and boneless and the vegetables were fresh. But this dish was all about the prepared teriyaki sauce it came with and that you use to cook the fish with and the four over the whole meal – and the sauce was very good. The vegetables added some crunch to the meal, so it was multi-textured as well, and I liked that the fish was meatier than some. All in all I’d have it again.
Flat Iron Steak with Sugar Snap Peas, Sherry Vinaigrette, & Goat Cheese
I was disappointed by this dish. The steaks were pretty small but, more problematically, tough and with too much gristle. The fennel rub didn’t do anything to enhance the flavor which was pretty mediocre. The rest of the dish tasted only of the pungent sherry vinaigrette, which was too acidic and not particularly tasty. After plating it according to instructions (or as close as I could), I had to rescue the mushrooms from the salad
In all, I was pleased with Gobble. Most of the recipes weren’t mind blowing, but they were good to really good and quick/easy to prepare. I particularly liked their steaks (which don’t have a premium price). However, it’s the high price that would keep me from subscribing to Gobble. At over $30 per meal for two, this is only a few dollars less than the price of takeout, and with takeout I get leftovers. It seems a particularly low value if you are not eating steak and tuna.
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