Food is quite a thing around here & unless I’ve eaten a good home-cooked meal, I feel a bit sad. It doesn’t need to be fancy. Just hearty & healthy. Whenever we are away from home without the option to cook our own food, I even start craving cottage pie & broccoli (aka simple home-made food).
Lately, I’ve been seeing UCook everywhere & I simply had to try it. So for two weeks, I have been trying out UCook recipes & here is a little review for you. You can thank me later when you’re munching away on your delicious UCook food.
What Is UCook & How Does It Work?
UCook is basically a weekly subscription box of delicious pre-measured ingredients & recipes.
You simply go to the website, choose from nine seasonably inspired recipes every week, place your order & wait for your box with the recipes & all ingredients to arrive. Delivery is done weekly on a Monday (you choose one of two slots). UCook currently delivers to the whole of Cape Town, Joburg & Durban. They are also constantly expanding the delivery footprint so chances are good that they already deliver to your dorpie. Delivery can be done to homes or places of work.
First Impressions:
- I love the UCook look & logo. It is sleek & contemporary.
- The site was decent, but I found the final steps of the check-out were confusing. There was a point where I was honestly not sure if the transaction was approved.
- I ordered UCook for two weeks in a row, which means six meals in total. Four out of these were super delicious. They were Rosemary Chicken On Rustic Mash; Mediterranean Roast Chicken with baby potato & veg. My firm favourite was the Home Style Lamb Briyani – a Sarah Graham Recipe in conjunction with NOMU. I was skeptical about the Mexican Quinoa Bow, but it also turned out to be a winner.
- The Kidney Bean & Chorizo Soup did not do it for me though. I love the Chorizo & Bean Combo, but this one doesn’t get a thumbs up from me.
- The dish that I enjoyed least was the Seared Sirloin on a Swiss-style cabbage & carrot stew.
Why UCook Works:
- Sometimes you want to cook something a bit more interesting/decadent, but schlepping around to find all the ingredients & then buying large containers of things you might just need a pinch or a few milliliters of, is really a lot of work! UCook eliminates the search for ingredients.
- The delivery happened on time & the box looked lovely. The ingredients are fresh & nicely packed into brown paper packets so that you can just grab one from the fridge & start cooking.
- I love that UCook indicates the number of days within which you should use the ingredients.
- The cooking time indicated on the recipes are accurate.
- I did miss a bit of a personal touch during the delivery. Why am I saying this? Well, you might remember that until recently Yuppiechef included a personal note in each box/delivery. For me, a note or even a typed up letter or generic card would have been fabulous. Even just something with the first order to say “Yay for ordering UCook. Here’s to many more.”
Who UCook Is For:
- Couples/families that work really hard or are really busy, but still want to cook (together) & eat delicious home made food.
- Those who do not have the time to shop.
- Bachelors/singles. The two person portion is really generous, so you can have one portion in the evening & another portion for lunch. Way cheaper & healthier than eating takeaway.
- For those who are not extremely cash strapped. Based on 3 meals a week, the Bachelor meal works out at R103 per serving. For couples, it works out at R99 per serving (R84 for the vegetarian plan). The Family box offers 3 meals a week, serving 4 people, at R68 per serving.
Who Will It Not Work For?
- For those that are really strapped for cash.
- Families with small kids who are picky eaters, although low carb & vegetarian options are available.
- Really picky eaters. The recipes are developed by Cape Town chefs, but as I said, some of the flavour combo’s were rather unique.
- Anyone with major allergies & special diets. I suppose you can eliminate some of the ingredients, but that would be missing the point.
Will I Use UCook Again?
Yes.I’ll probably not opt for this option every week, but during busy times I will certainly order again.
Check out the UCook website, Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
How about you? Are you keen to try UCook? Have you tried it?
Yolandi ♥