dyton mupawaenda
Stan Higgins
A week of culinary treats was in store for me when I heard about a new meal delivery service in Harare called Home Cooked Meals.
I met the owners, Conal and Monique Selby, when they took part in the VAWZ potjie competition a few weeks earlier, an event I wrote about two weeks ago.
They had prepared two excellent entries into the competition and in chatting with them I discovered they had recently opened their business, which focuses on preparing lunch or dinner meals for delivery or collection.
They plan a series of meals for a month ahead and many of their customers are not just one-off buyers, but rather people who order for a week or even a month at a time.
Their social media platforms and printed fliers highlight the meals for the whole month and orders are placed, with the choice of collection or delivery up to the customer.
The Selbys deliver personally, with a focus area of Harare CBD, Newlands, Highlands, Msasa, Greendale, Mount Pleasant, Chisipite, and Borrowdale, but on the arrangement, they will go further.
Their menu has two lists, each geared to Monday to Friday operations. One is standard meals and the second is what they call health meals, usually for people with special dietary needs because of allergies or health concerns.
The orders can be prepared in several size options: single (250g), regular (350g), large (500g) or family (1.5kg).
Of course, variety is the spice of life and the plan for the month looks at the widest range of styles and content as they can achieve.
Instead of having a single meal, I had a set of meals from Monday to Friday, choosing three from the standard menu and two from the health list. They have two preparation and delivery cycles each day, one geared to lunchtime and the second to the evening meal, and I’m sure these two work hard for their living.
I found this whole concept very enterprising and interesting and I loved all the meals I had.
I also enjoyed a chance to have a chat with the couple, discovering something about their background and rationale for starting up.
Monday’s meal for me was stuffed bell peppers, made up of spiced sausage meat, beef mince, rice, mushrooms, spinach, tomatoes, onion, and cheese topping.
On Tuesday I had a double treat of the health-option grilled chicken with broccoli rice and green onion sour cream sauce and also the standard meal of butter chicken with basmati rice.
Wednesday was beef stroganoff with mashed potatoes, then Thursday yielded pork chop flavoured with garlic and Rosemary, accompanied by Brussels sprouts and broccoli.
On Friday I completed my week of treats with pasta and roast vegetables and pesto sauce.
I was thrilled with the selection and with both the taste and portion sizes, and I couldn’t help but feel the value to customers is huge.
If one shops, stores, cooks, and cleans up, their reasonable prices make this kind of option very competitive by comparison.
People need to order at least 24 hours in advance and many customers pre-book for the month or week ahead. Some people have their meals ordered for them by family abroad, who send through the payment to ensure their loved ones here are well fed.
Frozen meals are also on the menu and information on these is included in the Home Cooked Meals social media and fliers.
I love entrepreneurship and that certainly is the hallmark of this project I am impressed by the attention to detail and the flair for good presentation and quality content that I noted.
It’s wonderful, too, to see younger people entering the food trade and to see new ideas being floated.
I’m looking forward to my next chance to enjoy their products, something especially useful when there are busy work weeks that take you out of the house from before dawn to dusk or beyond, with no time to plan or even make meals. Home Cooked Meals is reachable on WhatsApp at 0777 510088.
What’s your favourite meal? Where have you had your best – or worst – dining experiences? I’d love to hear readers’ feedback on these and any topics. E-mail [email protected]
Online Reporter