Somewhere between a takeaway and a real-life restaurant experience, meal kits or menu boxes are an easy way to create a special occasion at home during Lockdown. Perfect for date night (or just yourself if you enjoy your food), they range in price and quality but are unified by being simple to prepare yet marvellous to eat. We’ve included as many as we can, and we’ll try and keep this list updated for the next couple of weeks. Many sell out, so if there’s one you like the look of, it’s worth clicking through and finding out about the next release date. Particularly good value options right now include the Hawksmoor Ribeye Box (with pudding, £85, down from an earlier release of £120) and Six by Nico’s Bangkok Box with wine (£60). Let’s dive in…
Adam Reid, Chef Patron of The French at The Midland and Great British Menu winner, is offering us mere mortals the chance to prepare his divine creations at home. This week’s menu is the first offered and, no surprise, its already sold out. Keep an eye on his website for the next release. Dishes could include lightly cured chalk stream trout, Goosnargh duck breast and confit leg with spiced pear and red wine sauce, duck fat roasted potatoes and gourmet hot chocolate cake with a jammy orange salad. Heavenly stuff.
Following the release of the original Hawksmoor at Home box in July (read our story here), Manchester’s finest steak and cocktail establishment has expanded its ‘at home’ range to include canned and bottled cocktails (the Ultimate Martini is honestly the best thing we’ve drunk all year, but from the Fuller Fat Old Fashioned to the Sour Cherry Negroni – they’re all winners) and even more meal boxes. Recent additions include the Rib Eye box with Sticky Toffee Pudding (£85), the canned cocktail collection (£28) and individual cocktail bottles (£12 each). What’s more, their Festive Boxes (both with alcohol (£165) and without (£105) contain everything you need for a luxury seasonal meal, including Hawksmoor smoked salmon, British fillet steaks, ultimate oven chips, bone marrow gravy and more. Hello, Christmas.
Whether you love or hate the Manc brand which launched back in 2012, there’s no denying their burgers are extraordinary. To prove our point, round one of their ‘At Home’ offer sold out in minutes earlier this week – and round two goes back on sale this Saturday (13 Nov). If you’re craving Manchester’s original ‘dirty’ burger, keep that finger on refresh.
Famously good value, Manchester’s Six by Nico restaurant is now offering an ‘at home’ spin off of its changing theme restaurant experience. This month’s Thai inspired menu kit is perfect for taking a little trip from the comfort of your own home. Four course for two include Crispy Pork Pad Thai, Tom Yum soup, super-aged Dutch Landana 500 cheese with a pineapple and nigella chutney (this sounds amazing), Cardamom and toasted coconut rice pudding and more – plus a bottle of wine to share.
- Words:
- Ruth Allan
- Published on:
- Tue 10 Nov 2020
Higher Ground is a contemporary restaurant concept and the brainchild of Joseph Otway, former head chef at Stockport’s award-laden restaurant and hyper-local-sourcing-champion, Where The Light Gets In. Other team members join Otway from Simon Rogan’s Fera and beyond, making this a genuinely high-end experience. The restaurant opened at Kampus in early 2020 and has been the resident ‘pop up’ restaurant at Ducie Street Warehouse since September.
They are currently offering a ’29 Minute Meal’ for 2 people for £40. Dishes could include roasted turnip and caramelised yoghurt, charred cabbage and chestnut mushroom salad with sourdough crumbs and a dessert from another Ducie Street resident, Gooey Co. Each pack comes with a meal guide and for those who want that little extra help, there will be a live stream cook along with Joseph on Friday (13 Nov, 7.30pm) via Ducie Street’s Instagram feed.