Ask us what our favourite meal kit was a few years ago and we’d probably pause a little wistfully, before reminiscing about Dairylea Lunchables—truly ahead of its time. Now, restaurants have caught up. You can get 16-hour smoked brisket or pasta dough by the kilo, all delivered straight to your door. Or, to the door of someone you love. Because these restaurants deliver their meal kits all over the UK.
THE KITS
Ceru is a Levantine restaurant in South Kensington that we always hit up when we want to pretend we’re somewhere far, far away eating hummus by the bucketful. You can also bring that whole sunshine feeling home with their very aesthetically pleasing meal kits. They come complete with a silky cloth wrap that yes, we will be wearing as a neckerchief to the corner shop, thank you very much. Starting at £40, there are multiple kits to choose from, including a beef fillet option and a slow-roasted lamb shoulder situation that comes with spiced roast potatoes.
Cue Point
You might not have heard of a naco before. Let us enlighten you. It’s a naan-taco hybrid created by British Afghan BBQ spot Cue Point, topped with smoked meats. They’re excellent and the DIY naco kits deliver across the UK. It comes with 16-hour smoked beef brisket and toppings like Afghan green chutney, crispy onions, and sour cream, plus za’atar potatoes and coleslaw. There are also vegan nacos, birria nacos, or brisket bun kits available. Order here.
A Sri Lankan feast is on the cards if you order the Kalupol Chicken Kit from Hoppers’ online store Cash & Kari. At £45, it promises to feed up to three people with mutton rolls and hot dipping sauce, a whole ready-to-roast marinated chicken, a selection of sambols and garnishes, banana chips, pol roti dough, and two chocolate-coco biscuit puddings to share. There are also a couple of other kits centered around a lamb kari or a jackfruit kothu, as well as a variety of snacks, spices, beer, and cocktails.
JKS Restaurants, the group that owns Gymkhana, Trishna, and Brigadiers (among others), is behind Ambassador General Store. You can buy individual dishes like tandoori lamb chops and BBQ butter chicken wings, or meal boxes from their roster of Indian restaurants.
Fire up your barbecue because Berenjak is doing DIY kabab kits. The Iranian spot in Soho has a choice of delicious-sounding at-home kits, including a mazeh box with their excellent sangak bread, and a couple of kabab options. One includes ‘bespoke metal skewers’, which sounds like a collaboration between Nisbets and Savile Row.
We hate the queues to get into Dishoom. What do we like about Dishoom? Pretty much everything else. Especially their little breakfast champ, the bacon naan, which you can eat at home thanks to their DIY kit. It’s packed full of dough and bacon, and looks relatively easy to master. They’ve also got a bunch of dinner kits, ranging from a barbecue box to a biryani feast complete with a bottle of sparkling wine. Order on their website.
QCH is a rare thing. It’s one of London’s best restaurants, wine bars, butchers, and shops, and it’s possible to enjoy it all in your own kitchen as well. Lots of the dishes here have gained legendary, almost mythological status—their pies and confit potatoes to mention two—and you can order them to cook at home from their website.
Pacco di mamma (mamma’s package) is how La Mia Mamma in Chelsea describes their enormous Italian care package. It’s full of DIY and ready-to-eat bits, from pizza dough to arancini, to homemade sauces, and a kilo of pasta dough if you’re feeling confident about your cooking skills.
Philly cheesesteak specialist Passyunk is delivering cheesesteak, wings, and combo bundles. Each cheesesteak kit includes four or six portions of rib-eye steak, your choice of provolone, American, or wiz cheese—or a mixture of all three—as well as Italian hoagie bread and onions.
