Urban Tastes, Home-Delivery Meals

[Walrus]

It's not really a restaurant, but we've recently started ordering meals from Urban Tastes (http://www.urbantastes.com/). They make and deliver some really fine food. They have a number of entree options each week, and you can pick to have any number of the entrees delivered on either (or both) Tuesday or Friday. The menu for next week's deliveries, for example, includes Walnut Pasta (Fresh pasta covered in a creamy, walnut sauce), Braised Chicken with Lemon & Honey (Juicy braised chicken on a bed of herbed couscous), Fish Laksa (A creamy, curried laksa [rice noodle soup]), Chipotle Meatloaf "Sandwich" (Two pieces of meatloaf with a dollop of garlic mashed potatoes between; made with chipotle for a spicy twist) -- which I would be all over if we weren't going out of town, and Harissa Chicken with Bulgur, Pine Nut & Raisin Pilaf (A spicy, harissa coated chicken breast served on a bed of bulgur pilaf; a healthy choice). It all sounds good and -- better yet -- in our experience, it IS good. The entrees are about $9-$11 each, with a flat $7 delivery fee, so Tripewriter and I were each able to get two entrees (and we'll probably be splitting them from now on -- they are generously sized), a salad, cookies (sooo good), and a lunch for about $95 total for the two of us. That's about the cost of one order from Me Jana It's so nice to have someone else cook once or twice a week without having to venture out into the cold, cruel world.

We've had soft tacos with chorizo and black beans, with hand-made tortillas; chicken noodle soup -- with the noodles kept separate from the broth to avoid their soaking up too much liquid with really amazingly good homemade crackers; fresh hummus -- just the way I like it, with nice chunks of chickpea for a little texture, so you don't feel like you're drinking it; a really lovely onion tart with a great crust that survived reheating in the oven and then another reheating in the microwave (sorry -- I was hungry!!!); some nice salads with a great, tart dressing; and both mesquite chocolate chip and chocolate cookies (with salt!). Tonight we'll share some hoisin beef strips and some ginger tofu with black and white rice. I'll have the leftovers for lunch tomorrow (unless Tripewriter gets to them first, that is...oh, and sorry, babe, for eating almost half the chocolate cookies already...see above: "with salt!"). We have yet to be disappointed with a dish

[hm212]

Thanks for this tip. I have not tried them, but this sounds like they would deliver to my office. Traveling next week but will keep them on my radar for the week after. Always looking for timesavers.

Their web site says that they change entrees each week, do they have a large variety? Anything in particular that I should keep my out for?

[mr food]

Their email reply re delivery said anywhere inside the beltway so will give them a try in the near future.

[Walrus]

Thanks for this tip. I have not tried them, but this sounds like they would deliver to my office. Traveling next week but will keep them on my radar for the week after. Always looking for timesavers.

Their web site says that they change entrees each week, do they have a large variety? Anything in particular that I should keep my out for?

They seem to have a pretty good variety. This week, we're having fish curry, miso-glazed chicken, lemon & basil pasta (sounds good for a summer day!), tofu curry, and a presumably heavier pasta with tomato sauce and ricotta. Plus, I get hummus and crackers for lunch, and we get salads with each meal. And cookies

Next week, I think we're getting harissa chicken with bulgur, pine nut, and raisin pilaf; sesame lemon tofu salad (again, a great-sounding summer dish), dan dan noodles for the two of us, Yemenite fish, and a pork chop with rhubarb compote. Plus hummus, salads, and spicy chocolate cake...yum.

We may have more feedback after this week, but we have not had a bad meal yet from these folks, and it's just SO nice to have fresh, healthy, home-cooked meals without having to, you know, cook them...no hot kitchen, no slaving over the stove after a 10-hour workday, no grocery shopping, no clean-up.

[lreed1]

We just received our first order from Urban Tastes last night. I am pleased to say the mesquite chocolate chip cookies, hummus and crackers, and braised chicken were excellent. Everything arrived in a Igloo cooler and was nice and cool when we arrived home around 7:00. We look forward to ordering from them again soon.

[Walrus]

We forgot to place our order in time this week -- no spring tarts! Serious tears on this end, as her pastries are delicious...

[Joe Riley]

We forgot to place our order in time this week -- no spring tarts! Serious tears on this end, as her pastries are delicious...

Been there myself. Sunday morning came around and I said to myself, "Oh, hell! I forgot to place my Urban Tastes order for the week!" - d'oh!

Thanks to this thread, I've become a regular customer for Urban Tastes. I really enjoy the quality of the food, and the convenience to me is tremendous. I started out only ordering a couple of meals to see how I liked the service, but recently I've begun loading up to stock my refrigerator with ready-to-eat meals (not to be confused wit our military's MRE's ) because of the often-screwy hours I keep, and I really like having healthier options than frozen dinners. I get them delivered to me at work, since I have large commercial refrigeration at my disposal. The only trick is, remembering to take the meals home with me (blush)

They tried some "picnic boxes" recently which I enjoyed, and I understand that they're going to do them again, and I recommend them quite a bit. It's a perfect little lunch.

One of the happiest results of being an Urban Tastes customer for me has been that because I've been eating healthier, I've actually lost weight. I'm a very satisfied customer