What Is Deliveroo?
Even if you’ve not heard of Deliveroo, you must have seen their cyclists navigating down busy city centre roads with large boxes strapped to the back of their bikes. They’re practically an institution in some major cities.
Founded in 2013, Deliveroo is a British online food delivery company with operations spread across eighty-four cities in 12 countries – and it’s expanding.
The delightful thing about Deliveroo is that they deliver food from local restaurants that have no delivery service. If you fancy a pepperoni pizza from Papa Johns’, but they refuse to bring it to you, no need to hop in the car to get it. Simply contact Deliveroo and the spicy, cheese-laden delight will be delivered straight to your door before you know it.
Which Restaurants Use Deliveroo?
Depends on where you live, but you’ll find anything from Nando’s to Pizza Express to your more upmarket restaurants like Harvey Nichol’s Second Floor and Jamie’s Italian. If you fancy something super healthy, you’ve got Boost Juice Bar. If you’re nursing a hangover, you can indulge your cravings with take-outs from Burger King or Five Guys. There are loads of options – especially in the bigger cities.
How To Order
To start the ordering process, simply enter your postcode on Deliveroo’s homepage, and you’ll see a list of local restaurants that Deliveroo works with. Note that Deliveroo is relatively new and may not deliver to you currently. However, if you live in a main city, you’ll probably be in luck.
You’ll also see details about the restaurant you’re ordering from, in addition to the menu and prices. Deliveroo only accepts card payments so there isn’t a cash-upon-delivery option.
Once you place your order, a bicycle, motorcycle or car courier will pick up your order and deliver to you within the time-frame stated when ordering. The company makes its money by charging restaurants a commission (per order) and charging you the delivery cost (a miserly £2.50 delivery which makes it more than worth it for most busy families).
The Test
You can get pretty much any type of food delivered by Deliveroo. Living in central Manchester, there are hundreds of fast food and not-so-fast-food outlets pouring out all over the city. I carried out a little test – how would Deliveroo fare when bringing me something a bit more sophisticated…my favourite tagliatelle with smoked salmon and dill (£13.25) from Gusto.
Of course, I couldn’t just order one course, could I?! I also ordered the garlic pizza bread mozzarella (£5.75) for starter and tiramisu (£6.25) for pudding, plus a lemonade presse (£2.40). The menu options that you see on the Deliveroo website is just a small section of what you’d see on the Gusto website but the prices of the dishes are the same.
Delivery of my delicious meal was promised in 45-55 minutes (you can track your meal using the Apple or Google Play app) and the total came to £30.15 (including £2.50 delivery).
I was given the option to add a tip for the driver. I usually only tip if I think I’ve received good service, and since I was yet to receive the service, I didn’t tip. However, I did feel terribly guilty when only 30 minutes later, there was a knock at my door and a friendly and polite young man handed over my meal…
How Did The Food Compare To Restaurant Quality?
Since I’ve had this exact meal (many times!) before, I felt I could compare.
Taking into account that Deliveroo doesn’t prepare the food – they simply deliver it once it’s been cooked in the restaurant – I wanted to know if it was still hot and whether it or its packaging was subject to any damage along the journey.
The food arrived packaged inside food containers wrapped in foil so it was well insulated. Portion sizes were pretty much the same as I’d received in the restaurant and as far as I could see, no damage to neither the food nor the packaging. So far so good.
The only small gripe I had was that the lemonade presse was room-temperature rather than chilled, but that was nothing a quick store in the freezer wouldn’t correct.
Verdict?
If you want restaurant cuisine, but can’t be bothered getting ready for a night out and don’t want to cook at hom, Deliveroo is your saviour. Not only was my food delivered within 30 minutes straight to my door, but it was hot and tasted just like it does in the restaurant. All of this for only an extra £2.50 delivery charge!
However, if your order comes to under £15, you’ll be charged an extra £2, which I don’t think is too much considering what you do get from this service.
If you’re looking for the same extensive menus that are offered when you visit the restaurants, you may not get that through ordering via Deliveroo. However, if you don’t find something that takes your fancy, I’ll eat my hat!
I’ll certainly use Deliveroo again. In fact, I think I might just have to “test out” Jamie’s Italian tonight…
