This week I decided to try the delights of another Nottingham restaurant, however, this time I used the services of Deliveroo. Using Deliveroo meant that I could enjoy restaurant quality food in the comfort of my own home. Deliveroo are a delivery service that allows you to order from a range of excellent city centre venues. Their service is ideal for those living in the city and in particular students that often frequent many of the flats within the city. They pride themselves on offering a reliable and consistent service, often delivering orders in just over half an hour. They also offer an ideal solution of office lunch times and their various catering needs. Although, they are also a good idea for anyone living close to the city, as I found out recently that they deliver up to three kilometres away from the city centre, this means that those of us in Mapperley, St Ann’s, Carlton, Westbridgford, Hyson Green and the Meadows et al should also be able to take advantage of their services.

I opted to order from The Mandarin Restaurant, Nottingham. Located in the centre of Nottingham, The Mandarin Restaurant is a well established venue offering a wide range of Chinese cuisine that prides themselves on their high quality food and service. Their extensive menu ranges from lobster and crab to dim sum and lemon chicken, meaning that there is something for all tastes and preferences.

So let’s start with the process of ordering using Deliveroo. First you visit their website http://www.deliveroo .co.uk or, alternatively, you can download their app if you are going to use it more frequently for either home or office use. Once on the site, you can easily enter your postcode to see which restaurants deliver to your address. Further to this, you can select the same day or a day in advance to pre-book your order and select a time from as early as 12 noon to 11PM at night, there is also the option to have it delivered ASAP. Next, you click find food and it displays all those who deliver to you and match your ordering time requirements. There were 14 restaurants that offered their food via Deliveroo to Mapperley which was pretty decent considering the distance.

I chose The Mandarin Restaurant, who offered delivery from as quick as 45 minutes. Here you are given a full menu to choose from, I selected what I wanted and then signed up to confirm my order and address. I paid using my debit card and received a confirmation email to let me know that my order had been accepted. I ordered; chicken satay skewers £5.50, prawn crackers £2, chicken fillet in lemon delight £9.80, sweet and sour pork £9.80, egg fried rice £2.80 and a portion of chips £2.50. This came to a total of £32.40 plus the standard delivery charge of £2.50 which Deliveroo keep at this rate to keep it simple and to encourage people to use the service. Total with delivery charge, £34.90.

My order arrived in good time and was five minutes earlier than its expected arrival time. My order was delivered by a moped, as I am further away; this keeps their service speedy and reliable. They mainly use bikes where possible for more central deliveries. Upon arrival the delivery man was polite and said enjoy your order and evening. They also state the restaurant that you ordered from to confirm it.

You got a good amount of Prawn crackers that seemed to be fresh and were nice and crunchy. Despite being a bit pointless when ordering a more refined meal I still opted to order a portion of chips. You got a good portion size and the chips were pretty standard. However, as they had been placed into a polystyrene container they had gone quite soggy, so perhaps in future they would be better off using paper bags as many takeaways do to prevent this from happening. I also ordered a portion of egg fried rice. The rice was both light and fluffy with the added taste that the fried rice added.

The chicken satay consisted of four good sized pieces of chicken on skewers and served in a rich and spicy satay sauce on a bed of onions. The cooked onions added to the flavour and textures of the starter and also combined well with the spicy and flavourful satay sauce which flavoured the chicken well.

The lemon fillet chicken delight had a fresh and zesty aroma. The tender chicken breast strips were marinated well and had a slightly sour citrus taste. There was a good amount of sauce to marinate the tender slices of chicken that were lightly coated in a crispy batter. Overall this dish was Juicy and tender and there was enough sauce to flavour the dish.

Sweet and sour pork: This contained a good amount of evenly sized chunks of pork that were lightly battered. It also contained the usual chunks of pepper and pineapple. This added a depth to the textures of the dish as both the peppers and pineapple added a crunch to the dish. In addition to this, the pineapple added a tang and sour kick that you would expect from citrus. The pork itself was slightly chewy but moist. The dish had a good consistency and was well marinated in the sauce. The sauce itself was flavourful and contained both sweetness and sourness in even contrast, with a good amount of sauce to cover the dish. The batter was light and slightly crisp on the outside and evenly coated the pieces of pork.

Overall I enjoyed my experience of ordering using Deliveroo, the service was exceptional and the food arrived in a good condition, was warm and on time. The food itself was of high quality and, despite being quite pricey for a Chinese meal, was worth paying extra for a better quality meal that can be delivered to your house. I would recommend this service and will be using it to try other venues out in the near future.

 

Address: Mandarin Restaurant, 42 Belward Street, Hockley Mill, Nottingham, NG1 1JZ.

Telephone: 0115 950 9157

Opening times: Monday to Saturday 12PM till 12AM, Sunday 12PM till 9PM.

http://www.mandarinrest.co.uk/

Deliveroo now operate in many UK towns and cities. To see if they deliver to your local area check out their website.

https://deliveroo.co.uk/