DINE ON DEMAND | OUR FAVE GROCERIES DELIVERIES

If you want a change from deliveries or meal kits, then here’s a handy guide to our favourite ready meals and grocery boxes to keep you busy in the kitchen.

Prime Feast – Master meat cookery at home the best cuts from the likes of Goodman, Zelman Meats, Beast and Burger & Lobster, all in one handy box. As well as providing the meat, Prime Feast also includes rubs, seasonings and sauces, like Goodman’s stilton steak sauce and the BBQ sauce from Zelman Meats, so you can properly recreate the restaurant’s dishes at home – there are cooking instructions included too to make sure you absolutely nail it.

Cosaporto – A big deal in Italy, Cosaporto is now available in the big smoke, offering primo Italian produce from a range of different retailers which you can batch together in one order. London retailers include iconic West London bakery Peggy Porschen; family chocolatier Maison Samadi; specialist gelateria Unico; and florist Lavender Green. So you can stock up on everything from pasta, cheese, and ham to panettone, ice cream and sweets. Mamma mia!

JF Edwards – Ready for a meat feast? If you want top quality meat, Smithfield Market is where it’s at and that’s precisely where JF Edwards is (and has been for the past 50 years). They stock the finest beef, game, pork, poultry, lamb and veal, and everything is hand-butchered and prepared right in the market before being packed and delivered anywhere within the M25. You can shop for individual items like sausages and steaks or go for one of their meat boxes if you really wanna stock up.

Flat Iron – You can now get Flat Iron’s signature steaks (and a whole lot more) at home with their limited edition Butcher’s Box. There’s mince, a roasting joint, burgers and two different steak cuts in there, with the meat coming from the Flat Iron herd in Yorkshire and butchered in-house. Not only is the meat some of the most beautifully packaged we’ve seen, including hay in the box, you get a little card with info on where the meat has come from. There’s not many of these boxes going, so you best be quick when they get released weekly.

FishWorks – You no longer have to save oysters for a fancy night out as FishWorks is sending them direct to you for a fancy night in with their new Oyster Box. It contains a dozen oysters (a mix of Jersey, Carlingford and Morecombe Bay); lmeon, vinegar and Tabasco condiments; a bottle of FishWorks’ Fernão Pires white wine; and an oyster knife for you to get shucking with – watch the video tutorial and you’ll soon get the technique down!

MexGrocer – Online retailer MexGrocer, which also supplies some of the best restaurants in town, has recently launched its first Best of MexGrocer box, making it easy for the public to access authentic produce from independent farmers and producers across Mexico. The box contains store cupboard essentials like corn flour for tortillas, Tajin seasoning, refried pinto beans, cactus and habanero hot sauce, so if you’re interested in proper Mexican cooking, this will start you off nicely.

Ethical Butcher – the Ethical Butcher (one of our LOTI Heroes) has teamed up with new fresh curry paste brand Pestle (created in lockdown by Neha Hampton) to create the British Curry Meal Kit. The box includes the Pestle pastes and meat from the Ethical Butcher to make lamb korma, chicken tikka masala and beef vindaloo, so you can whip up three authentic curries with minimum effort.

Pique – Getting to a cinema at the mo is a bit tricky so it’s all about the at-home movie night and picnic specialists Pique have just the thing to take your Netflix screening to the next level. The Movie Night Box Set includes all the bits to make loaded nachos plus popcorn, pick ‘n’ mix, brownies and beers…yes all the cinema snacks you could possibly want.

The Dorset Meat Company – Working with over 20 farmers in Dorset, The Dorset Meat Company does pretty much what it says on the tin. Working closely with farmers to source the very best grass fed, outdoor raised meat, they bring it straight to your door anywhere in the UK. There’s a big range of boxes to choose from, including steaks, mince, bacon, lamb, pork, and charcuterie. In game season, there’s lots of wild game too, so look out for that too.

HG Walter – the family-run HG Walter supplies its meat (mainly free-range native breeds from small farms) to many of the best chefs and restaurants in the country. You can order individual pieces of meat but they’ve put together a handy range of boxes too, including a breakfast box, a BBQ box and meat survival box, which is packed with mince, steak, lamb chops, bacon and chicken. You can even recreate restaurant dishes at home with their Patty & Bun burger kit.

Wright Brothers – Fresh fish can sometimes seem like an expensive luxury but Wright Brothers have got some fantastic bargains, considering the quality. We loved their smoked seafood box, which contains smoked salmon, smoked mackerel fillets, smoked trout, smoked haddock, and hot smoked salmon – all for £32! Elsewhere on their online shop you’ll find all the fish you can hope for, including oysters, crab, lobster, caviar, and oven-ready whole fish. Brill-iant.

Cobble Lane Cured – Islington’s Cobble Lane Cured are now delivering nationwide, and delivery is free with orders over £25. If you’ve not tried them before we can definitely recommend their range of British charcuterie. We particularly like their n’duja and soppressata. They’ve also just teamed up with Texas Joe to launch beef jerky – yeeee haah.

field&flower – field&flower have been selling ethically produced meat online for 10 years now, with an ever expanding range of products, and a few awards along the way. Last year they even won ‘Best Independent Retailer’ at the Observer Food Monthly Awards so you can be sure that you’re getting the very best meat when you order from them. Perfect for these times is the new slow cooked meat range – cuts are prepared and cooked sous vide by chefs in Somerset for 8 – 12 hours, ensuring the meat is tender and packed with flavour. We tried the lemon, garlic, and thyme chicken and can confirm it passes the taste test. Check out the full range at their online shop.

TOTI – Lancashire’s The Cartford Inn has its own on site deli called Taste of the Inn, featuring the boutique hotel’s own homemade produce. They are now delivering their goods nationwide and there’s some beauties available. Check out the Taste of Lancashire box which features wild garlic pesto, tomato chilli jam, habanero hot sauce, three handmade chocolate bars, and a Lancashire cook book (£40).

Klose & Soan – this catering company, which does the food for Winemakers in Deptford, has launched a frozen food delivery service featuring meals like chilli sin carne, organic chicken mole, spanakopita, adobo pork shoulder with kidney beans, and banana sticky toffee pudding. You can get individual dishes or there’s a meal deal combo of a main, dessert and bottle of natural wine for £35.

The Social Distancing Kitchen – treat yo’self with a box of goodies from The Social Distancing Kitchen as 15% of all the box proceeds are going to Women’s Aid (and the team is also working with the PLOD foundation to help deliver) food to the homeless. There are savoury breakfast and night in boxes, but if you’re after something sweet just take a look at the epic cookie and millionaire shortbread ones.

Archie’s Food – chef William Deal has turned his events catering company into a food delivery business, supplying home-cooked ready meals like chicken cacciatore, aubergine parmigiana, cottage pie, black truffle & ricotta tortelloni, and lemon tart.

PEP Kitchen – set up by chefs Joe Coulter and Ben MacAndrews, PEP Kitchen does 100% plant-based frozen ready meals inspired by the street food scene – there’s everything from a jackfruit massaman curry to mapo tofu to a chipotle bean stew. As well as being big on flavour, PEP Kitchen is big on sustainability; the food trays are compostable, all the packaging is recyclable and the delivery courier is carbon neutral.

Pasta Remoli – the pasta maestros are now delivering fresh pasta, along with homemade sauces, cheeses, salamis, desserts and fresh fruit and veg. Check out the full selection on their website, or if you still want Pasta Remoli to do all the work, you can order ready made dishes via Deliveroo.

Jimmy’s Pop-Up – Jimmy Garcia is sending out Lockdown Hampers with an Alpine feast box, a cheese & charcuterie box and a pub box on offer.

La Tua Pasta – you’ve probably already had this pasta in a restaurant, you just didn’t know it. La Tua, who usually have a market stall at Broadway Market and Borough Market are now delivering to your door. With some rather fancy fillings – truffle, smoked salmon, beetroot and a great selection of fresh pasta shapes it might just be our favourite fresh pasta out there.

Fish to Your Door – lots and lots of restaurant suppliers have been getting into the home delivery game for consumers, and if you’re after top notch fish and seafood, the very clearly named Fish to Your Door is the place to go. They’re based down in Sussex, working with local fisherman and have been supplying the UK’s top restaurants up until lockdown forced them all to close. There’s fresh fish as well as frozen and smoked, plus a few ‘ready to eat’ bits such as anchovies, caviar and fish cakes. A great service.

Knoops Chocolate Flakes – we stumbled upon Knoops on a trip to Rye last summer, and was drawn in by the massive queue of people outside. Knoops serve ridiculously good milkshakes and hot chocolates using top notch single origin chocolate from around the world. Praise be, they also have an online shop so if you’re looking to seriously up your milkshake and hot chocolate game then take a look at the range which includes our favourite, a 72% extra dark chocolate from Peru.

Dishpatch – It’s no surprise that food companies whose business mainly came from supplying restaurants, have had to think fast to stay afloat under lockdown. Many have had to set up makeshift home delivery systems almost overnight to reach consumers directly. Dispatch is a new service, which brings together many of these independent restaurant suppliers onto one platform. Stick in your postcode and you’ll be able to see what’s available, with everything from Cobble Lane Cured (suppliers of cured meats to Yard Sale Pizza) to fresh Scottish fish from Marrfish. There’s already a very decent selection on there, and more are expected to be added in the coming weeks. It’s a great way to buy your ingredients, as you’ll be getting restaurant-grade supplies and helping to support small independent businesses at the same time.

Borough Broth Co – give your immune system a boost with these bone broths from the Borough Broth Co. They’re made from organic bones, organic veg and British spring water and are packed full of nutrients. The broths can be drunk on their own or added to recipes, and you can freeze them too.

Gladwin Brothers – the owners of London restaurants Sussex, The Shed, Rabbit and Nutbourne have launched an online shop where you can order organic fruit, veg, herbs, meat and wine from their family farm and vineyard. As well the produce, you can also get wellingtons, pies, pestos, tarts, ice creams and ‘fakeaway’ boxes like Peking duck.

Rooted Spices – if you’re cooking up a storm in the kitchen on a daily basis, you’re going to need a top quality collection of spices. If, like us, you have a bunch of questionable jars that have been in the back of the cupboard for years then it’s probably high time you treated yourself to a fresh batch. Rooted Spices is an online retailer with a range of ‘Single Origin Spices’. The range also includes 8 spice blends from the bestselling House Blend (‘the third table spice’) to a Golden Blend and easy Daal Blend. They come beautifully presented in little square tins for easy storage too – your spice rack will have never looked so good.

Lay’s of Chelsea – normally selling wholesale to restaurants from New Covent Garden Market, Lay’s of Chelsea is now delivering fruit and veg boxes to the public across London and parts of Surrey and Middlesex.

Swaledale – this Yorkshire-based, whole-carcass, nose-to-tail butchers not only works with some of the city’s best restaurants, but sells a whole range of meats and kits online so you can enjoy some of their high-quality cuts at home. Most recently, they launched a BBQ Meat Box that’s packed with the likes of ribeye steaks, North African-style kofta kebabs, Yorkshire breakfast chipolatas, rindless pork loin chops and more. It’s dry-aged, from heritage breeds, reared by a small network of farmers, expertly prepared by Swaledale’s butchery team and perfect for the summer.

Eataliano – this Italian wholesaler, who supplies the likes of River Cafe and Soho House, is now on Deliveroo so if you’re in Kensington and Dulwich, you can get deli goods like pasta, sauces, cured meats, cheeses, oils, biscuits and more delivered.

Quality Chop House Shop – the Quality Chop team is keeping you fed with pork pies, sausage rolls, THOSE confit potatoes, fresh produce, wine and more goodies delivered from their shop.

On The Pass by Warrens – Philip Warren Butchers, based in Cornwall, supplies some of the best restaurants in town but as they’re all closed, they are now supplying the public via new venture On The Pass by Warrens. Not only can you order top-quality meat, you can actually choose meat that was destined for a particular restaurant, like beef rump for Blacklock, hogget for Kiln and beef rib for Brat.

Mighty Small – shop from a range of snacks, condiments, sweets and drinks from indie brands like Black Bee Honey, Doisy & Dam, Dalston’s Soda Co, MOMA and more at new online marketplace Mighty Small. The company is also doing Christmas boxes filled with a curated selection of their best sellers, and for every box sold a meal is donated to partner charity Food Cycle.

Ki Kefir – keep on top of your gut health with Ki Kefir, which is small-batch, 100% organic, made using milk from grass-fed cows and packed with probiotics. You can buy an one-off stash or get them dropped off monthly (or weekly if you’re in zones 1-3).

Borough Market – the iconic market launched a produce delivery service at the end of last year, initially within a small radius of the market, but they’ve extended it to within the M25.

Foodchain – this one of our LOTI Heroes and is another normally industry-only service that’s opening up to the public. You can set up an account and get high-quality, sustainable produce from independent suppliers delivered to your home.

New Covent Garden Market – normally ones to supply pubs, restaurants and hotels, the market is now delivering fruit & veg boxes to the public.

Beelivery – If you’re really in a desperate spot for some groceries and you can’t leave the house for some reason, and Deliveroo/Uber Eats isn’t available, then there is a new delivery service called Beelivery which will get you groceries to your door within an hour. We emphasise that it’s a kind of last resort service as you definitely pay for the convenience. We spent £33 on some shopping but the receipt that came in the bag only totted up to £16. Obviously you are playing someone to shop for you and bring it to you, but still….

If you’d rather a takeaway, check out our fave London restaurant deliveries right here.