Delivery Snippets: The Blue Apron x Khao Khai x The Winter Oven

THE BLUE APRON

During the pandemic, I kept seeing posts of people raving about The Blue Apron; however, I worried how well it will travel given that toppings would include fresh tuna and salmon; and its nori taco (which is ideally freshly toasted and warm to maintain that signature crunch) so I always hesitated from ordering.

SEAFOOD SAMPLER (P415)

However, while scrolling through Grabfood one office lunch day though, I was surprised to see The Blue Apron delivering to Ortigas – I didn’t know that it opened a kiosk in Shangri-la Plaza Mall! Thus, I excitedly ordered their Seafood Sampler – which included the Sinful Salmon, Tempting Tuna, and Krazy Kani. Each crunchy nori-wrapped taco boasted a medley of colorful toppings. The Sinful Salmon boasted of torched salmon cubes dressed in midly-spiced layu sauce and topped with tempura flakes – what I loved about it would be that the salmon cubes were perfectly cooked – boasting of the perfect shade of pink. The Tempting Tuna featured torched fresh tuna cubes served in a creamy soy and sesame sauce and topped with dollops of cream cheese; while the Krazy Kani marries the famous Puro TNT sauce with teriyaki sauce to add flavor to fresh kani sticks; all covered by a ripe mango strip topped with tobiko.

All were so good, but I can’t help but be partial towards the Sinful Salmon variant.

The Blue Apron also has a branch in SM Aura which also offers Takoyaki (which I have yet to try)! Definitely, dropping by that branch soon to check it out!

The Blue Apron

LGF Shangri-la Mall, The Food Forum, Mandaluyong City

Date of Delivery: April 2023 via Grabfood

KHAO KHAI

I’ve always heard people sing high praises about Khao Khai’s Bangkok street food-style fried chicken so when I saw it on Grabfood, I excitedly ordered it for lunch. Admittedly, I think I got too overexcited and takaw-tinging that I ended up ordering a 2 pc chicken. Boy did it smell amazingly appetizing– thanks to the spices found in the sauces it came with!

SIGNATURE FRIED CHICKEN (P239)

A 2 pc chicken meal already comes with a cup of plain rice, and three dipping sauces – a chili-oil based sauce (which I ignored as I was perfectly happy with the other two sauces), the Gai Tod Jaew Sauce (a salty fish sauce-based sauce which was elevated with tamarind and cilantro) and the Gai Yang Kai Sauce (a sweet chili sauce) which I happily mixed together and topped my chicken and rice with. The chicken came with an extremely crunchy skin which seemed to be marinated in a sweet soy sauce. This was an extremely flavor bomb of a meal – but admittedly, one chicken is enough for a hungry person. I’d gladly give up gravy for their sauces in a heart beat – definitely, this is the best way to enjoy fried chicken!

Khao Khai

Santolan Town Plaza, 276 Col Bonny Serrano Ave., San Juan, Metro Manila

Date of Delivery: April 19, 2023 via Grabfood

THE WINTER OVEN

I’m not really a big fan of dips –to illustrate, I’d always order Cibo’s potato chips over its famous Spinaci Zola for my appetizer – but somehow, The Winter Oven’s ads kept popping up on my IG Feed – that made me curious enough to sample its Baked Crab Dip.

BAKED CRAB DIP (Mini – P1000)

It’s definitely not cheap -especially when at first glance, its Mini size really lives up to its name - it's a tiny square tin foil. It comes with a bag of crostini's but I really wondered how it can feed four to five pax as advertised! However, once you start digging into it – a little goes a long way – a spoonful is enough for you to get a mouthful of its crab meat baked in cheese perfection. It’s immensely rich, creamy and filling – and yes, don’t be fooled by its size – it really can feed that many mouths and leave everyone happily filled up! You can taste the premium quality of its ingredients – which makes its price tag a little easier to accept. Definitely drooling for another order of this!

The Winter Oven

Date of Delivery: May 12, 2023 via its IG page