Monday, December 15, 2014

12-15-14 Munchery™ Day 1 - Monday

decided to try munchery for a week
fired up the app when i was hungry the night before and ordered something i was craving at the time
i ordered the cooler tote for the first time
left instructions to 'leave delivery at front door'
even though today was pouring by the time delivery rolled around, i should have tipped more


got home and gourmet prepared meal was waiting for me, sitting chilled inside the cooler tote i ordered:

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very nice construction, very nice colorway, simple design, sitting next to my amazon prime order:

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brought it inside. the handles are a nice even weight distribution:

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at this point i was pretty excited to see what was inside. i was expecting individual ingredients in individual boxes. i was afraid it would be a lot of parts with complicated instructions. here's how tall the tote sits:

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you can choose 1-hour windows for your delivery. i get home around 5:30p so when i had placed the order i picked 5-6p. later i realized if i get home early and if the delivery is late, i'd be hungry. so tomorrow i'm going to do a 4-5p order:

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this tag reminds me of airline stickers they give you attached to your luggage with your information. munchery includes your delivery time, name, address, special delivery note, and your delivery driver. On the back lists your order. my delivery guy's name is Paul. Thanks Paul!:

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still loving the colorway. very minimalist, just like its app:

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the zippers are good quality, not that crap zippers they put on freebies you get at a career fair:

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all the sides are lined with insulation. people suggest putting an icebag in the tote for when you leave the tote out for delivery and it will keep the chilled meal frozen. i was expecting a special pocket for an ice pouch but that was nowhere to be found. that's okay, the inside continues with the same colorway:

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since this is my first time ordering, i get a quirky handwritten thankyou card and an extra cookie treat:

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i thought i'd be a random batch made dessert, but it's actually one of those also made by the chefs at munchery. Krista Aguilar usually makes baked goods in the app. Thanks Krista!:

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the packaging is very well done. there are no leaks because it's a sealed box:

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here is everything laid out. i felt like a kid on christmas, cant wait to heat this up and try it out:

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i have been craving gourmet ramen for a while now but just haven't had the chance to drive a town or two over to a ramen house where you'd probably have to wait 45 minutes just to sit down. this was an elegant solution to my craving. i ordered the Tori Ramen from chef Hayashida and chef Honda. they're hipster local chefs, you've probably never heard of them:

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every meal you see on the app has the photo of the chefs who creates them. this label tells a little story of who these chefs are. i wonder what the QR code says:

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the packaging is really snug, but i was able to open it with one hand:

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you take the sleeve off and the heating instructions are on the back. this meal requires me to boil it in a sauce pan. some meals require you to heat it in an oven. this saves me the headache of thinking what to eat, gathering the ingredients at the store and then doing the prep work:

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i was pretty excited to see how the meal looked:

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since this is ramen, a bowl of broth is inside the box. a huge uncooked egg, homemade ramen noodles, chilled chicken with sauce and bok choy:

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so i bring this over to my kitchen and start fumbling to find a pan to heat this in:

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it says sauce pan but no matter, this tall pressure pot works. gas cooking is the only way to build a dwelling by the way:

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the instructions says heat the soup/broth first, i pour it in. i forgot which heat was needed so i had to pull out the label again:

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okay, it clearly says medium heat. since my range goes from 6 to hi, i think that's a 7, so medium must be between 3 and 4:

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yup, medium heat:

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heat soup until simmers just like the instruction says, alright i had to read what was next. at this point, you can smell the umami flavor of the soup. my hunger filled my studio:

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ok, what was next? add the rest of the ingredients? easy enough:

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at this point i was just waiting for the bok choy to cook through. the chicken sauce blends in with the soup and adds to the aroma:

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i was fumbling to find a bowl big enough to hold so much liquid. i failed, so i'm punished by plating this meal on the biggest bowl i can find. at this point i started thinking maybe it's not a bad idea to provide the proper containers as optional addons purchasable within the app:

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i did a soft poach of the egg they give you. the instruction says add egg raw in the end. but i already always do this with top ramen, so i thought i'd do it a little more special. also i remember the photo in the app showed a boiled egg sliced into two halfs placed on top of the ramen for decoration. this will do for now:

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overall it was a pretty successful meal. i added some cayenne pepper and extra chives for color:

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when i started eating this, i realized i was missing a soup spoon you'd usually find at ramen houses. some of these utensils are essential to the meal. i just felt lost without it. this is something the app can probably do better on, for the chefs to include authentic, meal appropriate utensils. you're eating a gourmet prepared meal, might as well add a few things to make my instagram post more authentic:

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game over. the soup was definitely umami. however whenever i do ramen, i tend to do spicy kari ramen. i'm realized i'm not a fan of plain broth. i really wish they can add some other flavors to the future menu:

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ok, time to try the cake-cookie. i really cant tell which it is:

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oh, it's a cookie brownie cupcake, crispy on top like a brownie, muffintop shaped with the wrapping and the inside tastes like a chocolate chip cookie:

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after the meal i pulled up tomorrow's menu. this vietnamese coffee immediately caught my eye, i have got to have it because i love condensed milk:

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tomorrow's dinner will require some oven action. i have to remember to go get some chardonnay to go with white meat:

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if you order before 2p, you can still deliver to the same day, that's the cut off for my city anyway. tomorrow i'm getting the 4-5p delivery. Thanks again Paul, one day we'll meet, my brothr':

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Day 1 was good preview into what Munchery has to offer. until tomorrow!:

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