dish'd Review - Gourmantic

dish’d Food Store offers a range of frozen dishes made from ingredients sourced from around the globe created by three-hatted chef Jacques Reymond. He’s been involved in the creation of each dish and testing the preparation. Available in Melbourne and Sydney, you order online from their website and the meals are delivered to you the next business day.

dish’d Delivery

The food order is delivered in a Styrofoam box with dry ice pellets. The items are packaged in cardboard boxes with cooking instructions. Preparing the food simply involves baking, microwaving or defrosting. Most dishes take up to 30 minutes, with the exception of defrosting desserts in the fridge.

Gourmantic received a complimentary offer to cater for dinner for 4 persons. Below is a review of the menu that we were invited to select. We chose 2 different entrees, mains and desserts, and we received two additional bags of vegetables. Each guest was provided with a score sheet and scored each item out of 5. The results were then collated into a total out of 20.

8 Petits Gratins de Crab

8 Petits Gratins de Crab

Description: Crab in a butter, white wine and Emmental cheese sauce
Price: $11.95
Meal Appeal: 20/20
Ease of Preparation: 20/20 Baked in oven
Presentation: 16.5/20
Flavour: 16.5/20
Portion Size: 16.5/20
Value for Money: 16.5/20
Comments: Good aroma out of the oven; needs less crumb and more cheese; salty, amount of crab meat not consistent between each crab; broken shells
Order Again: 2 YES 2 NO

Magic Cheese Soufflé

Magic Cheese Soufflé Balls

Magic Cheese Soufflé

Description: Small cheesy balls are placed into greased ramekin and baked.
Price: $9.85
Meal Appeal: 17.5/20
Ease of Preparation: 18.5/20
Presentation: 8.5/20
Flavour: 5/20
Portion Size: 11.5/20
Value for Money: 5/20
Order Again: 4 NO
Comments: Not enough puff over the rim, balls don’t work, too doughy; doesn’t look like a soufflé, scrambled texture, chewy, zero flavour, looks like a bad Yorkshire pudding; sank quickly, doughy, not enough cheese, tastes like gougères not a soufflé

Seafood Bouillabaisse

Seafood Bouillabaisse

Description: Made with a base of fish stock, pieces of cod, smoked saithe (similar to cod or hake), whole prawns and mussels, and cooked potatoes. The dish can be baked or microwaved. Tried both methods and the baked dish yielded better results.
Price: $11.95
Meal Appeal: 19.5/20
Ease of Preparation: 19.5/20
Presentation: 17.5/20
Flavour: 2/20
Portion Size: 16.5/20
Value for Money: 7/20
Comments: Cup of soup broth, no saffron, no tomato taste, not sure about smoked cod; ONCE BAKED more intense flavour but still miss tomato, saffron, white pepper, wine parsley; Nice aroma, no saffron, floury potato, no tomato taste, nice cod, prawn shell still on, underwhelming, tastes like cup of soup; Appalling, ONCE BAKED – potato/fish ratio wrong, potato floury, smoked fish good but very small piece, prawns good, stock too salty
Order Again: 4 NO

Squid en Papillote

Squid en Papillotte

Description: Squid en papillote with capsicum, zucchini and eggplant in a semi dried and cherry tomato sauce. Can be baked or microwaved. After the disappointing bouillabaisse, we decided to bake the squid and not microwave it.
Price: $9.45
Meal Appeal: 19/20
Ease of Preparation: 20/20
Presentation: 19/20
Flavour: 19.5/20
Portion Size: 19.5/20
Value for Money: 20/20
Comments: Perfect squid, nice combination of vegetables; Perfect squid, light, great flavour, well seasoned pops in the mouth; Tender squid, good flavour; Aromatic dish, beautifully presented in papillotte “box”, tender squid, full flavoured, well-seasoned, tasted good the next day, would happily keep a few boxes in the freezer
Order Again: 4 YES

4 Green Vegetable Steam Bags

Green Vegetable Steam Bags (Single Portion Shown)

Description:Broccoli, brussels sprouts, peas and green beans cooked in microwave
Price: $4.65
Meal Appeal: 11.5/20
Ease of Preparation: 19.5/20
Presentation: 9.5/20
Flavour: 6/20
Portion Size: 15/20
Value for Money: 8/20
Comments: Followed instructions but came out overcooked, not visually appealing, strange flavour, not sure if Brussel sprouts are a good flavour for a mix, Brussel sprouts are bitter which may have affected then other vegetables; sad looking, strange flavour, bad aftertaste
Order Again: 4 NO

Grilled Mediterranean Vegetables

Grilled Mediterranean Vegetables

Description: Grilled Mediterranean vegetables with red and yellow capsicum grilled red onion and black kalamata olives. Can be BBQ’d or cooked in pan or oven.
Price: $4.95
Meal Appeal: 17.5/20
Ease of Preparation: 18.5/20
Presentation: 18.5/20
Flavour: 18.5/20
Portion Size: 17.5/20
Value for Money: 19/20
Comments: Smells good in the pan, great aroma, no chopping needed; Nice charring, so easy, looks good; Great flavour and look; Strange to cook in pan but what a great aroma, good charred flavour
Order Again: 4 YES

Chocolate Ganache and Salted Caramel Tart

Chocolate Ganache and Salted Caramel Tart

Description: Chocolate ganache and salted caramel tart with butter shortcrust pastry. Defrosted in fridge for 3 hours
Price: $14.80
Meal Appeal: 19.5/20
Ease of Preparation: 20/20
Presentation: 19.5/20
Flavour: 16.5/20
Portion Size: 18.5/20
Value for Money: 18.5/20
Comments: Pastry a tad thick on the bottom; salted caramel light on aftertaste; like the curls, nice flavour, caramel a bit light, good pastry flavour, Great flavours, rich dessert, good balance of chocolate and caramel, pastry a bit soggy
Order Again: 4 YES

Heritage Raspberry and Pistachio Frangipane Tart

Raspberry and Pistachio Frangipane Tart

Description: Heritage raspberry and pistachio frangipane tart with butter shortcrust pastry. Baked in oven then rested.
Price: $16.90
Meal Appeal: 19.5/20
Ease of Preparation: 19/20
Presentation: 19.5/20
Flavour: 19.5/20
Portion Size: 18.5/20
Value for Money: 19.5/20
Comments: Good pastry; Looks delicious, fresh, great flavour, great balance sweet and tart; Tasty, great flavour; Delicious, great balance of tart fruit and pastry, not overly sweet
Order Again: 4 YES

What’s Good About dish’d

Simple ordering and next day delivery in a cool box with dry ice.
You choose the meals you want.
Some dishes are winners particularly desserts.
Website has comprehensive product information.
Easy to prepare at home with most dishes taking up to 30 minutes.
Most items have visual appeal.
Prices are similar to other frozen supermarket meals but in some cases, they taste better.
Convenient if you’re entertaining or if you simply don’t feel like cooking.
Convenience of having meals ready to heat up in your freezer.
Ordering from the website is simple. Each dish has detailed information including how to prepare, ingredients and origin, nutritional information and reviews by customers.
Free delivery if order is over $80.

What’s Not So Good About dish’d

Dishes are hit and miss.
Different cooking methods yield very different results.
Inconsistency between different packs of the same dish.
Some products have artificial colours or flavours.
Choice of cuisine is currently limited to French, Italian and Thai.
Frozen food does not appeal to everyone.

Overall Impression

For the overall impression, this comment from one of our guests summed it up well. There is an expectation of authenticity when a renowned French chef is involved but this is not reflected in all dishes. The quality of what was tasted varied. The bouillabaisse was dreadful. There was bad consistency in the crab and the soufflé was not a soufflé. The squid was delicious and fresh. The vegetables were at both extremes. Both desserts were pleasant especially the raspberry tart. Compared to other frozen supermarket meals, dish’d ranks better.

Home delivered meals have a certain appeal. Whether it’s fresh ingredients that you cook yourself such as Hello Fresh which we reviewed recently or frozen meals from dish’d that you conveniently keep in your freezer and cook on demand, the options are out there for people with busy lives who still want to eat well at home.