Photo source: Nuba
At this point in the pandemic, you may be experienced cooking fatigue after prepping and preparing often three meals a day, seven days a week. Coming up with ideas of what to make, shopping for ingredients, and then executing your plan can become tedious.
Many Vancouver restaurants have been resourceful in the pandemic by diversifying their food offerings beyond dine-in options to include handy meal kits that taste like a meal at the restaurant with very little stress on your part.
Until further notice, in line with the public health order updated on January 7, non-essential travel into and out of BC is not recommended. BC residents, let’s do our part by continuing to stay local and support local with our immediate household, in accordance with the latest guidelines.
Here is a selection of establishments in the city offering meal kits for at-home preparing and eating.
Torafuku
Photo credit: Leila Kwok
Rustic comfort dishes figure prominently in Torafuku’s (958 Main Street) @Home selections. The pork belly bao kit for 2 comes with house-made steamed buns, candied peanuts, packaged braised pork belly, and mixed herbs. Basically, all you need to do is boil the pork belly package for 8-10 minutes and steam/microwave the buns, and then assemble your meal. Similarly, the lamb shank and fried rice kit (for 1-2 people) is just as easy. It features boxed garlic merguez fried rice and a bag of braised satay cumin lamb shank, which require microwaving and boiling respectively. Torafuku recommends adding a fried egg if you want even more flavour. Go for the People’s Cocktail Kit, which makes 6-8 gin-based cocktails. Pick-up and delivery options are available.
PiDGiN
Photo source: PiDGiN
It’s truly impressive how restaurants across the city have worked so hard throughout the pandemic in order to overcome extremely difficult market/dining conditions. PiDGiN (350 Carrall Street) have done an excellent job with their pivot, launching in November their Carrier PiDGiN premium home meal kits. The kits come with instructions (you just have to season and finish a few things), plus access to an instructional video, in addition to info about the local farmers/producers (e.g., Hannah Brooks Farms) whose ingredients you will be using for your meal. For the current kit (for 1 or 2 people), you’ll be dining on a menu that starts with chicken liver and foie parfait with milk bread and quince chutney, as well as roasted winter squashes with guanciale vinaigrette, pickled squash, pickled mustard seeds, and ponzu mayonnaise. The star of the meal is a pheasant ballotine stuffed with truffled shiitake duxelles, pork, and Chinese chives served with sides, like fermented bok choy. The dessert is coconut tapioca with yuzu curd, grilled Asian pear, and Ovaltine white chocolate rocks. Pick-up is available as well as delivery via FromTo.ca.
Nightingale
Photo source: Nightingale
Many of the At-Home Kits from Nightingale (1017 West Hastings Street) are meals that can be easily heated and then served to your discerning at-home “diners.” There are two kinds of frozen pizzas, such as one with sopressata, piquillo peppers, mozzarella, pecorino, and red sauce. Other family favourites include meat lasagne, lamb Shepherd’s pie, beef bourguignon, smoked beef chili, seafood chowder, and soothing chicken noodle soup. They all use the finest of ingredients; and are ideal for storing in your freezer for a night when you want a delicious, yet easy-to-prepare meal. A sticky toffee pudding kit, antipasti kit, and Bramble cocktail kit round out the many options. Delivery and pick-up options are available.
Tacofino
Photo source: Tacofino
Tacos make for a fun and interactive meal at home, as everyone assembles their own tacos to their liking. Tacofino (various locations) has four taco meal kits: vegetarian achiote cauliflower, beef barbacoa, pork carnitas, and Yucatan chicken. They each serve two people and also come with your choice of appy (smoked tuna ceviche or guacamole nacho kit), jalapeno slaw, chips and salsa, salsa roja, salsa verde, and mini churro cookies for dessert (sides and ingredients may differ slightly depending on location). Also order bake-it-yourself-nachos (feta, cheddar, Monterey jack, roasted jalapenos, salsa fresca, chipotle crema) or even a kid’s meal, like the kid’s chicken quesadilla that comes with chips and a cookie, to make for an incredible Mexican-themed household feast. Pick-up and delivery options are available.
Provence Marinaside
Chicken provençal; Photo source: Provence Marinaside
If you’ve always wanted to try your hand at cooking provençal-style, purchase one of Provence Marinaside’s (1177 Marinaside Crescent) French Food Made Easy Kits. Each one gives you the ingredients and tools for whipping up a fantastic meal at home for two. You get a recipe, plus access to a demo video showing you how to prepare your chosen dish. For example, the oven roasted half chicken provençal meal kit comes with two ½ chickens, cooked fingerling potatoes, seasonal vegetables, and other ingredients (e.g., lemon, fresh herbs) needed to make your meal. Other meal kits available are ones featuring seared sushi grade albacore tuna, fennel dusted steelhead, and prawns with zucchini pasta and rice. Provence’s wine director has come up with perfect wine pairings, which you can add to your kits. Pick-up is available at the restaurant.
Caffè La Tana
Pizza kit; Photo source: Caffè La Tana
The alimentari online shop of Caffè La Tana (635 Commercial Drive) makes for convenient ordering of your favourite Italian goods (e.g., olive oil, coffee, various pasta, crackers). Meal kits feature fresh, high quality ingredients in order to make your favourite pizzas and pastas. The meat pizza kit, which feeds two people, comes with two fresh pizza dough balls, pomodoro sauce, a mozzarella ball, one tin of anchovies, and Italian salami (a vegetarian version is available). Pastas include a carbonara kit, a farfalle with roasted mushrooms kit, and a kit with cavatappi with kale pesto. Pick-up and delivery options are available.
Nuba
Photo source: Nuba
Hurrah! Access to a Lebanese culinary spread is super simple now with Nuba’s (various locations) Meal Kits. Meal kits range in portion sizes, from a kit for a solo eater, to a kit for 4 people for larger households. Each kit comes packed with all sorts of Nuba goodies; for instance, the kit for 2 encompasses a dozen lamb merguez meatballs, raw organic brown rice, a salad kit with balsamic date dressing, vegan stew, Mjadra (lentil stew), red lentil soup, hummus, 6 pita, hot sauce, tahini sauce, tzatziki, olives, and feta. Delivery is available, as is a pick-up option from the Mount Pleasant location.
Boulevard Kitchen & Oyster Bar
Grill pack; Photo source: Boulevard
The recent product line of Boulevard (845 Burrard Street), BLVD Provisions, has successfully made the finest of ingredients convenient for home consumption. Prepared meals that just require reheating include BLVD jerk chicken drumsticks with spicy chicken gravy, roasted carrots, and white rice with carrots and peas (all for 2 people) and five homemade Italian meatballs slow braised in tomato sauce. BLVD Provisions also sells premium sides, like half a marinated Maple Hill Farms’ chicken, ready for roasting and grilling; sides like lemon garlic potatoes, which just need to be reheated; and soups and sauces, like chicken noodle soup. Larger kits are available, like a Grill Pack that comes with a range of proteins (e.g., Oyama miso pork sausage), seasonal veggies, and cornbread, as well as Happy Hour Kits (e.g., Margarita-ville). Pick-up available. Note: BLVD Provisions in on a brief hiatus but will return January 12.
Chambar
Photo source: Chambar
The idea of having Chambar (568 Beatty Street) meals in the freezer, ready for heating and serving sounds heavenly. Options include a lamb tajine, with a Moroccan-style braised lamb shank (think lovely aromatic spices like cinnamon, coriander seeds, and turmeric); spiced Moroccan meatballs with chickpeas in tomato sauce; AAA braised short ribs with potatoes and red wine demi-glace; and miso and parsnip risotto. Drink kits are also available, such as a yuzu mule, or a shrub and soda cocktail kit. Pick-up and delivery (via Legends Haul) options are available.
Toptable Group
Miso sake glazed sablefish; Photo source: toptable2u
The restaurant group behind Blue Water Café, CinCin, Elisa, and Thierry, offer meal kits and housemade provisions through toptable2u. Delivery and pick-up options are available. Ready-to-bake pasta ranges from beef ragu lasagna to CinCin’s hearty veal and pork bolognese. “From the Ocean” meal kits include Blue Water Café’s miso sake glazed sablefish served with baby bok choy, edamame, baby carrots, quinoa, shiitake mushrooms, and a yuzu ginger dashi; while the “From the Land” selections include Elisa’s truffle roasted chicken and their burger kit. Detailed instructions make preparation simple. Pick-up and delivery options are available.
One thing for sure, chefs in the city are making sure you’ll be eating extremely well at home!
