TSR is so so close to 5 stars. The meat portions seem a bit inconsistent. Ideally, I would say a small, but adequate portion would be 5oz, a generous portion would be 7.5oz, and a satiating/average/healthy portion would be about 6oz....
I decided to try The Spicy Radish, due to multiple members of my household getting sick and needing specialized care, leaving little time/energy for those who were healthy, including myself. When I would finally make it to the grocery store, I would draw a complete blank on what to get for feeding my family, and dirty dishes made me want to cry. Restaurants, even really good ones, became a burnout, and besides, we didn't want to have to leave the house every time we wanted a real meal. Enter The Spicy Radish.
Meals start at $13/serving (2 serving minimum=$26 for 2), but go up about $6-$8 per additional serving (3 servings=$32-$34). The meal options are healthy and once put together, the plates of food are bright and colorful. Assembly and cleanup are super easy. There is clearly lots of thought put into the food pairings. The flavors, textures, packaging, & instructions are spot on. The food, while having the right spices- nutmeg, mustard, cumin, etc.- is left 'under salted'. A decision which I feel is quite intentional and right. I am Le Cordon Bleu certified. One thing that should be stressed in the kitchen, especially when cooking for unknown persons, is that food only needs a touch of salt to allow the flavors to cook together properly. When it comes to 'salting' the food, it is best to not guess about people's preferences, there is always salt on the table. To me, TSR under salting shows real kitchen knowledge.
Tasty, visually appealing food, delivered to my door, easy assembly and virtually no cleanup!...Then there is the meat portions. I ordered a chicken pot pie for 3. In the entire thing, I bet there was maybe... MAYBE...1 split chicken breast. For 3 adults?! The volume of protein really needs to be about 25% bigger, to be proper for an adult. The chicken gyros probably had a total of 7oz of chicken in it. 3.5oz of protein/adult! That just is not a serving. The weight difference seems small, but 1.5oz of meat is the equivalent of 1.5 jerky snack sticks, or 40% of the total! an amount that does not go unnoticed in a meal. I found myself giving my husband almost half of my protein serving, when possible (not doable w/chkn pot pie), leaving me with a very unsatisfactory meal. If they were to increase protein (meat, not quinoa) by 15-20%, I would probably order 2-3 meals/week from them. As it is, I will order from them in the future, but it will be more sporadic. I do see the value of rotating in some 'home-cooked' food which I am not solely responsible for shopping/cooking/cleaning.
*UPDATE: I just went to assemble the last meal of the delivery, SW Chicken Bowls. When I pulled the container of chicken from the fridge, I could tell by the way it felt that it was much heavier than the container of chicken for the gyros. To my trusty food scale I go! Sure enough, the chicken inside weighed 9.8oz. Close enough to 10... I just received the menu for this week and decided to play around with servings/price. When I had what I wanted; 2 meals@2servings, 1@3servings, and 1 dessert, which I typically don't do, my total was $92 (delivery, tax, everything). I felt like meh, getting out of the grocery store for under $90 is hard, then I have to plan, cook, clean... if this order is consistent with at least 5oz of meat/serving, I will be happy. If it was consistent with 6oz/serving, they would hands-down get 5 stars, and lots of money from me. read more