Some weeks, we know we will be so busy that we will not have time to cook. Even meal delivery kits (where all our meal planning and grocery shopping is done for us) seem too much. Instead of relying on traditional fast food delivery or take-out, we opt for Red Apron during these weeks.
Ordering
Red Apron is a local fresh meal delivery service in Ottawa. Every week they send out emails with their “What’s for Dinner” menu for the upcoming week. They deliver Tuesday to Thursdays with a different menu everyday. The Thursday menu is usually a special full course meal with dessert. To sign up, you just need to call them to set up a profile. After setting up, you can just send them an email with the meals you are interested in getting delivered the following week. It could be for any one of the days or all three days.
Delivery
You can choose to have the meals delivered to your home or place of work. If you will not be available to put it in a fridge right away, just leave a cooler outside and they will drop it off in the cooler. The cost of delivery depends on your proximity to the store and varies from $3.25 to $15.00. If you forget leave out a cooler, don’t fret. They will provide you with a thermal bag, for a fee, which can be returned to the store for a credit. If you live outside the delivery areas, you can also pick up your meal at their store on Gladstone Avenue before they close.
Portions
I find the portion sizes quite generous. We usually get their “small dinner for 2” and it is usually enough for the two of us for dinner and one more serving for lunch for one of us the next day. The cost is $105 for all 3 days which works out to be around $11.66 for each serving (as 3 servings/meal as above).
Menu
Their menu is usually amazing. The last time we ordered, we had herb roasted chicken, creamy mac and cheese and coleslaw for one meal. For our second meal, we had grilled beef steak with maple peach whisky BBQ sauce, cucumber salad with red onions and greens, country potato salad, cornbread with jalapeño and cheese and a local peach & strawberry cobbler. Everything was so delicious and tasted like a lovely restaurant quality meal.Their meat is usually done perfectly and is surprisingly juicy. Their sides usually do not get outshone though as their mac and cheese and potato salad was unbelievable. I also appreciate that they try to use local ingredients. They even have a 100 mile menu, meaning they use all ingredients from sources within 100 miles of the store.
Agnolotti pasta with tomato cream sauce, antipasto and arugula salad 
Food in their packaging 
Herb roasted chicken, macaroni & cheese and vegetable slaw
Special Touches
I like how the meal comes with a little explanation about the thought process behind the recipes as well as heating instructions for each item. Some require a bit of healing over the stove while others can go in the oven. If you are really down on time, you can always just microwave most items.
Service
Their service is extremely friendly and I have always had a positive experience. I sent them a question about their packaging once and they were very prompt with their response. Unfortunately, the boxes are not recyclable according to our local recycling practices. Hopefully this will change in the future to minimize waste.
Conclusion
Overall, I have always been very happy with my Red Apron orders. I usually reserve it for the weeks that we are very busy or we just want to treat ourselves a little. If you are in the Ottawa area and looking for alternatives to take-out, traditional deliveries or meal kit deliveries, this is definitely a good option!
Bowsing Nom Noms | Ottawa-Based Food and Travel Blog 