What's for Dinner PH : Home Food Delivery

Here's the sad reality -- good help is hard to find here in Manila. Unlike probably 10 years ago when most of us would have the privilege to have long-staying helpers who would take our worries about running the household away. Today, I've been hearing friends and family constantly asking around for recommendations for helpers and more often than not, we're always faced with the dilemma of helpers staying for a few months and leaving right away. Given that, most smaller families would resort to not having helpers anymore.

So how do we deal with preparing for our meals on a daily basis? Since I got back from the Lion City, my parents (who are down to just one helper), have been ordering food on a daily basis. We call it "tiap tsai" in Hokkien which, if I'm not mistaken, means food subscription in English. Apparently, there's a growing number of companies and individuals running this tiap tsai business and What's for Dinner is one of those. The drill is simple, wait for their weekly menu and decide which days you'd like to order from them. You have the option to adjust the quantity as the rate is on a per head basis. Place your order in advance (take note of their cut-off dates and time as this varies) and wait for them to deliver. Payment can be done upon delivery making it really hassle-free.

We got to try to order two days worth of viands from What's for Dinner and I was impressed that our food came in these clean microwaveable plastic containers. It's really my pet peeve to receive oily and messy containers as it means I have to spend more time cleaning prior to reheating our food. With the ones that we got, I simply just transferred them to our plates and popped them in the oven as we wanted it extra warmer.

Here are some of the dishes that we got that week:



Pork Paksiw : tastes and looks so much like adobo. One thing that we noticed is that most of their dishes are not salty at all and some might find it bland but since our family has been trying to eat healthy for years, this worked quite well for us. I also found out that they do not use MSG which is definitely a plus for us. My only comment is that the meat was a bit too tough and dry to be thoroughly enjoyed.

Gising Gising: Admittedly, this doesn't look like the usual gising-gising that we used to have in restaurants. I think it's because they made use of a different type of veggie. I love how the coconut milk used was quite mild as well and they have totally controlled the spiciness of this supposed fiery hot dish.

Beef Teriyaki: This was probably our most favorite dish among all that we've ordered. The beef was definitely well-seasoned and cooked properly that it stayed tender and juicy even after reheating. If given a chance, I'd definitely order this again.

Gyoza: On it's own it's pretty good but when you say gyoza, we were expecting minced Japanese-style pork wrapped in thin wrapper. The meat inside was very peppery which has a very close taste profile as that of a longganisa. I think they were trying to modernized it. Nothing wrong with it, perhaps just do away with calling it Gyoza as this immediately sets a certain level of expectation.

Vegetable Sukiyaki: The healthier, cleaner tasting version of our favorite Japanese beef soup. Sadly though, we all found it to be way too bland. Perhaps adding more miso or dashi stock would make it better. We do appreciate the effort of making this vegetarian-friendly and definitely way more healthy for family consumption too.

Price-wise, we felt it was very reasonable as they only charge Php. 170 per day per meal for 2 viands or Php. 200 per day per meal for 3 viands. That means, paying only Php. 800 for a 3 viand meal for a family of 4. The serving was quite big too so just like us, we even had leftovers for the next day as well. If you also got any food allergies or special requests, the beauty about What's for Dinner is that they are open to adjusting your dish to suit your requirements.

I personally find these home food delivery business amazing as it lifts the load of planning your meal on a daily basis and having to deal with cooking and cleaning up after. All you have to do is to wait for your meal to be delivered on a everyday.

At the moment, What's for Dinner only offers free delivery around Quezon City and but for those who resides farther than that can still enjoy their meal delivery with a very minimal charge. Check out their Instagram and Facebook pages for more updates as I was told that they will be expanding their delivery reach soon.

Contact What's for Dinner via SMS at 0920-2726588. Watch out for their weekly menu every Thursdays.