More meal kits to try in Manchester – from local and national restaurants

While restaurants were closed, we loved trying out all the different meal kits some of them started offering.

Offering ready-prepared dishes or ingredients that only need basic cooking and assembly at home, restaurants have shown ingenuity in the face of adversity with the kits – and they allow us to experience chef-quality meals without leaving the house.

While some restaurants have understandably stopped offering the meal kit service as they concentrate on reopening restaurants, many more have launched a new at-home offering.

Following our first guide, here are some more to try – from both local restaurants and those further afield, including some top London names, which offer nationwide delivery.

Double cheeseburgers from Bleecker

Bleecker does burgers for burger lovers: rare-breed, grass-fed beef from small farms in the UK, dry-aged for an intense, beefy flavour. All you need then is a sesame seed bun, scratch burger sauce and good old American cheese. And that’s exactly what you’ll get in their kits, which make double cheeseburgers for two or four people. From £21. Nationwide delivery from GreatFood2U.

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Farokh Talati’s Parsi Feast

Parsi cooking takes flavours from Persian cuisine – gentle spices like saffron, cinnamon, and cardamom and dried fruits – as well as Indian influences like meats, fish, coconuts, chillies, and harder spices. Chef Farokh Talati (from London restaurant St John Bread & Wine) has created some exceptional feast menus (meat or vegetarian) that are easy to make at home, using seasonal summer ingredients. A new menu will launch in September. £40. Nationwide delivery from The Dishpatch.

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Poutine from Blue Caribou

Canada’s national dish of French fries, squeaky fresh cheese curds and gravy is the ultimate comfort food – and nobody does it better than Blue Caribou, which was founded by Graham Gartside-Bernier, from Bolton, and his partner Vincent Bernier, from Québec. Now you can get poutine by post, with a range of kits to create your own. Around £18. Nationwide delivery.

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Pork or daikon buns from Bao London

Soho diners can’t get enough of Bao, which often has queues for its Michelin Bib Gourmand quality buns. And now, you can get them delivered across the country with a DIY kit, which contains six buns (serving two-three people), and a choice of either 12-hour slow-braised pork or panko daikon filling. £20. Nationwide delivery.

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Hawksmoor at Home

Hawksmoor, unsurprisingly, is doing the Rolls Royce of meal kits. Generously serving two, the box includes a 35-day dry-aged Porterhouse steak, bone marrow and Madeira jus (for bone marrow gravy), Koffmann potatoes and beef dripping, and British tender stem broccoli with Gentlemen’s Relish. There are drinks, too: a bottle of Hawksmoor blend Pulenta Malbec, Hawksmoor’s Ultimate Dry Martini, plus Hawksmoor lager. And a copy of the Hawksmoor Cookbook, for tips to recreate the beefy restaurant experience at home. And keep an eye out for their ultimate home BBQ kits, too. £120. Nationwide delivery.

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Indian lamb rack from Gunpowder

The London restaurant is known for its known for a modern take on Indian home-style cooking – and Gunpowder’s DIY kit is a cracker. The menu is lamb rack, Kashmiri ghee roast; broccoli, mustard Malai; and tandoori new potatoes. Everything arrives marinated and ready to cook, and it comes with both oven and BBQ instructions. The box serves four people, priced at £38 plus delivery. Nationwide delivery.

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Bacon cheeseburgers from Honest Burgers

We can’t get enough of Honest’s perfectly pink burgers, using British beef from their own butchery. Using chuck and rib cap (the fatty bit that’s skimmed off a ribeye steak) means the burgers are juicy and chunky and actually taste properly beefy – and the meat is chopped, not minced, which means it’s full of flavour as well as holding its shape. And now, you can make bacon cheeseburgers at home with a kit serving two or four that also includes rosemary salt for Honest style chips and a tote bag too, from £15 plus £6 nationwide delivery.

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Meat feast box from Zelman Meats

This much-loved Soho steakhouse is known for its quality tomahawks, huge smoked short ribs and selected cuts from around the globe. And now you can try it all without needing to get on the train to London, with kits that include Wagyu sirloin from Australia and smoked short rib with BBQ sauce. Or a 1.2kg feast box contains everything you need for the ultimate meaty treat—meat from £9, feast box £60—nationwide delivery.

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Bacon naan rolls from Dishoom

Fancy Dishoom’s bacon naan rolls while still in your pyjamas? Serving two, the DIY kits include smoked streaky bacon from Ramsay of Carluke (matured in the traditional Ayrshire way and smoked over applewood and beechwood chips), three naan doughballs, tomato-chilli jam, fresh coriander and cream cheese. Each kit also contains loose-leaf Darjeeling tea and chai spices for recreating Dishoom’s much-loved masala chai – you just need to add milk and sugar to brew. £16. Nationwide delivery.

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Fondue for two from The Cheese Bar

Fancy a retro fondue? If you’ve got a fondue burner somewhere at the back of the cupboard, now’s your chance to use it – or if not, you can just use a pan. The London company are offering a fondue kit for two, which includes a Coolea and Cornish Kern cheese blend as well as lemon, garlic, nutmeg and cornflour, white wine, a Coombeshead Farm sourdough loaf, new potatoes and cornichons. £28, plus shipping. Nationwide delivery.

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Fried chicken from Mother Clucker

Mother Clucker started serving their tea brined, buttermilk soaked, twice battered fried chicken from an old US Army ambulance in London in 2013. Now, you can have it in the comfort of your own home. The kits come with everything you need to recreate their famous fried chicken strips: brined chicken, buttermilk, their secret flour mix, hot sauce, lime mayo and slaw. There’s a halloumi version, too. From £18. Nationwide delivery from GreatFood2U.

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Vegan curry from Spicebox

Fans of plant-based dining can now recreate an authentic curry house experience at home with DIY vegan curry kits from London-based curry house Spice Box. The vegan korma box and vegan tikka masala box both feed up to six people. £40 plus £5 delivery. Nationwide delivery from GreatFood2U.

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Meat by the lb from Smokestak

The Shoreditch restaurant specialises in smoked, cooked and brined meats from top suppliers served by the pound – and now you can get a pick and mix box delivered to your door. Try a whole 30-day dry-aged beef rib rack, dry-rubbed pork belly or 15-hour beef brisket – and you can add on bottled cocktails, too. £24 minimum order, with £5.95 shipping. Nationwide delivery.

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Luxury lobster feast from Burger & Lobster

Sadly their Manchester restaurant is no more – but you can get the luxury lobster experience at home, instead. The kits include two whole fresh wild Atlantic lobsters
with lemon and garlic sauce, plus two original Nebraskan beef burgers with accompaniments, plus all the ingredients for two original lobster rolls. £85. Nationwide delivery.

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Michelin starred dinners by Tommy Banks

Perhaps you’ve been to his Michelin starred restaurant with rooms The Black Swan at Oldstead – or perhaps you’ve always wanted to. Either way, you can now get a taste of chef Tommy Banks’ signature dishes with a range of food box options – including the Made In Oldstead option, which delivers two three-course menus, which both serve two people so that you can make a full weekend of it. £75. Nationwide delivery.

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Sunday roast or afternoon tea by The Lowry Hotel

Here’s a new one to look out for… This luxury local five-star hotel is launching its own meal kits next month – and we can’t wait. You can go for a five-course dinner for two, including wine (£60) – think gin cured salmon with sea herbs, and lime cheesecake with roast pineapple; or try afternoon tea with freshly baked scones with jam and cream, sandwiches and desserts, tea and prosecco (£50). Or treat yourself to the ultimate four-course Sunday roast for two (£40) which includes topside of beef, Yorkshire pudding and duck fat roasties, veg and gravy, followed by sticky toffee pudding. Launching 11th September, collection from the hotel – more details to follow soon.

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