Even though Downtown Los Angeles is booming with seemingly daily announcements of new restaurants, there still remains a need for quality convenient food delivery to local residents and businesses. That’s why I was happy to try a sampling of the quick-to-prepare, assemble-at-home meals created by local chefs for Munchery, a delivery service founded in San Francisco and now available in New York, Seattle, and parts of Los Angeles.
It’s evident that I love to eat, but I am a discerning eater — I focus on good food, and Munchery did not disappoint me. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised. You see, I’m a busy entrepreneur, and, in spite of the many great restaurants in the Arts District and throughout Downtown Los Angeles, sometimes it’s hard to go out when I’m under a time crunch for a client or project. Munchery made it easy AND enjoyable for me. The delivery guy was pretty awesome … from his smiling, friendly face to lugging my meal selections up my flight of stairs and helping me get everything settled in. He even told me which meals were his favorites.
As I reviewed each selection while organizing everything in my refrigerator, I became hungrier and hungrier. The ample “Your Perfect Burger” selection, one of my delivery guy’s top recommendations, seemed like the best meal to begin my experience. Created by Munchery’s Culinary Director in Los Angeles, Warren Schwartz, the beef patty was pre-cooked sous-vide, grilled, and then packed for delivery. All I had to do was heat it at home, then pile it on my broiche bun with the chilled companion items like a thick slab of tomato, onion slices, lettuce, and more. The result? A better burger than I have gotten before even at a restaurant or made by myself at home.
My burger experience made me look even more forward to the meals I had in store for me over the next couple of days. Each one was great. I even discovered that one of my chef-prepared selections (Kimchi Pork Belly Fried Vice) was created for Munchery by my friend Roy Choi, famous for his Kogi BBQ tacos and owner of multiple L.A restaurants, including DTLA’s Chego and POT. His meal was wonderful, but I kind of made it “my own way” when I misread the directions about what I thought was a boiled egg (ahem, it was raw and I needed to prepare it first … oh, well … it was STILL tasty!).
The best part is that Munchery‘s delivery menu changes daily and features an affordable variety of main dishes ($7-$12), sides and salads ($3-10), and desserts and drinks ($2-$7) with gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan, dairy-free, and nut-free options always available. There is even a selection of meals just for kids!
Of course, I photographed everything (duh), and I’ve posted a gallery of images below. My recommendation? When you’re too busy or tired to cook, or you just want to have something on hand that’s fast, easy to prepare, and affordable to enjoy at home or your office, Munchery is definitely for you.
P.S. In Los Angeles, I love knowing that Munchery donates to the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank with every order. Their delivery trays are also biodegradable with their compostable bamboo and sugar cane fibers plus the paper and plastic products used in packaging are made from recycled materials. Tell me about your Munchery experience!