When you judge a book by its cover despite, you feel a little silly about it later. But to my defence, the sameness of what surrounds us today, makes things rather predictable. When it comes to food, specially online delivery portals, predictability is justified. It’s all good, but nothing starkly different from the next guy. So, when it came to The Trial Box, I didn’t expect anything out of the box. If it wasn’t for the New York Bagel Sandwich, I probably wouldn’t have given it a second glance. But I decided to put the bagel into my check out cart with a few other things such. It certainly made a good first impression.
All this food better live up to my expectations, I said to myself, considering my hunger had escalated ferociously. The food arrived an hour later.
First few bites, and the apprehension turned into pleasure. It was all gourmet. Neatly packaged food in well-designed sleeves that were functional, yet fetching. Accompaniments came in glass jars, and cutlery had its own covers. The food was warm, not hot, when it arrived, but the overall presentation made an impact.
The Trial Box has Chef Arun Tyagi as its Culinary Director, who has served ITC Hotels, Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces, and Radisson in the past. His experience reflected in the food. Before I tell you about what I had for dinner, I’d like to put in a line about the website. The design concept is neat and crisp. There are four categories on it—hassle free boxed meals, gourmet party meals, a contact us section and order online. The menu structuring could have been better planned as it takes a while to go through all the various sections and find exactly what you need.
One can order now or later. The minimum order amount is Rs 99 and delivery is promised within 45 minutes. For Raksha Bandhan on August 26, a special category has been introduced. The gourmet party boxes can be delivered at a notice of four hours for a party, which is an attractive feature, considering catering requires at least, if not more, 48 hours prior notice. The boxes are designed for large gatherings but if one wanted them for nuclear arrangements, they could be delivered in lesser time upon special request. Barbeque can be set up for a gathering of 25 or more people at a four-hour notice.
The gourmet party box comes in two variants—smart box serving four-five people, and the big box serving 8-9 people. A stand out feature at The Trial Box is its kids menu.The promotional pictures of the food on the website matches the actual meal. The price points are attractive and the taste is abundantly flavourful. The New York Bagel Sandwich that invited our attention at first, came with scrambled egg and ham, accompanied with steamed vegetables.
The bread remained soft and the meat was moist. The Cantonese Fish in the Oriental Box was delicately flavoured and cooked with subtlety. The Cheng du Lamb Bao was another well done preparation with the earthiness of the bao complimented the juiciness of the lamp. From the Indian section, the kebabs stood out with a wide margin against the curries. If you decide to pay The Trial Box a visit, make sure to order the kebabs, oriental starters and some of the sandwiches. The Quinoa Summer Salad can be given a miss. There are no beverages on offer. On the whole, it’s a novel attempt at making gourmet easily accessible, fairly affordable and comfortably enjoyable within the comfort of the home.