The past few months have seen a sudden rise in the number of food startups opting for Delivery-only model. Main reason – to make maximum use of technology rather than physical assets, gone are those days when ordering food had to be from a trusted brick and mortar restaurant which had a tiny takeaway counter. Consumers these days want to experiment, experiment till they find that perfect taste which matches the expectations of their taste buds.

This post is about one such entrant- Innerchef, it was born out of passion towards providing an ultimate food experience to its customers and to help them eat better. This venture was started in April 2015 and has brilliantly managed to make a significant mark in this cash rich food industry. It was started by serial entrepreneur Rajesh Sawhney, Bal DiGhent and Sanjeev Singhal with a clear intention of making use of the best of available technology to get closer to their customers and serve them delicious and wholesome food.

Innerchef menu is vast, options range from European, Mediterranean to modern Indian dishes. The best part about this venture is ‘Indulge by Innerchef‘, a concept where proficient home bakers and local bakeries can use Innerchef as a platform to showcase their preparations and make it available to the masses.

Innerchef makes use of their website and mobile app (available both of Android and Apple stores) to take orders. You need to set your location (city and locality) to see the available in-stock preparations.

PACKAGING – First impression- they are environmental friendly, light cardboard like material. Some boxes were plain white in color whereas others were checked. Beverages came well packed in transparent bottles with easy to open caps. Food was neatly covered in plastic containers (Pasta, curries etc). Roti came in traditional Indian style – wrapped in foil paper! Overall, it looked very elegant.

BEVERAGES – We started off with the fresh fruit juices that came in neatly packaged bottles.

• Lemon Mint iced tea – I am used to ordering Iced tea on a regular basis and the addition of Mint seemed very inviting (Perfect for summer). So what you get is a refreshing drink which is high on citric acid!! Mint acts as a nice additive to the otherwise boring Lemon tea.
• Watermelon Juice – It is a plain no-nonsense watermelon extract and filtered drink. No preservatives added and hence it is advised to be consumed as soon as possible, else the overall texture and feel can easily get messed.

MAINS – Innerchef menu has some interesting options here. Mind you, most of the dishes have got authentic names and its best to go through the description on their website/app before placing your order. We savored on a lot of items from their menu, and I have tried my best to summarize them below:

Chicken Kri Kri – French goat cheese salad with grilled chicken panini. First thing you notice on opening the box is that it has got 2 parts. One is the salad which contains fresh oranges sediments mixed with large portions of Rocket leaves and topped with French goat cheese. Every thing in this salad sets in properly but I felt that a slightly lesser quantity of Rocket leaves would do wonders! Next is Panini filled with grilled chicken and home made sun dried tomato paste and mascarpone cream cheese. You get spiced BBQ sauce which can be added by those who would like to add some tanginess.

Awadh Mutton Koftas with Rumali Roti – Mutton curry tastes best when combined with Rotis, in this case Innerchef delivered just that. The packet consists of 2 Rumali rotis, a bowl of this royal curry and onions (separately). The quantity seems apt, you get approximately 4 Kofta pieces. Gravy here is one of the best I have tasted in recent times and it was not extremely spicy. Koftas were soft and could easily be pierced using the cutlery which came along with it.

Chettinad Chicken with Malabar Parathas – Chettinad is a traditional Chicken curry known for its spiciness. This curry has generous chicken chunks with lots of infused spices to compliment its fiery nature. You get fluffly Malabar Parathas (2 pcs) along with it which goes well with this flavorsome curry.

River Sole with Veggies – This one is a unique preparation, it includes delicious fish fillet dipped in white sauce flecked with tart capers and flavorful parsley. It has got a very mustard + cheesy hints which compliments the taste of this delightfully prepared dish. The grilled vegetables along with their signature Focaccia bread is a nice little addition to complete this meal combo, though I wouldn’t mind sacrificing the veggies to accommodate a larger portion of River Sole.

Grilled Chicken Pasta in Red Sauce – Description says ‘Al Dente Spaghetti and juicy Chicken in tangy Tomato sauce’.  ‘Al Dente’ in Italian means a dish cooked with a primary intention of making it firm rather than soft. So the pasta you see above was exactly the same, it was not excessively firm not too soft. Lot of tanginess can be felt in every bite. Quantity was generous and I felt two moderately hungry people can easily fill their tummies!

Now coming to the most interesting part- Indulge by Innerchef.

Sunrise Lemon Cake – This one is a fluffy and yellow-golden colored cake. The aroma of lemon is so strong that you feel it within nano seconds after unwrapping. The sugar flavors are subdued pretty well using the extra bit of citrusy lemon flavor.

Belgian Blueberry Cheese cake jar – This particular Cheese cake jar was prepared by well renowned baker by Jeyadra S, it automatically set our expectations high. The jar looked neat from outside with respect to placement of the contents as we could easily distinguish every layer. Grab opened the jar and dipped in the spoon to get a heap of all that I could manage on a tiny spoon, the experience was out of the world. Personally, I was never a fan of Cheese cakes but this one did manage to change my opinion. Crunchy bits of Bread crumbs at the bottom added a neutral after flavor to this evenly textured Cheese cake.

Death by chocolate jar – Our final dessert was a Chocolate bomb prepared by another dessert expert, Chocolaty Choux. It was a thick mix of dark chocolate along with chocolate crumbs in it. You surely cant miss this one if you are a fan of true chocolate flavor.

GRUBITIZER’s VERDICT –  Innerchef has entered the food industry with an intention to follow a Delivery-Only model. This is currently a very vast and unexplored territory considering the fact that the growth in number of food startups is massive. Innerchef has its own USP in the form of ‘Indulge by Innerchef’, which supports local talent, indeed a great initiative. I felt the prices are slightly on higher side. There is no doubt about the fact that their offerings are worth it, as the quality of food served along with a very efficient delivery model makes it an instant hit, but I feel reaching out to masses is what might click even further. PS- Look out for a cute little cookie in your food box, this is a very sweet gesture from Innerchef towards its patrons.

Download Innerchef app (IOS or Android) or visit their webpage by clicking here to explore more.