#Food - 'Home Delivered' via 'FoodPanda'

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The synergy of food and technology is quite fascinating and that's what urged me to make my first post on food and technology a few months ago. Technology is not only bringing people closer but is also making everything under the sun much more accessible. All of this giving utmost importance to the time of the consumer.

Be it websites for online shopping, movie ticket, event ticketing, travel planner, flight bookings, hotel bookings, online food delivery sites etc are all examples of technology becoming an enabler of a better lifestyle.

From my experience of online shopping, I have enjoyed the conveniences like - 

- Shopping from my seat, 

- No interruption/shadowing from a sales person, 

- A range of brands to select from, 

- Flexibility to receive my order at my doorstep, 

- Exchange / return facilities as may be necessary, 

- Pay by cash or card and many more.

I must say, "The online shopping segment of e-commerce has really grown and evolved in our country in the last few years."On similar lines, shopping for food online / home delivery is also gaining popularity. Home delivery via a phone has existed for ages and continues to be a popular mode of ordering food for home delivery or take away. In today's age of advanced technology, internet, smart phones, laptops and tablets, there clearly are various ways of getting food home delivered. 

On a lazy sunday, scouting for options to eat in the confines of my home I took it to the internet and stumbled upon FoodPanda - the online food delivery site. Exploring this site, I learnt of their global presence and soon navigated to their page specific to Bangalore City. In no time, I was on my way to confirming my first order via FoodPanda. I hit 'Confirm' and the order was placed.

The very same evening, I needed food delivered to my home again and this time, on the move, I hit the website on my mobile phone browser. Instantly, I was led to the FoodPanda mobile app download page. Most of the times having an app on the mobile make browsing much easier and again, I was all set to place an order for the second time on the very same day.

On the good side, for both the orders - 

- Since the menu cards and listed on the website, it was easy to pick and add or reduce the number of dishes being ordered.

- I received a confirmation message almost instantly notifying the order being received and confirmed by the restaurant,

- A phone call was received where the menu price had changed but was not reflected on the website,

- Cash on delivery was a mode of payment,

- The food was delivered in the estimated time mentioned upfront even before the order was placed.

- For a registered user, it gets even more convenient as one does not need to re-enter the delivery address (if it is same) as the history gets recorded and stored.

On the flip side, I wish the system got a wider listing of restaurants that are willing to deliver food at the doorstep. It would also be nice to better handle the search and filtering criteria based o n locality or area.

Unsure of the service experience and what to expect, I was a happy customer at the end of the day. 

As for the food review.. It will be up soon :)

Cheers!

Annapoorna, Bangalore

Quite often, I tend to enjoy eating food in the confines of my home for various reasons. Most often being that, “I am lazy to get dressed for a restaurant or may be enjoy a movie alongside a drink and lots of food.” No points for guessing, the food source is usually a takeaway or home delivery. While this happens quite often, it is the first time I am putting this down on record.

The Home-Bound Series that I'd like to call 'maison lié' series begins with a take-away from ‘Annapoorna’ an Andhra style restaurant housed in ‘Hotel Annapoorna’. This is an age old joint that has been serving up delicious Andhra style fare for decades.  The ambiance here is very simple and basic with nothing more that can be written about. 

Menu:

Annapoorna has a laminated one page menu with limited but more than sufficient listing to cater to ones need. The listing includes biryani, non-vegetarian starters, veg. meals and for take-away they also have carrier meals which suffices for 3 – 4 members. 

What we ate:

For our take-away, we placed our order at the cash counter and requested for banana leaves to be provided as well with our parcel. What we took home to devour was a portion each of chicken roast (Rs. 100), mutton fry (Rs. 120), chicken biryani (Rs. 110) and mutton biryani (Rs. 130).

Starting from the bottom right and moving clock-wise is mutton biryani, chicken biryani, sherwa (gravy) and raita for the biryani, chicken roast and mutton fry. The biryanis were full of flavor yet light and easy on the stomach. Though both the biryanis were delicious; the milder and more balanced flavor of the chicken biryani appealed more to my taste buds.

Another View

The lack of flavor in the chicken roast left me disappointed. On the other hand, the mutton fry was packed with flavor and spices. The aroma of the mutton fry was sufficient to fall in love with this preparation; needless to say it tasted divine.

Verdict:

Since we did a take-away, I must mention that the biryanis came packed in individual aluminum foil packets and the rest were packed in boxes. We did not need to wait for long for our food to be readied to takeaway. The restaurant was kind enough to oblige when we asked for banana leaves to be provided as well.

Two of us had a hearty meal and were stuffed to our throats by the time we finished. For this meal, we paid just Rs. 460 all inclusive (there are no additional taxes and charges). Oh! No packaging or container charges as well.

Quick Tips:

Go here for a scrumptious and a quick meal, Andhra veg. meals, chicken biryani and mutton fry. CAUTION! Mutton fry is high on spices.

Do not go if you cannot take the spice or ambiance is your prime focus.

Address: 6th cross, Gandhinagar, Majestic Area, Bangalore

Phone Number: +91 80 25352218 / 22912755