The Blurb
If you’ve survived a long year sans fine dining, you’ve probably forgotten all about that glorious feeling when you take the first bite of a dish and are caught totally off guard by the sheer quality of it. Well, ladies and gentlemen, restaurants might be closed but that party in your mouth is just a click away. Saving the day with the exquisite flavours and freshness we’ve all been craving is Chef Adam Handling of Frog in Covent Garden, whose lockdown-lifesaving Hame delivery service means we can all enjoy some truly delectable grub from the comfort of our homes – and all with just the teeniest bit of very worthwhile kitchen effort.
The Experience & The Food
With a number of tempting menus created around some of the standout dishes available at Frog, Hame makes an excellent choice for date night, Sunday lunch and every occasion in between. So whether you’re cosying up with a lockdown lover or gathering the lucky souls in your bubble for a big diet blowout, you’re spoiled for choice. If you’re feeling extra fancy, there’s even a menu called Who are you trying to impress? Not to mention a very fine selection of bottled cocktails from Eve Bar – another of Adam’s sweet central London spots – that you might just be able to pass off as your own.
Best of all, if you’re indeed attempting to blow the minds of your dinner companion(s), rest assured that you won’t need to be a master chef to whip up whichever Hame feast you choose. On a scale of HelloFresh-peel-every-vegetable-from-scratch to restaurant-meal-served-right-before-your-eyes, Hame is thankfully closer to the latter, with some dishes including the outstanding beef and caviar tartare merely requiring you to mix a handful of exquisite ingredients in a bowl. So simple is the preparation that you almost certainly won’t be anticipating the explosion of extraordinary flavours fused by your very own hands, and might just find yourself letting out a small oh my god mid-mouthful.
In fact, while a box full of individually (and sustainably) packed ingredients plus a small stack of accompanying recipe cards and video tutorials might at first glance provoke mild panic, it’s all delightfully effortless. You’d be pleasantly surprised that even to bring Handling’s signature lobster wagyu to life all you have to do is slide it out of the bag and into the oven for 5 minutes et voila. A Michelin star-worthy, buttery and delicate dish you never knew your oven could produce. It’s basically magic.
That’s not to say that other dishes don’t require any time or effort at all, but believe us, good things come to those who work for them. If you’re prepared to roll up your sleeves in the name of some fluffy cheese doughnuts (and we highly recommend you do), you’ll be proofing dough, frying the mini doughnuts themselves and filling them with cheesy goodness. But complex as it sounds, in reality it’s so straightforward you’ll wonder why freshly-made doughnuts were never a regular weekend treat. As for those with a sweet tooth, if you’re up to the great culinary challenge of arranging some pre-sliced apples and tucking them away under a disk of pastry, you’ll be rewarded with a truly divine tarte tatin best served warm with lashings of salted caramel sauce and chilled vanilla custard. Just make sure you save a slice or two for breakfast – trust us, you’ll want to enjoy this deliciousness over as many days as you can.
Also worth a final little mention is the unassuming sourdough paired with Frog’s wildly popular “chicken butter”. What’s that you ask? It’s a whipped butter infused with all the soul-soothing, mouth-watering goodness of a rich chicken soup, topped with all the crispy crunchy naughtiness of the golden fried chicken no one can resist. Yep, it’s been described as “life-changing” and we’re certainly not going to argue with that. Thank god they’ve sent extra…
The Details
Hame orders need to be placed by midnight on Sunday for the coming week, so plan ahead if you can. The refrigerated boxes are delivered on Fridays with the divine ingredients inside lasting for 3 days, so you’ll have all weekend to enjoy them if you so wish to draw out the feasting. Deliveries can be made nationwide with a few exceptions, and orders should be made online.
