We've previously introduced some cool apps for you to get the best food bargains and delivery deals, and have also espoused the knowledge of clean eating. Now we revisit the realm of CBD lunches with these next-gen Food Apps/Services that help make your takeouts (or "da bao") more interesting and convenient.
In no order of preference:
1. Subscription Plans: Nomnomby, Meal Pal & Flash Meal
It is no surprise that the names of the 2 former companies are similar, because these 3 services/apps are centered on the same business model. Basically they are meal subscription services where for a fixed price per month, you are attached to 'X' number of meals (usually no roll-over to next month allowed). You can then reserve your lunch/dinner from the app's list of participating merchants to be picked up at your indicated timing the next day. The menu from each restaurant rotates daily and you can also change which merchant to reserve from everyday.
The whole idea is that the amount you pay per meal is less than what the item is worth normally, so you get pick-up convenience + savings (in a sense, because well hawker all day errday is still cheaper) but trade in commitment. This is great for those who lead organized and routine lifestyles because you can choose your meal the day prior and you can be certain that the vendors' standard will be consistent.
To appeal to you auditor-types, here's a comparative price chart of these 3 companies:
However, it is also important to look at the food choices available from each service to see if it is to your taste! Flashmeal might be the cheapest but truth be told, their options are very limited, Nomnomby (which features Wafuken, Doirak, Saladstop, Rollie Ollie etc.) and Mealpal (which features Cedele, Salmon Samurai, Munch Saladsmith etc.) appear to have more restaurants signed on. Also, in case you were wondering what that "Hawker"meant, Mealpal's all-access plan features 2 Hawker meals (at just $1 each!) in addition to the basic 12 restaurant ones! Do check out their websites/apps for more details and merchant list!
2. Curated Delivery: Plum
The problem with food delivery is that it often available only from restaurants in your direct vicinity. Plum Food circumvents that problem by bringing to you food from various parts of Singapore. Their area of delivery also goes beyond CBD - think Buona Vista, Changi Business Park, Hospitals and even... Mediacorp?! Each day the menu, which consists of foods at various price points (as low as $3 for Gong Cha to $15 for Chirashi Don for example) and cuisines, rotates and you basically reserve your meal beforehand and go down to get it come lunch time. For now, Plum Food only does lunch service, generally catering to the office crowd.
Source: Plum Food SG Facebook
Payment is done per meal, so there's a much lower commitment than the subscription above, but that also means you are paying for the item as priced in-stores. There is a drawback that there are fixed pick up points (although I must say it is a long list) and the timing for pick up is usually narrower at around 30 min windows.
Link: Plum Food
3. Something New: Treatsure
Last but definitely not the least, this is a brand new concept which brings the buffet experience to you. That's right, buffet, for a weekday lunch/dinner. How is that done? Basically Treatsure allows you to reserve a box, with which you can enter the restaurant venue (typically hotel buffets) and fill up that takeaway box with anything you like in the buffet line at a fixed price ($10.70). The aim of this app is actually to reduce food waste that happens all too often at buffet places.
I tried Treatsure at their first partner location and was surprised with how fun and filling it turned out to be to build your own lunch at a buffet venue. This is a budding start-up so currently it is only partnered with The Straits Kitchen at Grand Hyatt Singapore. I would say that the biggest advantage of this app is that you have complete freedom to choose your food and go crazy with kiasu-ism/food combination in this limited version of "all-you-can-eat". It is also particularly heartening to know that you are contributing to the good cause of eliminating food waste by using this. There is a disadvantage that collection timings are skewed to the later side (e.g. 1.45pm - 2.25pm for lunch), but since I am usually a late eater anyway I was fine with it.
Link: Treatsure
And that's all for now, hope you got some takeaways (get it?) from this! We will continue to be on the look out for any new developments in the F&B industry but as always, if there's anything we missed out on, feel free to comment on our Facebook. For the latest food steals, look no further than our Telegram (which has recently hit 15k subscribers - woohoo), and for no-bullshit reviews, check out our Instagram!
- Zyan