Win a €50 Deliveroo voucher by sharing which four guests you would have at your dream #DeliverooDinnerParty

Sinead Deegan, GCN’s resident food critic had organised a dinner party for friends. What she hadn’t planned was the hangover that arose from a night on the tiles in gay Dublin. So she decided to use Deliveroo to order in from some top restaurants instead! And now we’re teaming up with Deliveroo so you can have a #DeliverooDinnerParty too!

Keep reading Sinéad’s account to see if the new delivery service lived up to the hype and find out how to enter.

Deliveroo Explained

After a rare Sunday night excursion to Bingo! at The George I was in no fit state to deal with Monday, let alone the four fussy guests I’d invited for dinner that evening. I tried to rearrange but The Gay was having none of it. “Deliveroo,” he suggested.

If you don’t already know what Deliveroo do, then what planet have you been living on?

I’ll explain: Deliveroo is website and app where you can order food from a huge selection of restaurants to be delivered to your door, in an average time of just 32 minutes. The service is available in Dublin, Cork and Galway.

I tried to use Deliveroo when it first launched in Dublin, but it wasn’t delivering to my side of town back then. I was delighted to see that the service is now fully accessible in my gaybourhood and beyond, with an impressive choice of 87 restaurants. I thought about ordering and claiming full credit for the spread but the idea of letting my guests choose was quirky, so I sent them a link to the menus and took orders.

Pescitarians And Coeliacs And Girls, Oh My!

The Pescitarian and The Coeliac opted to share a seafood platter from Klaw in Temple Bar, The Girls opted for Little Jerusalem on Camden Street, I added a little something from both restaurants fro myself, and we ordered refreshments from Baggot Street Wines. My guests were expected at 8pm, so I scheduled the wine to arrive first and the food to arrive for 8:30.

The system is very user-friendly and lets you know once the order has been placed, accepted, prepared, and is in transit. The manager from Klaw called to ask if un-shcuked oysters would be acceptable. The Girls were just back from a weekend shucking oysters at the Drop Everything festival, so they were more than happy to show off their skills.

Using multiple restaurants means the €2.50 delivery fee stacks up – but €7.50 in total for a hassle-free dinner party was more than worth it. You have the option to add a tip at the time of booking, but I preferred to hand over gratuity once the delivery arrived.

Rooman and Roowoman

The first ‘Rooman’ looked very fit in his cycling shorts. My wine bottles were wrapped in tissue and the selection at Baggot Wines, while a bit on the pricey side, is much more appealing than what’s available in the local off licence. The Chaya Malbec from Argentina was a hit and helped soothe the previous night’s excesses.

A ‘Roowoman’ and ‘Rooman’ arrived next and were a bit surprised to see each other on my doorstep. Still they exchanged some banter and laughs – maybe a ‘romance’ is in the offing?

Dinner Is Served

The system limits the delivery area to 2.4km of a restaurant to ensure that food arrives hot. We were curious to see how well certain dishes would travel and were happy to report that she majority of dishes arrived as the chef would have intended. A couple of the dishes didn’t look very appealing in the cartons, however – the Mashawi Mushakala from Little Jerusalem in particular – but the taste was great and once it was plated up with the accompanying vine leaves and bread and hummus, the dish looked as it should. The Mussell Pot from Klaw didn’t look super appetising either, but the garlic and chilli wine juice they were cooked in gave them a great kick.

The lobster on the Seafood Platter from Klaw was smaller than expected. However, half a lobster, half a crab, four prawns, four oysters and buttered toast isn’t enough food to share with a hungry friend. Luckily we had ordered extra oysters and grilled prawns, so there was plenty to satisfy.

The spread from Little Jerusalem was impressive, I’m not a huge fan of Middle Eastern fare but their falafel and hummus have to be among the best in Dublin. We ordered a small selection of baklava to have with coffee; my first time tasting these sweet, nutty, filo pastry treats. They are addictive and have become a regular treat since.

No Hassle

For an even more hassle-free dinner party you could eat directly from the boxes and avoid washing up, but the look of horror on The Gay’s face had me getting the crockery out, pronto. The Girls are quite competitive when it comes to cleaning up, so I knew I would escape dishwashing duties. Deliveroo was a convenient choice, but being able to focus on entertaining and not worry about burning dinner means I’ll be making it my regular helper for future dinner parties.

How To Enter Our Competition

Now how do you get your hands on one of those delectable Deliveroo vouchers?

Facebook

To be in with a chance to win a €50 voucher, simply Like and Share our Facebook post below, and when sharing the post tell us your four dream #DeliverooDinnerParty guests (alive or dead).

Twitter

To be in with a chance to win a €50 voucher, simply Like and Retweet our Twitter post here, and when retweeting the post tell us your four dream #DeliverooDinnerParty guests (alive or dead). Be sure to use the #DeliverooDinnerParty hashtag in your post.

Win a €50 Deliveroo voucher – Like & RT with your 4 dream #DeliverooDinnerParty guests! Full comp details: https://t.co/KFffEywrfm

— Gay Community News (@GCNmag) July 1, 2016