Community Editor Review: The CookOut - fine dining delivered to your door Post Reply

[Community Editor]

From left to right, chefs Victor Lamauve, Philip Britten and Harriett Fieldman. Photo credit: Milly Fletcher

Last Sunday, after six weeks in lock down and lots of cooking, I treated myself to a day off and The Cookout treated me to a Sunday roast. The Cookout is a start-up who in their own words are ‘democratising fine dining.”

Top chefs, Phillip Britten who has achieved Michelin stars and many accolades in his 40 year career and his senior chef, Victor Lamauve are cooking up a storm and delivering straight to our homes. The premise is that without a swanky London location, vintage wines, an army of sommeliers and fancy silverware and décor, The Cookout can concentrate on what they do best and that’s food. That way, they keep costs down, meaning that fine dining need not cost an arm and a leg.

The founders, Gordon Taylor, Mark Gubbins and Philip Britten opened up their kitchen in Battersea just before lockdown. Not the best time to open a new business, but they have been working tirelessly throughout cooking up great food and spreading the concept of fine dining in, one home at a time.

My Sunday roast lamb Photo credit: Community Editor

I ordered the slow roast of boneless shoulder of Welsh lamb with seasonal vegetables, mash and gravy, and a cheeky chocolate terrine mango and ginger coulis dessert. The description on the website says the lamb is for 3-4 people. There were three of us, and we were hungry, so it was just about right. The food arrived hot off the bike, a shoulder of lamb which was so tender it melted away under my fork, creamy mash, carrots, broccoli and gravy. The roast lamb costs just £45 and a quick glance on the Cookout website shows prices that are admirably low with mains costing under £10 for restaurant quality food made with high grade ingredients.

Philip takes great pride in his ingredients, and being a veteran in the industry, he knows where to go to get the best. My lamb was truly sumptuous, and I can’t help but think there is one less lamb on the Welsh hills because of me.

If you are in the market for Sunday Roast – there’s lamb, chicken, Cote de boeuf and sea bass on the menu but there’s also something for everyday of the week, meals for one as well as those to share. Here are just a few dishes to get your taste buds going: glazed barbary duck, sauced with red wine, celeriac puree and glazed onions; Lamb cutlets on garam masala yoghurt, pomegranate and mint dressing and; Honey glazed duck and orange salad, mixed leaves and toasted pine kernels; and if you are not salivating yet, they also do Bramley apple and Yorkshire rhubarb crumble. Mmmmm…

Lemon tart Photo credit: Prock

To top it all off, it comes in biodegradable packaging, which is a big tick in my book.

And enjoying fine dining at home in my slippers, well that’s priceless!

The Cookout is delivering meals within Balham, Wandsworth, Kennington, Vauxhall, Lambeth, Battersea, Clapham, Brixton, Streatham and parts of Kensington and Chelsea. Pop your postcode into their site to see if they deliver to you.

To order visit: https://thecookoutclub.com Sunday Roasts can be pre-ordered or ordered on demand.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecookoutldn/

[dudette]

This is a great idea but we won't be using it as the vegetarian/vegan offerings are woeful. Why haven't they woken up to the fact that not everyone wants to eat meat or fish all the time? The problem is, they put a mushroom risotto on the menu and then no one orders it so they assume people don't want to eat veggie food. I am soooooo fed up with risottos, which some chefs seem to think is the only thing vegetarians eat. Please get with the times. Even the Ledbury now has a vegan tasting menu.

[thecookoutldn]

We are very sorry you didn’t find anything on the menu you liked today. We do really try to cover all tastes and have had vegetarian and vegan starters, mains and desserts on the menu over the last few weeks. The menu changes and so the number of these dishes will vary at any one time. We’d love you to try our food and perhaps if you suggest some of the dishes you might like to see we will work with the chefs and see if we can get some of them on the menu. Thanks again for your feedback it's always helpful

[ruthb viol]

Agree with poster above - just checked out menu but was put off because while my partner would love roast meat, I am a vegetarian and find mushroom risotto a cop out option.

[dudette]

Thanks for your reply, and I'm glad to see you're listening! The thing with vegetarian food is so many restaurants think risotto or pasta is acceptable as a main vegetarian course. If I'm going to a nice restaurant I really expect to have something more creative than that. Any decent chef should be able to do interesting things with vegetables and please try and include some plant-based sources of protein such as beans, lentils or tofu (or egg and dairy for vegetarians). But make the vegetables the stars of the show. And more than one choice is even better. Why is it the meat eaters get loads of choice and the vegetarians normally get one (and vegans often none?) If you make the vegetarian option sound appetising enough then meat-eaters will choose it too. But mushroom risotto, butternut squash ravioli, and bean tagine - just so dull. Most of the restaurants round here are terrible for vegetarians so there's a massive gap in the market!