This post is sponsored by foodora
Here at McGill, we are blessed with tons of great food options at our disposal. From Lola Rosa to Humble Lion, Mandy’s to even Pizza Navona, there’s a dearth of delicious joints to enjoy as a Montreal resident. However, there are some days where we just can’t be bothered to make the effort of going to an actual restaurant. Whether its a netflix-in-sweatpants girls night in, or a long night writing that research paper, sometimes you just want the food to come to you.
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This past week, all the Spoon McGill writers were locked into the latter lifestyle— with impending finals, 30-page research papers to finish, and general exhaustion, taking the time out of our busy lives to sit down for a nice dinner somewhere just wasn’t in the cards. And, to make things ironic, it is this kind of atmosphere when we needed some good old fashioned comfort food the most.
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The combination of laziness and busy-ness that seems to characterize pretty much all McGill students around finals szn had us seriously craving some yummy food, preferably straight into our mouths. A couple of us decided to try Foodora, a new Canadian startup company that delivers foods from all your favorite restaurants straight to your front door.
Photo courtesy of foodora.ca
Right from when we first got on the Foodora website, we were impressed with how easy it is to navigate— there was no need to worry about figuring out whether or not the restaurant would actually deliver to you, or searching through page after page of restaurant options until we found the right one, as the easy-to-use platform provided us with the available restaurants just by putting in our address.
Photo courtesy of foodora.ca
We decided on Star of India in Monkland and waited patiently (and hungrily) for our food to arrive. Now, personally, we get kinda nervous waiting for food to come— what if the order gets lost somehow? What if they come to the wrong house? What if the food never comes and we just wasted a ton of money? Thankfully, the app tracks your order in real-time so you know whats happening every step of the way.
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The quick 35 minute wait was a blessing considering how hungry we were from a whole morning of pretending to be productive. It seemed like just as fast as it would take to wait for food at an actual restaurant, and the delivery fee—3.50 per order— was dirt cheap. All things considered, as we dug into our Indian food, we were impressed with how little work we had to do to acquire yummy food. Low risk, major reward.
Photo by Nathalie Kent
While 2/3 of us don’t eat meat, we had no problem finding veggie friendly options on the menu. We ordered the vegetarian combo for two and were happily surprised with the amount of food we received.
#SpoonTip: look for combo meals or tasting platters to try multiple menu items and get more bang for your buck.
Photo by Nathalie Kent
The onion bhaji didn’t disappoint; with a generous portion of 3 per person in the combo meal, we got our fill of the flavourful, fried onion snack. The spicy, warm samosas even rivalled the version often sold on campus that McGill students know and love.
Photo by Kelly Moore
The vegetarian combo also came with a cauliflower curry and saag aloo – a spinach and potato curry. Each of these were filling, warm and perfectly spiced. The cauliflower was tender and mixed with cooked onion and red pepper. The saag aloo was a group favourite though: the combination of cumin and coriander spiced boiled potatoes with warm spinach is the ultimate comfort food and a perfect antidote to a long day of studying.
Photo by Nathalie Kent
The rice we received as part of the vegetarian platter was packed with veggies. It served as a nice balance to the spices in all of the other dishes.
Photo by Ellie Solloway
The Chicken Curry (South Indian Style) was also delicious. Despite the extra red chillies, the curry was not too spicy and had just the right amount of kick. The generous portion of naan bread we received was perfect for scooping up the chicken and sauce.
Photo by Ellie Solloway
To finish off, we enjoyed Gulab Jamun for dessert. Although it sounds a bit weird and has the texture of a soggy Tim-Bit (the Canadian equivalent to a munchkin), the spongy milk balls soaked in rose syrup were the perfect end to a filling and satisfying meal.
Photo by Kelly Moore
Foodora did not disappoint with their delivery, and Star of India served up some enticing dishes. Overall, we will definitely be ordering through Foodora again!