Deliveryhero.com.au Blog

What could be better than kicking back on our national holiday enjoying a lovely glass of vino or cold bottle of beer and some fair dinkum Aussie takeaway? If there was ever a time to treat yourself to the simple pleasures of fast food then surely January 26 is it! Potato cakes, meat pies, burgers with the lot, chips doused in vinegar and battered, fried fish are admittedly not for dieters but you can’t deny these delicious snacks scream summer holidays.

Along with traditional fish and chips, there is a mountain of mouth-watering food delivery options to choose from. Pizza remains a favourite of course and goes down a treat with some chinotto and buttery garlic bread. Asian cuisines like Chinese and Thai continue to tempt Aussies with a taste for flavours from the Orient.  And who can go past a succulent roast chicken? I know I can’t – especially when someone else has to slave over the hot oven! (more…)

With the departure of 2011 and the arrival of 2012, January can be a busy month. Whether it be racing around catching up with friends you missed before Christmas, or driving to your favourite camping spot, you can’t forget that on January 23^rd it’s Chinese New Year! What better way to celebrate then creating your own Chinese delivery banquet at home, with the help from Delivery Hero of course!

It’s the year of the Dragon this Chinese New Year and the lunar New Year on the 23^rd of January will kick of 15 days of celebrations across Australia including twilight parades, dragon boat races, night markets, workshops, tours and performances, finishing off with a Lantern Festival. And of course, the huge selection of traditional and unique Chinese New Year meals.

Families spend weeks preparing food, decorating their homes and making offerings to the Chinese Kitchen God by cooking up festive foods. Why stress yourself out with cooking and celebrate your own way. Avoid all hassle by ordering in! (more…)

When you’re eating with a knife and fork, everyone knows that there are some basic table manners to keep in mind, and eating with chopsticks is no different. While chopstick etiquette varies a bit from country to country, there are some common chopstick do’s and don’ts.

 So with Chinese New Year just around the corner take some expert chopstick tips with you for your next Chinese Home Delivery order. (more…)

Every now and again there are those restaurants which really exemplify the word authentic and it doesn’t ring more true than the family owned My Italian Place in Baulkham Hills.

 Rosemary and Carelo Bruzzesse are the Italian born owners who are behind this make sure their food has as much heart and gusto as Pavarotti on a speeding Vespa.

 It’s not often I can remember let alone recommend an Italian restaurant I have ordered from where the Pizza was worthy of a rant- but here it is.  Order the Italian Special- Why wouldn’t you, the description is as simple as the pizza is yummy- “Tomato & Cheese, Everything (except your dislikes.)

How can you beat that! (more…)

Hey Alex, You look busy so thanks for taking a minute to chat, could you tell me a bit about yourself?
Hey! A bit about myself… But so much to say! Haha I am from France, which you could believe would differentiate me from other people, but not at Delivery Hero! I graduated in business and came to Australia 6 months ago to travel (yay!) and work (yay…), and 3 months ago, I became a hero and started delivering happiness!

What’s your role here at Delivery Hero?
I am in charge of lead research, I am also in charge of menu collection, which is pretty much self-explanatory! And finally, I make it my mission to spread my awesomeness in the office, because, let’s face it: who else could do it?? :p

And what were you doing previously to working at Delivery Hero?
I studied business and specialised in market research from a business school in the south of France (Bordeaux, great city, lots of good wines… and other stuff!). Had a couple of experiences in the corporate world (interesting part of my student life…), spent a semester in the United States (BEST part of my student life!), and decided to do something a bit crazy before settling in France. Conclusion: Here I am, in Sydney, enjoying the good life!

Can you tell me one interesting story you’ve had since working here…
Giving a specific story is difficult, because we have a lot of fun at the office (and occasionally work… hum). At the beginning of December, thanks to a colleague, a couple of us went surfing, it was the first (and last? haha) time for me, apparently I am not a natural, who would have thought???

Now it’s time to divulge! Tell us something we don’t know about you.
Huh, something you don’t know… I don’t know how to snap my fingers!! But I have really cool colleagues who are helping me overcome this obstacle… When they are not making fun of me!

What’s your favourite food and your favourite restaurant to order from in the city?
My favourite food: Pizza! Favourite place so far: Casa Messina in Leichhardt, almost as good as the pizzas my father cooks!

Considering the amount of dishes and cuisines for which rice is a staple, cooking rice should be a fairly straightforward task. Yet more often than not cooking perfect rice can be a difficult one to get right with sticky clumpy rice, watery rice or, worse still, a burnt pan often being the end result.

It seems like everyone has there own ideas about how to cook perfect rice. So as Chinese New Year is approaching, we thought we’d share with you our method, ensuring you’ll have the perfect accompaniment to some delicious Chinese delivery of course!

How to Cook Perfect Rice: Our Method!

• First, rinse the rice under running water in a colander or sieve as this prevents it from becoming sticky. Continue rinsing until the water runs clear (around 2 minutes)
• Place the rice in a pan. Fill the pan with water to around 2cm above the rice level. (The ratio of rice to water should be about 1 cup of rice to just under 1 1/2 cups of water).
• Cover and bring to the boil. As soon as it starts to boil, reduce to a low heat so it is simmering.
• Let it simmer for 10 minutes, keeping the cover on.
• Remove the pan from the heat, keep it covered letting it steam for a further five minutes.
• Fluff the rice with a fork or chopsticks before serving.
• For added flavour use chicken or vegetable stock instead of water.

Fingers crossed you have cooked perfect rice!

There’s always Delivery Hero…
Should this all seem like too much of a risky business, perfect rice is available to order from the experts for home delivery.

How do you cook perfect rice? Let us know!  Who makes the best rice dishes in your area?

Images: IRRI Images, FotoosVanRobin

No-one likes working late but if you’re burning the midnight oil in the office, some great takeaway office food can be a saviour and give you that energy boost you need to keep you motivated.  Or when you have clients coming in, online ordering with Delivery Hero also means you can easily forward the link to everyone in the office making those large orders so much easier.

If you’re in Melbourne in the St. Kilda vicinity, for example, then why not try out Gabbies who specialise in pizza, pasta and salad but have numerous other options on offer such as risotto, veal and seafood so there’s sure to be something to appeal. Traditional pizzas such as Margherita, Marinara and Pepperoni are of course available but if you’re feeling like something fancier for office food, there’s the gourmet pizza menu which incorporates Avocado and Smoked Salmon, Tandoori and Santorini pizzas. A great array of pasta dishes are on the menu too or if you want something fresh from the ocean, why not sample the delicious chilli prawns or pan-fried calamari. Then. if you’ve a hankering for something sweet to round things off then gelato, crepes and chocolate mousse are just some of the treats on the menu. Office food never tasted so good! Feast at your very own desk and make those late-nights in the office a much more agreeable prospect!

Perhaps, though, you have meetings all day and no time to go out and grab lunch? In which case why not have your lunch delivered and put on a spread for all those who are bound to the conference room. Tandoori Point would be a fantastic choice if you’re in Elwood area. Easily order a range of dishes for office food such as onion bhajis, madras curry, a Tandoori seafood platter, butter chicken and of course naan bread, which are all just a click away. For the vegetarians there’s no shortage of choice either with mouth-watering prospects such as pumpkin masala, lentil dahl and mixed vegetables korma all on the menu as well.

So, break up those long meetings with a delicious lunch delivery, your colleagues and clients will thank you for it!

Image:  Or Hiltch

Sydney’s rainy start to summer can’t help but remind us at Delivery Hero of tropical Thailand. Hot and humid with delicious cooking smells in the air. When it comes to summer menu ideas, we’re the first to head for Thai takeaway dishes because really nothing beats super fresh vegetables and herbs mixed with that spicy chilli kick. Thai Space in Glebe is definitely the place to be for a quick Thai fix. Of course Thai is the perfect meal to share with friends and family out in the backyard, or why not take this mini feast with you for an evening picnic in Jubilee park?

For starters a mixed entree of money bags, curry puffs and spring rolls and Thai fish cakes is a surefire way to get your Thai on. But for something a little more exotic, who can go past duck pancakes? Seriously, if you haven’t tried these, you really haven’t lived. And if you want to be picky about it’s origins, yes the Thai have borrowed this recipe from China, but hey, it’s a winner. Take strips of BBQ’d Peking duck, cucumber, shallots, sprinkle with Hoi Sin sauce and wrap it up in a Mandarin pancake.

While some of us here in the Delivery Hero office will be heading straight for the stir fries and curries (it’s never too humid for a green curry!) – others in the mood for something lighter would definitely recommend a Thai salad. In addition to regular Thai beef salad, Thai Space in Glebe do a super tasty Calamari and Lemon Salad with lemon grass, chilli, garlic, fresh ginger and mint leaves. Its a tangy taste bud sensation.

Considering that Sydney summer is all about seafood, Thai Space takes advantage of that with their delicious Salt and Pepper Calamari, and Tamarind King Prawn and vegetable dish. But if seafood isn’t your thing, you can’t go wrong with a Chicken with Cashew Nut stir fry, or everyone’s favourite, the classic Pad Thai.

While we’ve got a soft spot for Thai delivery here at Delivery Hero and hope that these suggestions will whet your appetite, if you head to the website, you’ll realise that the summer menu options are pretty much infinite.

Image: boo_licious

Goodbye 2011- Hello a brand new year promising to be even better than the last -Unless the Mayan’s were right all along, in which case the end of the world is neigh and you should be running off to some remote island to enjoy what time we have left immediately!

For the rest of us slightly less dramatic people, let me take the time to say welcome back to the real world! The past two weeks have been a fantastic whirlwind of celebrations and sunburn, but we have made it to the other side and here at Delivery Hero we are energized to make this year our best yet!
If Christmas is about giving and being with our friends and family, then surely New Years is all about you! Setting your resolutions, planning your year and buying your gym membership which you swear you will use this time!
Well we are no different. Our New Year’s Resolution is all about YOU as well.
This year we will be working to grow our website for you, make sure all your favourite restaurants are here and make sure our customer service rocks. We love any feedback and are more than happy to have a chat anytime – just call: 1300 MY MEAL.
Remember, we are here to work hard and to make sure things keep getting better and better – kinda like a Gym membership, but way more fun!

2012 certainly has a good ring about it, so let’s get started.

Image by Creativity 103