Deliveryhero.com.au Blog

Babaganoush – roast eggplant dip – with turkish bread is a picnic winner. Photo by jules:stonesoup

Sometimes you just don’t want to order big

You’re hanging out with your friends, enjoying the lovely afternoon and you’re feeling a bit peckish. But you’re not hungry enough to order a family-sized pizza and you really can’t be bothered cooking. What do you do?

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In a few short years, the wide-spread perception of chefs has gone from that of a stressed-out cook yelling at lackeys in a boiling kitchen to a 3-hat genius balancing photo-shoots, soufflés and interviews. From Julia Child’s revolutionary ‘The French Chef’ series in the 1960’s, through to cult shows like Iron Chef and prominent television personalities such as Nigella Lawson and Jamie Oliver, (more…)

Athletes react after discovering there’s only 1 ripe peach left

With the London Olympics 2012 upon us, the world has been keeping a close eye on the news coming out of the Olympic village. With the heats being run, upsets caused and new records being created every day, you might think that we know absolutely everything there is to know about the London Games. Here at Delivery Hero, we decided to dig a little deeper to see if we could come up with some interesting and less-well publicized facts, and that’s when we came across a mind-blowing secret – how the organizers of the 2012 Olympics plan on feeding tens of thousands of athletes, officials, volunteers, press and an entire city… (more…)

It would be an understatement to say that chefs and restaurateurs are quirky people. If you’ve ever worked at a restaurant – even as a Barista at a cafe – you have first hand experience with the madness. In front of the customers it’s usually all business, forced rapport and big smiles, but we know that behind-the-scenes you have to deal with a Tom Cruise-level personality who would be hilarious if only you weren’t Katie Holmes-level concerned for your personal safety on a daily basis.

You’re late for your shift! P.s. I love you.

Usually the ‘quirkiness’ never makes its way into the character of the restaurant itself, but – when it does…well, see for yourself as we investigate some weird and strange restaurants from around the world:

Modern Toilet – Taiwan, Japan & Hong Kong  

Everyone eats, everyone goes to the toilet: fact. Ex-banker Wang Zi-Wei must have had these two nuggets of priceless information flying around his head when he had an earth-shattering epiphany; why not combine the two? Usually pitching this idea to investors would lead to an awkward silence followed by a distinct lack of start-up capital, but luckily Mr. Zi-Wei had already received positive reviews from a previous venture that sold ice-cream served in mini-toilets. Yes, you read that correctly. Enter ‘Modern Toilet’, a concept so popular in Asia that it has become a franchise with restaurants in Hong-Kong, Japan and Taiwan. (*Note to self: first date with Monica?) (more…)

It’s no stretch to say that Delivery Hero fans and readers of our blog are a highly-connected, internet-savvy group of foodies. You’re up to date with the latest meal sharing apps, restaurant reviews and gourmet food blogs, and you’re also the kind of person that likes to try new (and delicious!) things. Now that we’ve hit the midway mark of 2012 (zomg can you believe it?), we’ve decided to look back at our post from earlier this year that predicted which food trends would bust out into the mainstream in 2012. Let’s see how many food trend points you’ve accumulated so far, and if you haven’t tried any of the following trends then at least that fat tax refund is just around the corner!

Peruvian Chicken Empanada – basically a Peruvian pastie

Peruvian cuisine:  What a fabulously trendy cuisine this year! Peruvian food has been getting some hype after established chefs in Peru began perfecting their humble home cooking and producing some gourmet dishes sourced from local and regional ingredients. The food influences come from many sources including Incan, Chinese, Spanish, Japanese and Italian cooking traditions, some of the best cuisines in our opinion! An empanada stuffed with minced chicken and salted olives, spiced with paprika and cumin will surely fit the bill. Or perhaps a Chinese-influenced traditional Peruvian fried rice with shredded pork and a dash of soy sauce. With the variety of flavour and colour in Peruvian cuisine, there’s certainly something for everyone. Food points: 2  if you’ve tried Peruvian food so far this year. (more…)

Great films capture our imaginations, establish witty catch-phrases that never get old and seer our minds with unforgettable images. Think the ‘spaghetti scene’ from Lady and the Tramp, Jack Nicholson chopping down the door in ‘The Shining’, or the opening credits in ‘Star Wars’. What about ‘You can’t handle the truth!’, ‘Open the pod bay doors, please, HAL‘, or ‘I’ll be back‘. There are so many great moments that it’s hard to whittle them down, so we thought we’d combine 2 of our great loves – delicious food and classic movies, with this list of the Top 5 Famous Restaurants from Classic Movies!

**Warning video contains strong language**

Hawthorne Grill – Pulp Fiction   13763 S. Hawthorne Blvd, Hawthorne, Los Angeles, CA 90250 (Now Demolished).

Opened in 1956 under the name ‘Holly’s', by the time Quentin Tarantino chose to film the intro and outro scenes of Pulp Fiction here the restaurant was known as Hawthorne Grill, and had actually been closed for 4 years. The success of Pulp Fiction inspired local resident Chris Garnreiter to reopen the grill in 1995, but unfortunately he went bankrupt a year later and the building was demolished in 1999. Still, we’ll always have the memories, the brilliant dialogue and one of the best scenes in movie history. (more…)

Here at Delivery Hero we pride ourselves on offering you delicious takeaway that’s easy to order and great value. However, sometimes you want to know what the limit is – how much could you pay for a single meal if you wanted to go all out? To save you the trouble of burning your pay-check in one go, we’ve done the research and found the 5 most expensive meals in the world, just in case you feel like skipping the Thai Beef Salad tonight and going all out:)

What! I thought it said a billion, not a zillion

The Zillion Dollar Lobster Frittata – $1000   The folks at Norma’s restaurant in Le Parker Meridien Hotel, New York sure have a sense of humour. The Zillion Dollar Lobster Frittata is an apparently simple omelette with a very tasty (and expensive) addition: caviar. In addition to the lobster, your chef tops the omelette with 10 ounces of severga caviar from the Caspian Sea, ringing up the bill for a cool $1000 breakfast, coffee not included. If that’s a bit of a stretch, you can always opt for the 1 ounce version, which will only set you back $100. Not bad (more…)

Aussies are a little obsessed with food these days. Whether it’s food blogs, TV shows or the lure of celebrity chefs, we’re all a little transfixed by fancy cupcakes, Wagyu beef burgers, food trucks, boutique beer and seasonal produce. If you’ve dusted off your apron and sharpened your knives, but need a little push (or a dollop of inspiration), head to the Melbourne Good Food & Wine Show from 1-3 June.

Prawn and Asparagus by foodswings; Flickr

Indulge your tastebuds and sample gourmet cheeses, condiments and wines for every occasion. You can also take the opportunity to learn some of the secrets chefs use in the kitchen. For those interested in furthering their culinary education, head to the Flavour Workshop hosted by Oxford Landing Estates winemaker, Matt Pick, and Maggie Beer’s chef, Chris Wotton. Under their guidance you’ll find out how to pair wines with particular ingredients – what works, what doesn’t, and why. If you’re curious about bush tucker, head for the Tuckaroo cooking class where Andrew Fielke will teach you how to integrate bush ingredients into your own cooking at home. (more…)

By now you’ve probably heard-of or seen The Avengers movie, Disney’s (via Marvel) newest multi-plex juggernaut based on a team of the world’s greatest superheroes defending the earth from an otherworldy evil. The film has thrilled audiences with a mix of action, pop-culture references and off-beat humour – none moreso than the ‘hidden’ post-credits scene that see The Avengers munching on Shawarma after defeating hoardes of crazed intergalactic demons – as you do!

That gave the team at Delivery Hero a thought – what would other superheroes eat to replenish after dispatching an arch-villain? Read on to find out…

Spiderman    Let’s see. He’s a teenager, he rushes around corners all day and he wears a red & blue outfit. If I didn’t know any better I would guess that Peter Parker was born to be a pizza-delivery guy. After webslinging the bad-guys out of the picture I can just see Spider-Man chilling out with a few slices of Super Supreme Pizza and a side of Garlic Bread.

Wolverine    Apart from the fact that he always has cutlery on-hand, Wolverine is a hard-living, heavy eating kind of guy. He works hard, he plays hard and he definitely needs to fill up on steak when he’s done doing what he does best. Make it a Sirloin Steak with a side of Creamy Mash and Peppercorn Sauce.

Wonder-Woman    This one is a no-brainer. An Amazonian princess with a magical whip [Ed: pun removed], Wonder Woman lives healthy and eats healthy. I’m thinking plenty of greens and some protein – which leads me to believe that Wonder Woman is absolutely a Chicken Caesar Salad fan.

Superman    I have a feeling that with all that Kryptonite stuff threatening to destroy his superhuman strength, Superman doesn’t really want anything green on his plate. He also has a stomach of steel, so we’re going to go with the hottest of the hot here – a fiery Beef Vindaloo Curry should hit the spot.

Batman   Dark. Brooding. Mysterious. This guys needs to lighten up – and maybe that’s why I get the feeling that he indulges the lighter side of his persona with a plate of Sushi. You simply can’t feel bad about having a handful of psychotic super-villains trying to destroy your home-town when you have things named Agedashi and Katsu dancing around on your plate can you?

Catwoman   I’m initially inclined to say mouse here, but I actually think that Catwoman is more of a ‘curl up on the couch with a bowl of Laksa‘ kind of girl. Sure she’s sexy and dangerous, but when she’s finished toying with Batman my guess is that all she wants to do is take off all that leather, put her feet up, turn on the tv and watch reruns of CSI:New York. Am I right?

If you spent the whole day fighting crime and protecting the citizens of Earth, what would you order to re-energize?

“One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.” - Virginia Woolf

Such literary luminaries as Roddy Doyle and Jeanette Winterson are in Sydney this week for the annual The Sydney Writer’s Festival, which kicked off on Monday and runs until 20th May. We love a good read at Delivery Hero. In fact there’s nothing better on a weekend than nestling into the couch with some takeaway Thai food and a good book. We’ll be heading to the writers festival to find what some of Australia’s best-loved authors like Kate Grenville and David Malouf have been up to. And of course we want to know what their favourites dishes are! In the mean time, here’s the low-down on some of our fav Aussie and international authors.

Image by Moriza; Flickr

Anita Heiss – Salt and Pepper Squid   Australian Indigenous author, Dr. Anita Heiss (“I’m Not a Racist, But…”), describes herself as ‘a concrete Koori with Westfield dreaming’. She writes poetry, academic texts, books for children and chicklit novels. While Dr. Heiss admits she doesn’t cook much, when she does head into the kitchen, kangaroo is on the menu! Otherwise chocolate rates as one of her favourite things, and she says her last meal would be salt’n'pepper squid (that”s definitely one of our favourites too!) You can catch Dr. Heiss talking about her latest book with Anne Summers today at the Sydney Writer’s Festival. (more…)