Mr B and I first used Life, Fork and Spoon a couple of years ago when we wanted a special meal but wanted the luxury of just the two of us present. I'm a passable cook but at the time had a fairly limited range of dishes and couldn't have called myself adventurous by any means. Celebrating an anniversary with a burnt main course and a dessert gone wrong didn't sound like fun so I decided to try Life, Fork and Spoon. That was a good call. We had a lovely meal and always remembered the experience as an enjoyable one.
When our sixth 'First Date-iversary' came around (a date we mark with more vigour than our actual wedding anniversary) we had intended to have a meal at the local Italian but a strange sequence of events conspired to keep us at home on the day in question. Determined to still celebrate on the day, we decided Life, Fork and Spoon would be our solution once again.
We opted for the Life, Fork and Spoon ' Dinner Party for Two ' option. At £25.00 for three courses, it was good value. We started with Bloody Mary Soup, quick to heat through and very full of flavour. Once that was done it was the work of 15 minutes to prepare the main:
- Beef Bordelaise with Pancetta and Red Wine
- Creamy Buttery Mashed Potatoes
- Carrot and Swede Mash
- Petit Pois a la Creme
- Dauphinoise Potatoes (bought as an extra for £2.50)
We bought the extra potatoes as I'm not keen on peas and Mr B wasn't keen on either vegetable accompaniment and also just because I have a soft spot for them. Good choice - they were delicious! The portion was definitely plentiful, so much so that I had to palm some of my main off onto Mr B to make sure I had room for dessert.
Dessert was a thoroughly decadent and rich Chocolate Marquise. It utterly defeated me and I ended up giving around a third to Mr B, who valiantly managed it on top of his own. Where he puts it is beyond me but I guess that's the joy of being a runner!
We weren't quite finished. As stuffed as we were, I have a real soft spot for apple tart so we had ordered Apple Tart Tatin with Caramel Sauce for a late supper later on. Yes, yes, indulgent I know. This was the only area where Life, Fork and Spoon let us down. They had forgotten to pack the caramel sauce! I was somewhat frustrated initially, I'll admit, but in the end the apple tart was so tasty and full of flavour that I struggled to see how it would have been bettered by the caramel sauce. So it was a tiny quibble but in the end not one that affected our enjoyment of the meal one jot.
With the extra dessert and the extra side dish we paid just under £38 in total including delivery. The food was delivered in a very high tech fashion, cooled by dry ice! This caused some consternation with Mr B being convinced he was going to gas us if he didn't remove the box immediately but we quickly ascertained that putting it in the garden in an open area would allow it to disperse and nobody would die. That would certainly have ruined the day! But all was well, the food remained perfectly fresh and for the second time Life, Fork and Spoon allowed us to have a brilliant meal at home.
I'm a much better cook than I was when I first used Life, Fork and Spoon and certainly more confident about producing multiple courses and more intricate dishes. Even so, there was something very nice and relaxing about being able to have great food at home with little effort and only a few pots to wash up. It certainly made our sixth First Date-iversary very special and I've no doubt we'll be using them again in the future.
Verdict: 5/5
