Chefs Plate Unboxing

/ Blog, Edibles, First Impressions, Reviews

Before I dive in here, I just want you to know that this is not a sponsored post.

For years I’ve been waiting for a meal kit program that’s available here in Vancouver, BC. Having seen many YouTubers with their Blue Apron “cook with me’ videos and receiving Hello Fresh gift certificates with my Fab Fit Fun box (and Hello Fresh is was only available in Ontario in Canada at the time of writing this), I did a little dance when I saw Chef’s Plate ad pop up on Facebook!

Chef’s Plate Pricing

With Chef’s Plate, you get an option of a plan for 2 people or a plan for a family of 4. The pricing is done by plates. Each week, you have a choice of ordering 2 – 4 recipes, with the minimum order at 2 recipes a week.

  • At 2 people – 2 recipes/week (4 servings): It $10.95 per serving + $6.00 delivery = $49.80 weekly
  • At 2 people – 3 recipes/week (6 servings): It $10.95 per serving + FREE delivery = $65.70 weekly
  • At 2 people – 4 recipes/week (8 servings): It $10.95 per serving + FREE delivery = $87.60 weekly

You get a slightly cheaper plate for their 4 Person Family Plan at $9.75 per plate and free delivery for 2, 3, or 4 recipes a week.

My Ordering Experience

Upon signing up, I got to choose between the 2 Person Plan or the 4 Person Plan (this can later be changed on your profile). Once I clicked on that, you see 6 – 7 recipes for you to choose from each week (you get to see 2 weeks in advance). The recipes have options with meat, a poultry, fish, or vegetarian. The Family Plan seem to have a smaller recipe option at just 4 a week.  New menus for the week after seem to be posted every Friday morning.

What’s great is that Chef’s Plate asks you for your eating and taste preferences. If you ever forget to go to your profile and hand select your own recipes, they will send you something base on your preselected preference. You’re also allowed to skip a delivery if you’re not a fan of what’s available for the week, as long as you hit skip before the weekly cutoff. If you know you’re going on holidays a few months down the road, there’s a calendar view that allows you to pre-skip deliveries up to 4 months in advance! Nifty!

After a lot of clicking around, I signed up for a 2 recipe/a week on the 2 Person Plan and choose the Friday delivery so that I can prepare a meal Sunday night and have some for leftovers for lunch during the week. I also picked to have the box delivered to work so that I know I will be there for the delivery. I know courier deliveries are always a hit and miss when you live in a condo.

Long story short, my first box actually arrived a few weeks back, but a glitch with FedEx (yes that’s the courier they used for my area) meant the box wasn’t delivered to me on Friday, and when I finally got the box on Monday (FedEx doesn’t deliver on weekends), needless to say, some of the ingredients went bad. Chef’s Plate was super helpful, we got it all sorted out and I updated my profile to a Tuesday delivery instead (in case of any glitches, at least I will get my box the next day and not 3 days later)

 

The Unboxing

So this Tuesday, I received my official first Chef’s Plate box. This box arrived either super late Monday night or bright and early Tuesday morning because when I arrived at the office Tuesday, it was, already, sitting on my desk.

The box is quite big. I’d say it’s about a 15-20 inches cube.

Chefs Plate box

Opening the box, there are 2 pieces of instructions. 1 – to refrigerate perishable items until use. 2, that all packaging materials are biodegradable or recyclable. This is a good tip because, as you’ll see, there are a lot of packaging material.

Chefs Plate box 1

Following that, at the very top are your 2 recipe cards, a packing list, and a promo card.

Chefs Plate Recipe

Right under that is an insulated cardboard box insert where you’ll find all your ingredients. Each recipe’s ingredients are packed in its own paper bag. Underneath the bags are the protein with frozen gel packs (these pictures were taken at 11pm with my cell phone, so the quality’s a little lower and well the gel packs a little defrosted.)

Chefs Plate Inside Box

The protein, in this case, turkey and beef, are vacuum sealed.

Chefs Plate meat

Inside each bag are all the pre-portioned ingredients. Here is everything that is inside the bag for the Korean Bi Bim Bap. I’m surprised to find 2 eggs, individually boxed, inside the bag!

Chefs Plate Korean

Here’s what’s inside the Apricot Glazed Turkey Meatball bag.

Chefs Plate Turkey

 

Final Thoughts

All in all, I’m pretty impressed. I’m surprised the that the sent full sweat peas instead of just a bag of peas for you to use. The apricot is a little beat up since it is a soft-fleshed fruit. Perhaps they should put it in a little box like they did the eggs to protect it from any bruising during delivery.

I had a look where the box was shipped from and it looked like it came from Richmond, BC. So I’m happy to know that my box didn’t have to travel far to get to me.

While I’m writing this, I’ve already cooked up the Apricot Glazed Turkey Meatball recipe. Check back for my review and tips on that recipe next week.

I do plan on continuing with this subscription, I’m probably going to go with a box every other week. If you’re interested in giving Chef’s Plate a try. I do have a little referral link and code you can use.

By using my link (click here), you get 3 Free plates for your first delivery ($32.85 value). Or you can enter my referral tag #3platesFromExtraChewyCA upon check out.

*Update*

Ebates.ca

Looks like Chef’s Plate have joined the Ebates.ca family! Join Ebates and every time you order, you can get $7.50 cash back! I believe the first time you join Ebates, you’ll also get a $5 bonus cash to your account right away. With the help of Ebates.ca,  Chef’s Plate is almost more affordable than buying weekly groceries!

2 Comments

  1. Hi Vanessa, fascinating and excellent descriptions! If you don’t mind, may I ask what is the appeal about ordering a meal plan of this type aside from convenience such as lack of time to shop for varied ingredients to keep in fridge/pantry…am comparing to previous generations’ practice and enjoyment of looking up recipes in cookbooks, etc.? Not being fascicious, just interested in how behaviors changed from generation to generation, and why. Thank you, Dolores Smith, Ontario.

    1. Hi Dolores!

      As someone who loves to cook but have no time to after a long day of work I found myself repeating recipes that I have found online (Pinterest)..something that I can put together quickly because all I want to do after work is just eat and relax. Sometimes I’m not home till 11 or so in the evening and ending up grabbing a quick bite somewhere before heading to an after work activity. I’m also someone who lives alone. So when it comes to buying groceries (and with the price of food going up) I tend to buy a lot more than I need and a would be eating the same thing for a week straight just to not waste any ingredients I’ve purchased (especially fresh produce).

      So with Chefs plate.. I get to “portion” shop, not eat the same thing for lunch and dinner for 5 days straight, and infuse some variety into my meals. I leave my actual cooking to when I’m entertaining friends or you know to impress someone ;).

      Over this summer though, because of after work activities, I don’t subscribe to a box every week..I do 1 box for every couple of weeks. So they are flexible that way. 🙂

      ps. Thanks for reading the blog 🙂

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