Fresh. Local. Delivered. Brunch Boxes
Over the last few years, there’s been a rise in the popularity of recipe boxes and food kits. Brands like Able & Cole play to those wanting to support local and eat seasonally with a door-to-door delivery of veg boxes. Then there are others like Hari Ghotra providing spice kits and online cooking tutorials, showing you how to cook a dish from scratch.
Brunch Box Brighton is the latest addition to the club, launching at the end of December last year. In a nutshell, it’s a delivery service with a selection of fresh, locally sourced produce (centred around brunches), delivered to your door.
There are five Brunch Box choices:
1. American – pancakes, bacon, bagels etc
2. French – croissants, fruit, granola etc
3. Healthy – avocado, eggs, mushrooms, tomatoes etc
4. Kids – Kids cereal, chocolate brioche, bread etc, and
5. English – sausage, bacon, beans, egg etc
I tried out the English Box which includes two pork sausages and two rashers of unsmoked back bacon from the Brighton Sausage Company, two local free-range eggs, a small tub of Heinz baked beans, a large mushroom, two Real Patisserie slices of brown bread with two portions of Lurpack butter, two Prince & Sons tea bags, orange juice (not from concentrate) and 2 sachets of HP sauce and Heinz ketchup.
The first thing to note is that the packaging is spot on. Little details like the gingham liner in the box and the paper wrapped sausages and bread make it feel and look like an old-fashioned grocery shop come picnic basket.
On to the ingredients. On the sausage front, improvements could be made by switching from a plain pork sausage to a Cumberland, which has far more flavour. (Heather who runs Brunch Box agreed with me on this point and has plans to add this option soon). The chewy bread was quite an effort to cut and chew through. Perhaps due to the fact I ate it a day after it was delivered and it’s best fresh, or perhaps it’s just the type of the bread. Either way, a softer, squidgy tiger bread or granary would be my first choice.
Overall though the ingredients were of a high quality and there certainly wasn’t any scrimping on cheaper alternatives. The eggs were especially tasty and I was pleased to see that they had large rich orange yolks. Oh and finally the Prince & Sons English Breakfast tea was excellent. Strong in flavour and just what’s needed first thing in the morning.
In terms of portions, there was more than enough for one person in the box, but only just enough for two people with a small appetite. If you’re two ravenous people (or hungover lads) you’re definitely going to want to add in a few extra portions of sausage, bacon and bread, which you do for between £1-£2 here.
VERDICT
PRICE: £12
RATING: Must Go | Worth a Try | Give it a Miss
Whilst a lovely and convenient service, it’s a rather extravagant way to shop on a weekly basis. If you compare a shop of all the brunch box ingredients in Waitrose, it comes out at only a slightly higher price (£16) for the same quality of ingredients but with enough to feed four. That’s not to say though that sometimes a little luxury and convenience isn’t a nice treat.
What it’s perfect for, though, is gifting. We probably all have a friend or relative that could do with a bit of love and a box like this is the ticket. Most of us are very fortunate to have everything we really need, so it can be tricky to know what to gift people. Brunch Box solves this as you can order a box and send it as a surprise if you know when your benefactor will be home. The website is well designed and easy to navigate, so if you need a last minute gift this is perfect.
Another great use for Brunch Box is if you’re an Air B&B host. For as little as £12 you can provide guests with the convenient option to have everything they need for breakfast/brunch when they arrive, as well as supporting local businesses.
NEED TO KNOW
As the name suggests, Brunch Box Brighton delivers just to Brighton, and only to specific areas at the moment as it’s a relatively small team and a startup. (Check out the map below to see whether your home is covered.)
Deliveries are made within hourly time slots, Thursday – Sunday, from 8 am – 3 pm and orders placed online must be placed before midnight on the day before. Although, the team can sometimes take phone orders on the day, depending on how busy it is.
Website: Brunchboxbrighton.com
Phone: 01273 959833 or 07753 180991
Twitter: BrunchBoxBtn
Facebook: Facebook.com/Brunch-Box-Brighton
*Disclaimer: Brunch Box Brighton supplied my Brunch Box to review, but as always, my opinion isn’t swayed by freebies and you are getting my honest opinion on the whole experience.