I must admit – I do like a good advertising tag line.
“A Diamond Is Forever” – how good is that? Or “Finger Licking Good” – you can almost smell the steamy goodness coming out of the chicken box.
But I was thinking of another tag line recently – Audible’s London Underground “Stories That Transport You”.
That’s just great, isn’t it?
Play on words aside, for an audio book application such as Audible, it really brings our the power of a good book – tickling imagination, conjuring faraway places, times, characters. A good book does more than provide entertainment – it indeed transports you to a place you long to be. Brings exotic Asian heat in winter, sand in the toes in your winter boots, sun on your skin through your coat.
Can takeaway food do the same?
I miss dining out a lot during the lockdown. I miss the whole experience – the getting dressed to go out bit, the hesitation in front of the menu bit, the orderly procession of meals bit (starter, main – I am only doing to have a small side! 😏 , dessert 🍮 ), the not-going-to-have-to-do-any-washing-bit. But most of all I miss the atmosphere – the vibes, the music, the light, the people. 🍽
It was a longing for this atmosphere that made me order the Roka takeaway – I was wondering – can takeaway boxes actually transport me to this great Asian restaurant? Would I feel the vibe of one of my favourite restaurants without actually being there? 🤨
I gotta give it to Roka – they really do try hard with the takeaway offering. The food is immaculately presented even in boxes, quality is superb, the great small details are there – all the way to the little Roka sticker gently clasping the folded napkin.
But it somehow doesn’t work.
We are sitting at the table in front of ten different boxes with a small tapas style meal in each wondering – what do we do now?
Food is too beautiful to be eaten from a box, but can I be bothered to transfer each and every meal to a plate? While it’s getting cold? How do I arrange it on the table? “Can you reach the sauce?”; “No, that’s box eleven over there”. Everything looks great, but delivery takes time, so by the time it is here, everything is lukewarm. By the time you are done with starters – the rest is cold – and there is no way I am reheating takeaway food in the middle of dinner! 🙈 And all of that’s before you’ve even started opening the little fiddly boxes with sauces, trying not to spill it all over yourself and trying to figure out what sauce goes with what meal in what box.
And what about the vibe? Sitting at a kitchen table with ten food boxes in front of you is not the same as the orderly procession at the restaurant table – take a seat, look around, enjoy the music, “Hi, how are you doing, I am Alex, I will be your waiter tonight!”, glass of water, starter, chat, laugh, music, dimmed lights, main, chat, laugh, music, dessert, coffee – “Oh, is it 10pm already?”
Roka is great. I love it, it brings special memories to me, but somehow this restaurant just can’t fit into a cardboard box with a plastic lid.
I will be back to Roka once it re-opens. But in the meantime – I think takeaway is better left for pizzas 🍕 and burgers. 🍔
