We tried these Lancs independent takeaways and we’d do it again

My bank account was suffering but it was all worth it


What’s a better way to support local businesses in lockdown than order two takeaways a week and spend your student loan on loaded fries, curry, fish, and chips? This not only helps out the community but gives you a break from slaving over the stove every night, even if it is just heating baked beans.

After all, we are students. As we can’t go out for a nice meal, we have to treat ourselves and fulfil our food cravings through different means. Enter Deliveroo; we love you.

Market street food company

This Lancs company offers various street foods to take away such as pizzas, curry boxes and loaded fries. Rather ironic that we ordered street food to sit and eat on our sofa watching Glee. You know what they say: if you can’t eat food in the street, bring the street food to you.

We ordered through Deliveroo, the food came relatively quickly and was quite hot. We got the mac and cheese on fries, pad thai, chicken fajita loaded fries and a garlic bread that sadly never arrived. When we requested a refund for the MIA garlic bread, we had to go through Deliveroo; we are yet to hear back.

Overall, the food was good value for money. However, as the menu was rather broad, they don’t specialise in one cuisine so all in all, it was a bit average. Not sure if we would order from this place again, but we are intrigued by the pizzas.

Bombay Balti

Many of us are well-versed with this restaurant, having dined there once and having had a takeaway from this place before, this is definitely a fan favourite in our flat. Like any classic Indian restaurant, this place serves everything you could ever want to satisfy your curry cravings.

We ordered a korma, for those of us who have the taste buds of a four-year-old, a Lamb Rogan Josh, exotic yet classic, saag aloo, to keep it healthy, pilaf rice and a slice of naan bread. Can’t have a curry without a naan, that would be criminal.

Another one of us ordered from Bombay Balti on a different night. This is a popular choice!

I got the chicken biryani with madras sauce which was a massive portion for one, and I gave half of it away as I couldn’t finish it. On an interesting note, the biryani comes with a fried egg on top. Coming from Southern England, I’ve never seen this, but it was interesting to try out. I’d probably avoid eating the egg as it was greasy, but the biryani underneath was divine with huge pieces of chicken. The madras sauce wasn’t as spicy as I was expecting, but it still provided a nose-running experience that I expect in a madras.

100 per cent recommend.

Quay’s fish and chips

I went to Quay’s on Friday night and got myself a small fish and chips. They’re only available for pick-up, so I had to walk, but that’s fine seeing as I live right next door. My meal’s price was £4.30, which is really decent, especially because the portion size, even for a small order, was quite substantial. Between queueing, placing my order and receiving my food, I think I had to wait around 10-15 minutes which isn’t bad. The staff were very welcoming, and everything’s made to order. 

The food is a little on the greasy side: the chips are floppy, which I don’t mind, and the fish batter was a little too crunchy. But despite that, the flavours were really nice, the food was filling, and I couldn’t finish my plate. 

Dri Dri’s

I ordered a “Calzone Dri Dri’s” for delivery from this takeaway using JustEat. The price was reasonable; it was £10 for delivery and the calzone which was decently sized. The expected delivery time was roughly an hour, according to the app. However, the driver was unsure of the delivery location (County college townhouse), and I had to direct them to the location whilst standing at the top of County Avenue.

The calzone was a little on the greasy side and slightly undercooked on the bottom. It was very filling, but I didn’t finish it because it was a bit dry. I ended up taking the filling out of the dough and eating most of that instead, as that was more flavourful.

Ali Baba

I ordered a  bountiful delivery of Chicken and chips, chicken nuggets, a can of Sprite Zero and tub of garlic mayo. This restaurant had a minimum order spend for delivery of £9 not including the 50p service charge, which is why I invested so heavily, coming to a total spend of £9.79.

The food was late but not horrendously so, and when I rang the restaurant, they apologised and explained they were swamped. The food was delicious and had a nice flavour. Everything was just right, flavour and cooking wise.

Araya

Ordered chicken pad thai, chicken satay and Poh Pia. Minimum delivery order of £15, and spent £22.90 (including £1 delivery fee and 50p service charge) altogether. The delivery was fairly quick given the 45-minute wait time and was socially distanced, which was great. The food was a lot in terms of quantity. The Poh Pia (£5.50 for four pieces) were full to the point of bursting in every bite, but the minimal sauce meant I had to ration it. The chicken satay (£5.95) was a tad dry but ultimately flavourful. Same issue with sauce for the accompanying peanut sauce, which I was not happy with. Top tip: if you’re getting the starters, buy an extra sauce tub, so you don’t have the same issue.

The Chicken pad thai was huge! It was about three servings for around ten pounds, which is brilliant value. I had to split it into two portions due to the size. It was flavourful and saucy, with a semi-sweet yet savoury sauce coating the noodles (of which there were plenty). The chicken to noodles ratio was brilliant – not too many noodles but more than enough chicken. Overall, I’m thrilled with Araya and can’t wait to reorder from them as soon as possible.

If any of these takeaways tickle your fancy, go and order some yummy food and support local Lancs businesses.

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