Food Delivery by dahmakan

Dah makan?  Have you eaten yet?  Sek jor mei ah?...is a common greeting among Malaysians in whatever language.  But, here, I'm referring to the food delivery service by dahmakan.....hehe! ^_~

Food delivery is a godsend to busy, working moms, even homemakers or any working people who are too tired or too lazy to cook on a particular day.  There are some options in the market...but many come and go....and even less deliver to my address (as they're usually concentrated in the more affluent areas like PJ and Damansara). :P

I'm all for their tagline of "Eat better.  Everyday."  So, I was happy to find dahmakan that has been around for more than 3 years...and, yay!, my taman is within their delivery area.

Ordering System
First things first, the ordering system is simple, quick and easy to navigate.  You can keep track of your delivery at all times as you'll receive status updates in the form of sms messages sent periodically to your phone to let you know what's happening to your delivery, so that's good.  Sometimes, you even get a message to alert you when the rider is at your door/gate.

Free Delivery With No Minimum Order Required
I like that the free delivery comes with no minimum order required.  For some reason, we like the 'sound' of free delivery even if the cost has already been factored into the price of the meal...haha! :D  You have a choice of 3 delivery time zones for lunch and 5 for dinner.

Packaging

The packaging is nicely done in a combination of environment-friendly paper boxes and not-so-friendly plastic boxes and cutlery.

There's also cutlery given (plastic fork and spoon) together with paper napkin in a separate pouch attached to the box (very convenient for those eating in at the office).

My first pick was the Salted Egg Buttered Chicken @ RM18 (a rockchop selection by dahmakan...I don't know what that means but it's a cheaper option than the rest of the meals).

The dish comprised chunks of battered chicken thigh coated in salted egg yolk and butter sauce with fragrant curry leaves served with vegetables and steamed rice.  The chicken had more butter/milk taste than salted egg yolk.  In fact, the salted egg taste was almost non-existent (which would explain why as the ingredients listed the use of salted egg powder...not real salted egg yolks!).  I would also have preferred the chicken chunks to be cut smaller coz then the pieces would be more tender and have more crispy bits.

I was also disappointed with the vegetables of Chinese cabbage and carrot that were sloppily cut (especially the uneven thickness and size of the carrot pieces which contributed to some pieces being very hard).  The shabbily sauteed vegetables also tasted bland.

My next order was the Tenderloin Rendang Tok @ RM23 with brown rice and market vegetables.

The packaging of this wasn't 100% environment-friendly as the rendang was packed in a plastic box.  I guess it can't be helped especially if there's an element of sauce involved as a covered plastic box would prevent spillage.

I have to say that the rendang tasted authentic enough in terms of flavour and texture.  The meat was cooked till very tender and I do like my rendang like this, slightly on the wetter side as the rendang gravy makes for a perfect sauce for the rice.

Although the promotional pic on the website showed cauliflower and carrots, it came with broccoli and carrots that I would like cooked softer.

The rendang was great eaten with rice but may be a little salty on its own (for my taste buds but should appeal to most tastebuds in general).  This was one of the more well executed dishes I had from dahmakan for sure. ^o^

With the beef dish being such a success, I opted for another beef dish, the Slow Cooked Beef Tenderloin Stew @ RM24 served with brown rice on another occasion.

The tenderloin beef was cooked with chunks of carrot and potato (and though I could see celery in the promotional pic, there was none in the stew).  This time, the carrots were well softened but the potatoes needed to be cooked a little longer.

The beef was really tender but the stew was a tad oily.

Again, the vegetables given were carrots and broccoli though the pic showed carrots and red capsicum. Overall, the flavours of the beef stew didn't work for me, so this is not something I'd order again.

Next, I tried a fish dish, the Perch Assam Pedas @ RM22 with ulam rice, salted egg and market vegetables.  I wasn't too thrilled with the quality of the salted egg where the yolk wasn't quite the oily, brightly-coloured orange hue that I long for but, luckily, taste-wise it was alright as it wasn't too salty.

The slightly sour and fairly thick sauce was cooked with cherry tomatoes, bunga kantan (torch ginger) and daun kesum (laksa leaves), the taste of which was pleasant enough.

This assam pedas will appeal to those who like it not too assam (sour) and not too pedas (spicy)...kekeke! ;P  I was happy with the chunks of fresh, soft and flaky perch.

The simple ulam rice had just four-angled beans and finely shredded bunga kantan...most of it anyway but I did find one large strip (food prep needs to be more tidy).  I was finally glad to see ladies finger (as advertised) as the vegetable component instead of the usual boring carrots and broccoli...but surely they can give two whole okras (as advertised) instead of one and a half (how much can they hope to save with half an okra!). >_<

There's also a Drinks (juices & vitamin water), Sides & Snacks (soups, salads & fruits) and Desserts (cakes, mousses & cookies) Menu with about 6 offerings each.  I was attracted by the Tortilla Chips + Salsa @ RM9....and then this came.

When I ordered this, I wasn't expecting it to look like this coz the pic in their website showed a plate of tortilla chips surrounding a salsa dip in the centre of a plate.  So, I was expecting some kind of freshly fried tortilla chips with salsa, of course.  But then the chips came in a packet.  To me, that's false advertising...why can't they just show the packaged chips as they were?  At least then, I won't feel like I've been misled.

Worst still, the salsa was so little as it was packed in a small plastic container that's usually used to pack sauce.

And the salsa was all gone by the time I was only one-quarter of the way through with eating the chips! :P The Tortilla Chips + Salsa is no longer offered and has since been replaced with Tortilla Chips + Nacho Cheese (RM14).

Food Taste
There are enough choices to please everyone with protein selections of chicken (mostly), beef and fish offered on a daily basis (about 6 - 8 options daily, 8 choices on weekdays & 6 on weekends).  I guess you can try different options until you find the ones you like best and stick to those.  From the four I've tried so far, I find that they're more competent in local Malay cuisine compared to Western-influenced or Chinese-inspired dishes.

Calorie Count

I also appreciate that all the individual meals come with a calorie count which is good for those who want to watch their calorie intake.  So, you can actually pick a number you're comfortable with (but I prefer to pick a dish that looks yummy to me...hehe)! ;)

Prices
Although the prices of meals ranging from RM18 - RM29 aren't exactly cheap (with the majority below RM25), it's an alternative when we want tasty (some of them, at least), healthy food without breaking a sweat.

Check out more recent posts on this food delivery here and here.

My Personal Opinion

Overall, I'm satisfied with the taste and quality of the food for a food delivery though some aspects can still be improved especially the vegetable component (give us some variety instead of the always boring carrot and broccoli).  The food might be a tad salty for me personally but should favour most tastebuds in general. You're always welcome to send in your comments when you're asked how your experience was after each meal (I did) when you click into your order history.

Personally, paying more than RM20 for a meal (on a regular basis) isn't the most ideal (I wouldn't want to either) but if you don't mind having this once a while (like once in about 3 weeks), I'll let you in on a little secret...a little tip on how you can get this on the cheap! :P

After 3 (sometimes 4) weeks of inactivity, you'll get an email that they miss you and offer you a coupon code for RM10 off on your next order!!  I wasn't aware of this until I got a discount code after an unintentional lengthy layoff after my first order....and I've been doing it ever since (this time intentionally)....haha! ;D  Of course, the discount works best if you're ordering a single meal to maximise savings.

I guess I'll continue to use dahmakan delivery as I'm more than fine with a price under RM15 (with the discount code!) for a meal that I don't have to lift a finger...more so when there aren't many food delivery entities that deliver to my address.

So, the next time you find yourself in a situation of eating alone at home or in the office...you might want to consider dahmakan....and eat in! ^.^

Note: Dahmakan has since been rebranded to Pop Meals (in late 2020)