Which food delivery service is the best?

Food delivery is a combination of our three favourite things. Food, Not Moving and Avoiding People. Last week, some of us in the CompareGuru office conducted a little test.

Nothing too groundbreaking – we just wanted lunch. And so, we came up with the idea of using three different popular delivery services. These were Mr Delivery, Uber Eats and Order In.

Our plan was to order the exact same thing from the same restaurant at the same time. This last one failed quite miserably, but we’ll get to that. We picked Knead Bakery in Kloof Street, Cape Town. Firstly, because Knead is pretty great and relatively healthy. The closest most of us have been to a diet this year is erasing food searches from our browser history. Secondly, there was only a handful of good neighbouring spots that all three delivery services have listed.

We chose the toasted sandwich – chicken mayo with red pepper pesto – for R55. This included a side at no additional cost. Two of us took the salad and the third took the fries. Knead offers a number of tasty bread options, including buttermilk rye, seeded health bread and square kitka.

We spoke to the manager of Knead a few hours beforehand to let her know what was going on. This was mainly so they wouldn’t think somebody at the same address was playing games with them. But also, this would ensure our individual orders were all ready at the same time.

Now, all the drivers had to do was go there, pick it up, bring it to us and try not to destroy it on the way over. Seems pretty easy, right?

We judged their delivery service on a number of factors. Chiefly, the time it took, the price, the service and the presentation. Also, we were terrible people and didn’t tip any of the drivers. So, they had absolutely no monetary incentive to burn rubber getting here.

Uber Eats

The Uber Eats website is easy to use and wonderfully uncluttered. All the restaurants are presented with their own clean, colourful photos. The menus are all easy to navigate, and you’re able to search for the specific restaurant or cuisine you want.

Sherryn placed her order at 12:34. The estimated time of arrival she was given was 13:13.

The food arrived 7 minutes earlier than predicted at 13:06. So, delivery took a total of 32 minutes.

The driver was friendly and prompt. He did, however, comment on the restaurant being at fault for the long wait. This, we know, was incorrect.

The meal, which was the order with fries, was well presented.

The delivery fee for Uber Eats was R20.

Also, Sherryn paid R6 more than us for her meal. The price for the item on the website was marked up to R61.00 – bringing her total to R81.00.

For a toasted sandwich.

Oh, it’s good to live in Cape Town.

Order In

Their website is incredibly basic and easy to understand. It sort of holds your hand through the process, but you get to veer off and explore other options. If you’re craving something in particular there’s no need to scroll through all the restaurants on offer – just check out the handy menu below for a number of cuisine options.

I placed my order at 12:36. Two minutes after the others, because the website timed out while I was waiting for the others to check out, and I had to then re-enter my card details. The estimated time of arrival I was given was 13:30.

The food arrived a tremendous 28 minutes earlier than predicted at 13:02. So, delivery took a total of 26 minutes.

The driver was friendly and prompt. He even informed me that he noticed the Uber Eats and Mr D drivers heading to the same address. They reportedly received the meals at the same time. He left them there.

The meal, which was with salad, was well presented.

The delivery fee for Uber Eats was R15.

I paid R55.00 for the meal – bringing the total to R70.00.

For a toasted sandwich. Get it together, Cape Town. This is bread we’re talking about here.

Mr Delivery

Good old Mr D. They’ve been with us for a long time. They’re basically a household name. Their website is colourful and simple enough to navigate. However, it seems a little cluttered at times. An interesting addition is their focus on other South African household names. All the favourite logos appear in a row. Steers – Spur – KFC – Wimpy – Nando’s – Panarotti’s. This is comforting, because we know these brands, but also frightening. Where are the little guys? Where is the good, clean food?

Mel placed her order at 12:34. The estimated time of arrival she was given was 13:29.

The food arrived 14 minutes earlier than predicted at 13:15. So, delivery took a total of 41 minutes.

The driver was friendly. He apologised for the delay and, when asked, informed us that he drives a car – while the other two used motorcycles. This, he said, contributes to slower delivery times.

The meal, which was also with salad, was well presented.

The delivery fee for Mr Delivery was R20.00

However, Mel had to pay R10 more than us for her meal. This was because Mr Delivery does not allow you to place an order for R65 or less. So, Mel had to go for the gluten-free bread option at an additional R10.

This brought her total to R85.

For a toasted sandwich. What the hell is wrong with us?

So, which delivery service is the best?

So, what did we learn from this?

We learnt that Mr Delivery worked out to be the most expensive. Following that was Uber Eats and the most affordable was Order In.

We learnt that Mr Delivery requires a minimum amount of R65 to be placed. Mr D, however, also accepts cash. Which is great.

Despite placing my order two minutes later than the others, Order In delivered the fastest and their driver was the friendliest. Mr Delivery had the slowest delivery. Mel had to sit and watch Sherryn and I eating for quite a while.

Because we’re rude like that.

We also learnt that Uber Eats puts a markup on certain items – charging more than the restaurant does.

Our favourite website was Uber Eats, but getting hold of customer service via the website was a bit of a nightmare. In contrast, the websites of Order In and Mr D had all the info right there, easily obtainable.

In a nutshell – our favourite was Order In. They were the most affordable, friendliest, fastest and their website was simple enough to use.

For now, at least. This was just one test. We may get a craving for something else, sometime soon.

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