COOK

What a fantastic little shop!
Must say, I was pretty impressed by the vast amount of quality dinners in this place. The lay out is so good; separating meat, fish, veggie, desserts and sides… As well as having a dedicated section for larger portions (I sense some dinner party cheating happening all over the West End). Thee also have baby food and cute little low calorie lunch pots.
Love the baskets they have in there, very country-​esque. Also sampled some of their amazing cheesecake whilst I was in, as well as some chilli dust coated peanuts. Yum!
The staff were all super friendly and informative, happily giving recommendations and copies of their ‘menu’. I only came out with an Indonesian curry for two… Which I feel is an achievement in itself, given that I wanted to buy the whole shop.
The prices very reasonable, given the time and care that’s been put into the meals. The food might be frozen, but damn it’s tasty!

I’m wary of ‘hype’ but happy to say that this is one new establishment that lives up to it! COOK offers frozen meals with a difference, cooked by chefs with top notch ingredients, this is a world away from your usual supermarket fare!
We only picked up one dish for dinner but looking round the freezer cabinets there is plenty of choice and they all looked very good. Our Chicken Panyang and rice came to less than £8 (for two portions) and was delicious, creamy, with a little chilli kick to it. Much better than a takeaway in both flavour and price, I will be making some room in my freezer for some more of their meals for sure.

Before I tell you how I found it let me tell you a little bit about them. Basically it’s a frozen food deli who sells meals made in small batches from their kitchen in Kent. The brains behind Cook Edward Perry & Dale Penfold which was founded in 1997 really believe in making delicious frozen food for the customers that tastes like they made it at home. I like to think of it as guilt free convince.
I popped into Cook last week, as soon as I crossed the door the franchise owner David made a bee-​line straight for me carrying little pots of their Thai Green curry for us to sample, which was really lovely.
I introduced myself as we had connected on Twitter, we had a little chat about the brand and food on offer. What came across really strongly was that David is really passionate and very knowledgeable about all the produce and was able to steer us to some wonderful dishes.
After having a walk round the store I was blown away by the fantastic choices on offer. In the end I chose quite a few things — the Red Wine & Steak Pie, Sweet Chilli Prawns and from the sides section I went for goose fat roast potatoes, mashed potatoes (as recommended by David) Parmesan parsnips & basmati rice.
Everything was amazing and genuinely tasted like I’d made it at home… actually that isn’t true I can’t cook this well!
The pie was so tasty! The beef was tender and delicious, I had this accompanied with the roast potatoes, mash & parsnips which were all fantastic. If I didn’t see them go into the oven frozen myself I’d never believe that they had been cooked from frozen.
The next evening I had the prawns and basmati rice, both were again lovely. The prawns were big and juicy and the rice heated much better than I would expect frozen rice to cook in an oven.
I love the Cook shop, it is in a perfect little spot on Great Western Road and I am sure that this is going to be a massive hit in the west end.
I will definitely be popping back soon to try lots more dishes.

This wee shop does as the title suggests: they do the cooking for you, so all you have to do is heat it up. Leave your previous perceptions of ready meals at the door, though, as this is restaurant-​quality food of the highest standard, with the convenience of being able to pop in on your way home from work, for delicious dishes that someone else has lovingly prepared.
You could serve up these dishes at a dinner party, although whether or not you choose to take credit for the cooking is up to you. You can even buy their red casserole dishes which are made to suit the two or four portion packs, would be ideal for serving from and are a pretty kitchen addition in their own right.
The owner, David, is passionate about this place and is on hand to help and answer any questions about the food on offer. He was kind enough to check which dishes were vegan-​friendly and I’m impressed with the offerings: Thai Butternut Squash Soup, Vegetable and Chickpea Curry, Red Lentil and Mixed Bean Casserole and Mediterranean 4 Bean Casserole.
Like the food itself, everything has been precisely prepared with care and attention, from the charming chalk board signs on the wall, to the wicker shopping baskets which I loved. After only a few days in operation, David informs me that they’re extending their opening hours to meet demand and that’s just the sort of place this is, happy to help, with a customer focus and always keen to accommodate.
I think Cook will do well here and it’s well worth a visit, to marvel over the beautifully presented, delicious dishes and pick up some good food to impress your pals with.