Dec 30, 2006

Dream Dinners Round 2: The Disappointment

I posted previously that I was pleased with our Dream Dinners experience and that I would be going back. Well, I went back and this time, we weren't as happy with our meals. Here's the run down:

  • Kung Pao Chicken - First off, the chicken came in large slices, so I cut them into smaller pieces. But even that couldn't save the dish, which just didn't taste very good. As Marc said, "I'd be very sad if you told me there was enough for lunch tomorrow." There was, but we tossed the leftovers that night.
  • Orange Mongolian Beef - This meal was at least okay, just not great. There was way too much sauce. And again, the chunks of meat were quite large so I cut them into bite-size pieces before cooking.
  • Maple-Thyme Pork Chops with Wild Rice Pilaf - This was my favorite meal of the second batch of dinners. The maple-thyme marinade was quite good, but there wasn't enough to make a sauce, which the meat really needed. And the pilaf was actually quite bad - I had to add quite a bit of seasoning to make it palatable and even then Marc hated it.
  • Homestyle Chicken and Dumplings - This was also okay, though not great. It used the same chicken slices as the Kung Pao Chicken, and while I didn't cut them smaller, I didn't like the large size either.
  • Caramel Pecan French Toast with Peaches - This sounded great, but didn't come out well. I think the flavors just don't go together.
  • Thanksgiving Side Station - This consisted of mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, a spice rub, cranberry sauce, and biscuits. I have to admit that I gave away the mashed potatoes because I had a friend who could use them and I always make a Streuseled Sweet Potato Casserole for Thanksgiving. I used the cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving but hated it (it tasted like it was made with dried cranberries, not fresh, and was too tart). The biscuits were fine but tasted like any frozen or refrigerated biscuit. The stuffing, gravy and spice rub are still in my freezer and I'm not sure I'll ever get around to using them given the disappointing nature of the rest of the meals.
The bottom line this time is that I won't be going back to Dream Dinners anytime soon, if ever. But now that I've tried it, I'm open to trying other similar companies to see if I like their food any better.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you for the detailed review! I'm had it in the back of mind my to try these out and I was curious as to what people think of it.

Anonymous said...

Hi. I have tried Dream Dinners and I find I really like the majority of their dinners. There are some my family doesn't like but most are very good. I find my local Dream Dinners wants to hear back if you are disappointed and they stand behind their dinners. If you really had such a bad experience, let them know. I have tried other dinner assembly places and I have found overall that Dream Dinners has the best quality and they are the most flexible and helpful.

Anonymous said...

Hello...I, too, have tried Dream Dinners and ended up becoming a regular customer. We have 4 children and the hectic life we live (e.g. soccer, football, girl scouts, choir, etc.) has made Dream Dinners a godsend. Having a nutitious meal ready to pop in the oven when we get home during the week has been great. We have found the meals to be consistently very good. We've tried several others (Super Suppers, Dinners By Design, etc.) and found Dream Dinners' food quality to be far superior. The meal or recipe diversity has been very nice (we've been customers for nearly 2 years now). Over the course of time we've gotten to know the Dream Dinners owners at the store we frequent quite well, and I'm sure they would want to hear about your experience. At our local store, they're very up front about wanting to know if things don't go well or if you're not happy with any of the entre'es. Anyway...just wanted to offer another "two cents worth".

Anonymous said...

Oh how I wish you folks were closer to a Let's Dish! Everything that I have had from there is FABULOUS! My friends and I are compeletly addicted! I tried DD, and much like your experience, after a few disappointing meals, the remaining meals sat in my freezer until I threw them away. Even the worst meal from Let's Dish was far superior to DD. I have tried other franchises as well, and always ended up returning to LD. I just love the whole concept. If you have a LD in your area, I urge you to check them out!

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Anonymous said...

I think Let's Dish is awful! I like Dream Dinners much better. The meat I have had from Let's Dish has been really fatty and the portions don't feed the 4-6 Dream Dinners does.