The Dinner Ladies

We order from The Dinner Ladies to support friends (for example for a birth or after a bereavment) and for ourselves to keep in the freezer for busy weeks. The food is always top notch. We order both vegetarian and the meat dishes and we've never had a dud! Unlike supermarket frozen or chilled meals, they actually look like the photos and taste… Read more

like a home cooked meal by a very good cook! Thanks to The Dinner Ladies for making great meals which work well as support gifts as well as being yummy. We live in the Blue Mountains and delivery is swift and the delivery crew leave in a nice shady place if we're not home. All in all, they are such a good experience that we use them again and again and the people we give the meals to love them too.

Bought variety of their dishes and we are so disappointed with the quality and some dishes took us so long to prepare that it was better to make our dinner by ourselves. Not worth the effort and money compared with other food business we were using. definitely not recommending them. and most dishes taste bad too. Show details

Found bone in their chicken dishes,. twice . Given the cost I don't think this is good enough. Won't be buying again, and if your elderly forget it. Poor experience Show details

Ordered Bao buns with slow-cooked hoisin pork, Vietnamese caramel and lemongrass chicken, coconut chilli prawns with Thai basil, chickpea and eggplant coconut curry, pumpkin and tofu laksa with rice noodles, super loaded vegie rice, shiitake… Read more

Mushroom and Tofu Miso Ramen, lamb koftas with minted yoghurt, sticky date pudding, and bake-at-home berry crumble cake for my sister and her family as her birthday gift to get a break from cooking. Their favourite dishes were the cakes and laksa and the kofta baalls with minty yoghurt.

2nd review the dinner ladies Just had the Syrian chicken absolutely delicious ❤️❤️ Thought the lasagne we ordered was a bit bland Great for week nights once you’ve worked out what your faves are

Was gifted $300 of meals after undergoing serious surgery. Fantastic value and excellent quality. Special mention so far to the Dan Dan Noodles (as a tough critic who used to live in China), Spinach and Ricotta Lasagna, potato gratin and Chicken and Vegetable Pie. Each meal has exceeded our expectation and we can’t wait to reorder. Show details

We had the lamb ragu for dinner which was fantastic, a very homely meal. The standout was desert tho which was the sticky date pudding and wow it was one of the best I’ve ever had, definitely recommending The Dinner Ladies

Do not order food, it may not arrive! They have randomly sent message to say they couldn’t deliver food (at 5:30pm) without giving me notice through day……being able to actually deliver the product seems a basic operational function. Will not be using again. Poor service. Show details

We have ordered many meals from the Dinner Ladies and have enjoyed some of the meals so much that they are regular items on our orders. But a new dish—a potato soup—we tried today for the first time was like thick white paste. It was hard to imagine how it might have been made more acceptable. Show details

I've used meals from The Dinner Ladies for over a year now & have generally been quite pleased. However, today I tried their Pesto Pasta with Sun-Dried Tomatoes. Not good! Something very wrong with the seasoning! I ate it, with no ill effects, but I did not enjoy it.

Bit disappointed of late. Smoked chicken pasta alforno, was good, paste tense. Think they are just waving a dead smoked chicken over the top. This dish was a constant, however won't be ordering it again. Chilli jam chicken was a constant, last time too Sally to eat. Chicken pie was a constant until it became too light on the chicken, heavy on the sauce, won't be ordering again.Very very disappointed about the lack of consistency.

I used to get dinner ladies all the time and it was fantastic. I just ordered a box as I'm moving house and so far the meals have been inedible. The Mac N Cheese was so oily, the chicken and salmon full meals I had to throw out or give to the dogs. I checked to see if ownership had changed but no it's the same. So I don't know what has happened. It's a shame because they used to be so good. Show details

We received a $50 giftcard to use for this service, and their minumum order cost is $100. Once the gift card was applied it then added on the delivery fee of $20 as it no longer cost $100 so really, the giftcard was pretty useless as you still have to use AT LEAST $70 to order food. Not to mention that finding exact costings for food meant that we felt forced to spend $80 just to apply the discount.

We have ordered meals off and on for several months. I am mostly vegetarian eating fish and have found almost all of the meals disappointing. I don't eat sugar, or any substitutes and this can be challenging! My partner eats meat and has quite enjoyed most of his meals. The fish cakes are very good. Our favourite dish was a crusted Barramundi, but… Read more

this was removed from the menu. We are also uncomfortable with the packaging. Far too much plastic. It is hard to order the minimum amount, when many of the dishes dont work for us!

I was looking forward to my first delivery, however by late afternoon, the order status page showed no sign of my order being dispatched, never mind en route. A call to customer service revealed that the box had been forgotten about in the warehouse. I could not accept the offer of redelivery the next day, as I had specifically chosen the delivery… Read more

day based on my limited availability. Sadly, I am forced to conclude that this is not the meal delivery service for those of us who really need the order to arrive on the specified day.

UPDATE: after I had twice requested a refund from the company, the delivery arrived without warning two days later. Given that this food was forgotten in a warehouse, delayed by two days, and finally left outside my building in 40 degree heat, I do not consider it safe to eat. I am very upset that this company didn’t listen to my request for a refund and has instead left me with a large quantity of unusable food. I definitely don’t recommend them.

UPDATE 2: The company have now contacted me and done a refund. I’m glad they took steps to remedy the situation, but still don’t think I’d order from them again.

Absolutely Restaurant quality food. Everything from informative texts to the splendid food served was amazing. No one could ever complain about same. IT WAS THE EASIEST EVER CHRISTMAS DINNER not only on the day but we had enough for Boxing day. So delicious. Show details

We purchased their Christmas dinner menu and it was amazing. Everyone loved it. I followed all the instructions to a T and was very proud of myself that it was so delicious. Show details

The delivery was prompt. The packaging was excellent. I would be ok with less expensive packaging if you increase the mouth-feel of the food. The food was not terrible, a bit bland, lacked seasoning. Show details

This was my second delivery from the dinner ladies. After the initial confirmation email, I did not receive any more communication. Being a bit concerned at lunchtime, I sent an email asking what was happening to my order. Was answered in a reasonable time, that it had been left at my complex block door over an hour earlier. They stated that I’d… Read more

received SMS’s, which I did not! Also said they sent a photo of my delivery which did not show on the email. And they did not ring my intercom as requested, even though I’d told them how to do it! Luckily I received my delivery, but, living in an apartment complex, I would not trust a delivery from them again. Such a shame they can’t deliver like Coles & Woolies, give you a 2 hour window and send sms before and after delivery… this area really lets them down.

Used to be decent, now the portion is much smaller, lots of sauce to pump the weight instead of real food. The Thai green curry used to taste really good, the new recipe tho, smells off had to throw the whole thing away. Very disappointed, also notice they won't let you to write review on their website now. Now I know why. Show details

I was gifted a few weeks meals from my Sister and Brother in Law as I broke my leg. What a blessing to not be trying to stand with crutches. They have been so tasty, homemade flavours and can not pick a favourite as all of them have been delicious. All the packaging is thoughtful and shows heart. Keep up the great work, these meals are healthy… Read more

and flavoursome. I certainly will be ordering again.. To have meals like this already to go is so convenient in a busy world, certainly beats takeouts..

Started with the delivery driver leaving the box at the next door neighbour’s house & when I rang him to tell him so, he argued with me & hung up. He never returned to deliver to my house so in the pouring rain I had to go over and get the box. The food? I ordered a few different dishes. Mac & cheese had this awful cheese crust on top, lasagna was average, the other food had either too much salt or too much sauce. Wont be ordering again, sorry. Show details

After leaving detailed delivery instructions they left it in the wrong place in the sun by a sign that says “do not leave deliveries here”. When I complained their email response was acknowledgment that I left delivery instructions and then a paragraph on how to leave detailed instructions. Felt really validated - not. Maybe if you mess up delivery offer free delivery Show details

I 'm coeliac and was pleased to see that had gluten free options however on arrival I found the soup "may contain gluten" perhaps this is a bureaucratic requirement but stll disappointing Show details

I never order pre-prepared meals for a group but had to! Wow, did not disappoint. Meat eaters loved the lasagne and all was eaten. Generous serving sizes were accurate The plant based dishes I ordered were very tasty and made with love. Thank you so much Joolz Show details

Dinner Ladies was a big disappointment. I have tried them twice and of the dozen meals ordered none was outstanding and most lacked taste. Their Cinnamon scented lamb and eggplant sounds nice but it does not work. The Chicken Pad Thai was inedible. Only good thing was their duck fat potatoes but this is no recommendation and at $16 is rather… Read more

costly. Courier delivered my meals to another address in the same street to add to everything. Packaging is very good but it's the quality of the food that matters.

Absolutely worth it – Flavourful food, easy to prepare, some sustainably sourced ingredients. I used the Dinner Ladies when renovating my kitchen and couldn't cook my own meals. They were more expensive than other pre-made meals but absolutely worth it because of the high quality and flavour. The roast lamb, tarragon chicken and potato gratin were delicious. I would love to see more vegan/ vegetarian options so hippies can enjoy their meals too. Show details

Very disappointing – I don't like to criticise companies but I found my meals very disappointing, not at all like they used to be. The meals all come frozen now and then you need to microwave. Microwaving food does not add any flavour to food and I felt like I was eating a cheap frozen meal from the supermarket but for double the price. I bought 6 meals and 2 were… Read more

good - the cottage pie and pulled pork - and the rest were inedible. The lentils in the curry pumpkin were hard, the roast vegetables, freekeh, cashew salad was just awful and the spinach and ricotta lasagne was tasteless. The spinach and paneer koftas were just OK. I wont be ordering again.