Over the past four months I have been using food waste app, Too Good To Go, which has changed my life. And I am not exaggerating.
Having always lived in Dundee, I love exploring new places in the city and finding a bargain.
Being a food and drink journalist for The Courier has opened my eyes to the incredible food and drink scene we have.
With the Too Good To Go app these two passions of my life are combined and allows me to enjoy local food at a seriously reduced price.
Having never tried the app, I started on my journey with The Courier and have written about eight different bags across Tayside and Fife.
I decided it was time to compare my bags and rate them out of five according to value for money and quality.
Mezzaluna
My first purchase took me to Mezzaluna in Dundee city centre for a £4 mystery bag containing a mixture of cannoli and arancini.
With a total costing of this bag being £18, I made a saving of £13.91 and felt great knowing that their freshly made goods from the day before weren’t going to be wasted.
Address:19 Whitehall Crescent, Dundee DD1 4BB
Value for money: 4/5
Quality: 5/5
Kingsway Farm
I decided one Friday evening to reserve a carvery trimmings box from Kingsway Farm Carvery and Diner who are known for their incredible roast dinner offerings.
Inside the box I found a mixture of trimmings including carrots, sprouts, potatoes, turnips, parsnips, Yorkshire puddings and an exceptional gravy.
At a price of £3.29 I saved a total of £9.49 and felt that although the saving wasn’t as much, the quantity of food was enough for two people.
Address: 50-52 King’s Cross Road, Dundee DD3 3PT
Value for money: 4/5
Quality: 4/5
Polskie Smaki
The app also allowed me to explore new places like this Polish grocery store Polskie Smaki who sell a mixture of freshly baked goods, meats, and hundreds of household food essentials.
I received 20 different items in my bag including packet noodles, cooking spice mixes, yoghurts, a muffin cake box mix, biscuits, pickles, ketchup, barbecue sauce, two containers of cottage cheese, beef broth and packets to make homemade jelly.
With a total cost of £5 I saved £13.19 and had so many items I could use for making food with or enjoying as snacks between my meals.
Address: 168 High Street, Lochee, Dundee DD2 3BZ
Value for money: 4/5
Quality: 3/5
Woodmill Game
Travelling slightly further I went out to Cupar to collect my Too Good to Go bag from Woodmill Game.
Having spent £7 on this bag I was amazed that I was being handed gourmet meat at such a low price.
Inside my bag found two pheasant burgers, eight pheasant and ginger sausages, and eight partridge and plum sausages.
I made a total saving of £15 and had enough meat for multiple dinners too.
Address: Woodmill, Lindores, Cupar KY14 6JA
Value for money: 5/5
Quality: 4.5/5
Balkan Bulgarian Warehouse
Another place that I didn’t even know existed in Dundee was Balkan Bulgarian Warehouse who wholesale food items.
I found Coffee Mate, biscuits, two chocolate boxes, beef tomatoes, bulgur wheat, chocolate wafer bars, and a mix of frozen meat including sausages and burgers inside my bag.
Saving a massive £17 after only spending £5 was a great bargain and was my second largest saving made from the app.
Address: 22 Old Glamis Road, Dundee DD3 8JA
Value for money: 4.5/5
Quality: 3/5
Potato House
My most recent bag was from Potato House located on East Mains Farm and was a 15 minute drive from my house.
Surrounded by beautiful farmland and fields, the journey was almost as enjoyable as the £16.65 saving I made.
To my surprise I received a 25kg bag of Orla white potatoes which retails at £25.
The bag of potatoes was enormous, and I think it will take me a while to eat all of those potatoes…
Address: East Mains Farm, Auchterhouse, Dundee DD3 0QN
Value for money: 4/5
Quality: 4/5
Polski Sklep Kubus
Another Polish grocery shop I was eager to try was Polski Sklep Kubus in Dundee.
I received 15 items in my £5 bag including one strawberry, one blueberry and three chocolate yoghurts, one large cabbage, eight bottles of strawberry and blueberry Danone yoghurt drinks, and a tub of salted herring.
Having saved £9.86 I felt the contents of the bag was an interesting mix and worth buying if you enjoy a surprise.
Address: 317 Hilltown, Dundee DD3 7AQ
Value for money: 3.5/5
Quality: 3/5
Hotel du Vin
Last but certainly not least was my breakfast bag from Hotel du Vin in St Andrews.
I was so excited for this bag because under normal circumstances to eat breakfast at this venue it would cost in the region of £33.
Having paid £4 I had my biggest saving of £29, and found two pain au chocolats and two croissants in the first box.
The second box contained a mixture of meats and vegetables including bacon, black pudding, sausages, mushrooms and tomatoes.
And if that wasn’t enough, inside the bag I found four mango and vanilla mini yoghurts.
Address: 40 The Scores, St Andrews KY16 9AS
Value for money: 5/5
Quality: 4.5/5
Out of all the bags I ordered, the breakfast from Hotel du Vin and the gourmet meat from Woodmill Game came out on top after wracking up a total of 9.5/10.
