Happy Time Kitchen Lunch Box

While the taste of Peanut Butter Chicken and Tumeric Couscous is still in lingering in my mouth, here’s my take on Happy Time Kitchen’s Lunch Box delivery. This was bought through this Groupon deal for RM10.90, delivery charges depend on where you’re located.

They promote themselves as a healthy lunchbox with no artificial preservatives and MSG.

Their order form for March is simplified and only gives you options based on meat type. The previous order form had some description but was more complicated to understand.

My lunch box was delivered at 12 noon with an additional RM3 delivery fee. Confirmation of the order was via phone call at about 6pm the day I placed my order.

My 400 kcal Chicken Breast set turned up in a nicely segmented box unlike the photos in the Groupon deal where everything was in a one section lunch box. Makes perfect sense.

I had a sliced up Peanut Butter Chicken Breast, some couscous seasoned with what I believe is turmeric powder and some blanched then lightly oiled veggies and a hard boiled egg.

Upon opening my lunch box, there were some things that were slightly unsightly – vegetables not well cleaned. The black parts of the cauliflower were not properly removed.

Yes, there’s more to come from where that came from.

Yeap, I’m not too happy about dirty vegetables. Not happy at all.

Alright, let’s double back to the food. The chicken was not hard and overcooked while the sauce creamy with a hint of salt. This was the nicest portion of the meal. The couscous was a little too salty for my taste and the turmeric flavor was lost on me. I found that it made no difference in flavor and was merely a color change. The blanched vegetables were nicely blanched and the carrots sweet. The meal was very filling and it was indeed very balanced in terms of portion size and type.

Overall, the entire meal was too bland for me. I understand the need for natural seasoning and minimal use of spice and seasoning but some spicy notes in the peanut butter chicken, maybe a light saute of garlic and onion with the couscous and a spritz of lemon juice or a sprinkle of lemon zest on the vegetables would have made the meal more appetizing, without compromising the calorie count and the health benefits, I believe?

Note (04/03/15): On the day I ate this, I had nausea in the evening and subsequently 2 rounds of puking. I dare not say that it was this particular meal that caused it but it was what came out 😦

Edit (10/3/15):

I gave out my last voucher to Jaslyn and she ordered a Salmon set. I thought it looks much more appetizing than my set and there were elements to enhance the taste of the food – see onions and a wedge of lemon there?

Here are her comments.

Filling, balanced, salmon a bit dry on the outer layer. It’s not for the MSG-loving folk but you can still taste the food.

French beans they kinda didn’t peel off the string but it was edible.

I would order but not everyday due to the price. I’m not saying that they’re expensive but I just can’t afford it. Would order 2-3 times a week to eat clean. For a normal meal (not considering the Groupon deal), you’re looking at about RM20 for lunch.