Hungry for more Hickory’s at Home. #Blog
Briony Wilson
24th November 2020
This title may be slightly misleading as you certainly won’t be hungry after the Hickory’s at Home experience, but a day later thinking about the food, I’m really struggling to fight the urge to run to the fridge and enjoy some of the leftovers.
This is so much more than a takeaway, the team at Hickory’s have thought of everything, from the dishes on offer, to the packaging and instructions all the way to the little finishing touches.
To make things nice and simple they have created a new website hickorysathome.co.uk, it is really easy to navigate and themed up perfectly, so you don’t miss out on that part of your usual visits.
For my personal selection, I decided that the Family Platter was the best option to go for. It is brilliant value and gives you a little bit of everything to try, but because you order about a day in advance its hard to know exactly what you will be in the mood for. In addition to the Family platter we chose to add on the pulled pork, as this is not included in the deal. However, this was big debate with the family as we did consider doubling up on our usual favourite, the Brisket, but went for variety instead.
Now I love a cocktail, but I am no bar tender and Lockdown has got me seriously missing a good cocktail, so we decided the pre-mixed Mojitos would make a brilliant treat to top off our order. As I said earlier the team have made the website so easy to navigate, its simple – go through the menu, add your favourites to your cart and then hit the check out. We were amazed that if you order before 11am your order will arrive the next day, especially impressive when I am currently 90 miles from my local Hickory’s.
As if by magic the next day we get a knock at the door… and it had arrived. As I saw the box, I couldn’t believe how much thought has gone into this whole process. Even just opening the box, it is printed up with the Hickory’s story, and directions on how to start… well, continue your Hickory’s at home journey. In order to get the food to you safely it was packaged in food safe materials to keep the products at the right temperature and all labelled up with instructions.
With most deliveries, you just hope that everything has arrived safe and is all there, but when I noticed those little Hickory’s touches I couldn’t believe it – I’m not sure why I was surprised- I expect nothing less from them. Sitting on top of the box with the Heatin’, Eatin’ and Drinkin’ guide was a little pack of popcorn, and then handy wipes. As we unpacked the rest of the food and started to plan what order we need to start Heatin’ we found another surprise. Napkins Bibs – not just a brilliant idea as we all know how messy ribs can get, but it also made my whole family giggle – apparently, I’m a messy eater (who knew?)
Now I have to get back to the Heatin’, Eatin’ and Drinkin’ guide, this is really nicely set out and so easy to follow, even if we had tucked in to the Mojitos a little early we could have kept track. I love the timeline concept and because I’m a stickler for the rules and the grooves we had to give the Hickory’s Spotify playlist a listen whilst I cooked to get in the mood, yet another great touch.
Even better because of the timeline style instructions it meant all the food was ready at the same time. In preparation we had already topped our Mojito mix with soda and ice- sadly, I forgot to buy mint (told you I’m no bar tender- they wouldn’t forget.) But it still tasted just as good I promise and were a great compliment to all the dishes. Not forgetting the little bag of dried limes, which were the perfect garnish to the drink.
Included in the Family Platter are – 12x BBQ Chicken Wings, 500g Texas Style Brisket, Half a Smoked Chicken, Classic Mac ‘n’ Cheese, Full Rack Memphis Ribs, BBQ Pit Beans and House Slaw. This creates a really nice balanced selection of the standard Hickory’s menu, and you are even provided with all the sauces and glazes for the ribs, letting you mix and match the flavours to each of your guests preferences. For me, the standout dish was the Chicken wings, packed full of flavour with or without the sauces and just like the ribs- the meat fell off the bone. The brisket was a family favourite, and I was very happy to see that we had leftovers of that one. The Guide even suggests brilliant tips of how to use up your leftovers. It was even suggested that the Mac n Cheese and House Slaw nearly stole the show, all the sides in this platter really add to the dishes and I do not think Coleslaw will ever be the same again.
Now we certainly felt this was a brilliant alternative to a standard Sunday dinner, and is perfect for an occasion – I’m thinking a New Year’s Day Feast. The advantage of Hickory’s at Home is it is so simple, you can make your own selection of favourites or chose to try a little bit of everything with the platter. There will certainly be lots of tasty food to go around.
Since my experience, I have enjoyed a little insider knowledge from the Hickory’s team and due to popular demand the Half Chicken has been replaced by the pulled pork with in the platter, and even better a Festive BBQ Box has been launched – my New Years Plans have been cemented!