For the Love of...: ...LeVilla Restaurant & SkiptheDishes (Calgary)

We were contacted recently by SkiptheDishes to try their service.  SkiptheDishes is a food delivery network, offering online ordering for delivery/pickup from a variety of restaurants.  We were curious as to how delivery from a higher end restaurant that you wouldn't necessarily associate with take-out, would compare to the sit-down experience.  So after exploring our options on the website, we decided on LeVilla Restaurant...

SkiptheDishes' website took us a minute to figure out.  We realized that depending on which area of the city you live in, the day and time of day determines the restaurants you can get delivery from.  We're assuming that if you chose the pickup option, you would get more restaurant options.  One of the things we liked about using the website was how you could easily view the menu, place your order exactly how you want, and pay- all up to a day in advance.  Also, you can choose to tip the driver on the website and not worry about having to pay the person when they show up at your door.  SkiptheDishes sends you emails to confirm your order and update the expected delivery time.  We received a phone call letting us know that the food courier had picked up our order at the restaurant and was on their way.  Our food arrived in good time and still warm, delivered by a friendly SkiptheDishes food courier.   

We ordered the crab cakes, bison short ribs and cajun ribeye from LeVilla Restaurant (Sirocco Dr. location in the SW).  The crab cakes came with a jicama slaw and chipotle aioli.  The crab cakes tasted fresh and went well with the slaw that had a light texture.  They probably would have been more crispy if we had them at the restaurant but since they were contained in a take away box they weren't as crisp.  The aioli was a great accompaniment and the generous amount in the container was good for dipping the bread rolls that came with our order.

Our bison short ribs and ribeye came with the gravy separate in their boxes.  

Obviously it wasn't completely a 'skip the dishes' experience but we didn't mind.  The cajun ribeye was medium rare just as we requested on the website.  It was very tender and flavourful but charred a bit more than we would have liked, making the spice rub slightly bitter in flavour.  Otherwise, the rich marsala wild mushroom sauce, creamy mashed potatoes and vegetables were a great accompaniment to the ribeye.  

 The braised bison short ribs were slightly on the dry side, somewhat made better by the gravy.  The advertised horseradish that was supposed to be in the mashed potatoes was not apparent and no asparagus was included, as per the menu.  

Overall, we feel the food was comparable to the food they serve at the restaurant.  We can see how delivery from a higher end restaurant has its convenience, but we probably wouldn't do it again in the near future.  We often like to ask the server for their recommendations and enjoy the experience of the service at a nice restaurant.  However, we can see ourselves using SkiptheDishes for more casual restaurants.  We hope SkiptheDishes will expand their network in the future and offer more mid-priced restaurants.  It was an interesting experience and we're glad we were introduced to SkiptheDishes.