Top Tips for Group Buying Restaurant Deals

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About a month ago I chatted to Peter Godfrey on FiveAA about group buying. Have you noticed how many group buying sites there are at the moment? It seems like you can buy practically anything at a bargain basement cut down price if you look hard enough and jump on the deal when it appears.

Of course, I’m preoccupied with food, so I focus on the restaurant deals.

But buying blind like this is fraught with danger and some, like Rachel over at The Food Sage, might choose to avoid these deals altogether. However, if you like to save money and live dangerously read on for my top tips!

1. Check out how many people have bought the deal. 300 people have bought a meal in a tiny restaurant with just 3 months to use the deal? GIVE IT A MISS! Many businesses have been stung by more people taking up the deal than expected and naturally your experience will suffer. You’ll find it more difficult to book a table and when you do turn up you might find portion sizes smaller or your meal rushed. I wait until the day the deal closes to buy: that way I have a really good idea of how many people have bought the deal.

2. Check out online reviews of the restaurant before buying. If it’s being panned on sites like UrbanSpoon or TripAdvisor (or Twitter or Facebook …) you might need to adjust those expectations even further … or you might choose to skip the deal altogether. The trick with using reviews on the internet is not to place too much weight on any one review or site – people have unrealistic expectations, restaurants have off nights so use some commonsense.

3. Book early! Yes – you might have six months to use your voucher but do you really want to be jockeying for a reservation in the last week when everyone has realised the voucher is about to expire? If you book early you’re much more likely to remember to use the voucher and the restaurant is less likely to be over the whole experience.

4. Don’t buy another voucher until you’ve used the last one. This way you don’t have them expiring on you. Some sites will issue an email reminder that your voucher is about to expire but not all do. Often these deals are sold to restaurants on the basis that a large percentage of customers won’t use the voucher. Do you really want to be giving away your money for nothing?

5. Finally – have reasonable expectations. Restaurants participate in group buying in order to boost both business and exposure but that doesn’t mean you’ll be getting a bottle of Penfolds Grange as your included wine!

And of course – enjoy your meal!

Leave a comment to let us all know about your experiences – good and bad!

Hazara Indian Restaurant Norwood

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date of visit: Monday 17 September 2012

Heading out after ‘work’ (which, in this case, was a Pinot Noir tasting) for a meal and movie is not something that happens too often. I have a tendency to fall asleep in the cinema (I have been doing this for years – it’s because it’s warm and dark) and have you seen the price of a movie ticket? I’d rather just eat dinner!

However, I’d been given some movie tickets, Kath and Kimderella was showing and it was time to do something noice, different and unusual. Andy was not interested (surprise) so a friend and I left our other halves at home with toddlers and headed out with a couple of hours to spare to eat before the film.

The Parade is a bit weird in that it’s one of those places that seems to have tons of restaurants/eateries but, when I think about it, there’s not that many places I’m desperate to try. We’d both done Grace and I’m always keen to try somewhere new. I asked Twitter and, being a Monday night, our choices were a bit limited, so we ended up at Hazara.

Hazara bills itself as an Indian and Singaporean restaurant but we were both there for curry – and, honestly, Singaporean dishes are few and far between on the menu.

We began with pappadums and shared vegetable samosas, which we followed with Hazara chicken curry (me – I figured this was the house specialty*) and rogan josh (my mate). The Hazara chicken curry is described vaguely as being cooked in “a flavoursome gravy with freshly ground spices”. That could pretty much describe a random mid-week curry by me.

I’d describe all the food as above average. The samosas were definitely good – if I wanted to be picky I’d complain that the pastry was a little thick, but it certainly wasn’t stodgy or pasty.

The main courses were very good. The lamb was really tender and had obviously had a long, slow cook. The chicken was still moist. While the sauces were tasty you could argue they were a little homogenous in texture. We ordered some coconut rice and dahl makhani to go with our main courses. Dahl makhani is one of my favourite things to eat so I’m quite picky about it. This dahl makhani was made exclusively with black lentils which is definitely a good thing – some have kidney beans which I don’t rate at all. It wasn’t as spicy as it could have been but I also appreciate the need to keep accompaniments more universally appealing.

At some points service was a little intrusive. If, as a waiter, you’re going to apologise for interrupting (to ask if the food is OK) then don’t interrupt. It was a Monday night and the restaurant was nearly empty so the waiting staff weren’t pushed for time – they could have waited. I guess had they done that I’d be complaining they asked me when my mouth was full …

The real sting in the tail at Hazara is the cost. Our dinner, including an alcoholic drink each and a small tip, came to $40 a head. Whichever way I look at it, that’s quite a lot of money for a curry. I feel like I am always saying this about curries – but they are something that is easy to cook well, and in bulk, at home.

While I’d definitely go back to Hazara, I would also be mindful of the cost. In a group, or if I were hungry – I’d expect to spend $50 a head easily. You have to chalk some of that money up to a pleasant environment and friendly, efficient service.

* Hazara is both a place in Pakistan and a Persian speaking people of Afghanistan (the third largest ethnic group after Pasthuns and Tajiks) and central Pakistan. I have no idea whether the name of the restaurant (and this dish) refers to either of these or something else.

Hazara on Urbanspoon

Sunbeam Pie Magic Pie Maker

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Disclaimer: Sunbeam sent me a Pie Magic Family pie maker to test out.

Like all good northern men, Andy is really into pies. He holds very strong opinions about pies too – mostly around how much pastry has to be involved (bottom and top). So when Sunbeam asked me if I’d like to try one of their new additions to the Pie Magic range, I figured that domestic harmony demanded the answer be yes.

Now – once upon a time, I worked as a sales assistant in the electrical department of a major department store. I started in “small electrical” (before graduating to hi-fi) so I have seen (and quite possibly owned) every kitchen gadget under the sun. At the age of 20 (ish) you see a pie maker and think “who the hell needs that?”. That was actually also the response I got when I posted a photo of my newly arrived Pie Magic to Twitter/Instagram.

I know you can buy pie tin(s) and make pies in your oven. And we do that relatively often. My main complaint with this process is the time and energy that it takes. You have to preheat the oven and we find the pie spends a good 40 minutes minimum cooking. And even then, I confess, often the pastry on the bottom is a little soggy. When I read that the Pie Magic was going to deliver me pie in 15-20 minutes that was when I thought we might be on to something.

The Pie Magic Family makes a single, family size pie. It’s a bit bigger than your average toastie machine, so it doesn’t take up too much space. Naturally, there’s a cord tidy, so it’s also easy to store. It comes with a big spatula for getting your pie out and also a pastry cutter. The pastry cutter is one of those simple things that probably took a fair bit of thought to get right. One side cuts the pastry for the base, including slits so that it fits nicely. And the other side cuts the top. Which way round is marked.

IMG_2324base – perfectly sized, with slits to ensure it fits the pie maker snugly

Being non stick everything, there’s no need to grease the Pie Magic. You do, however, need to get it heated up before you start putting your pastry in. Carefully line the base, fill with cooled pie filling, and put on the lid. Not required: water to create the seal, egg wash, hand crimping. Just shut the Pie Magic and wait 15 to 18 minutes.

Andy was a bit sceptical at this point – the lid didn’t look like it was going to be big enough to create a decent seal. He was also complaining about the lack of egg wash – would the pie be golden?

We actually waited 20 minutes, because our pie mixture had come straight from the fridge, and because of concerns about the colour of the top. As you can see – no problems with colour at all. The pastry was all cooked and the filling was piping hot. Everyone was happy.

When it came to getting the pie out Andy was worried that the lid would come off (see, I said he took pies seriously) but the broad spatula and a bit of patience meant that the pie slid out and on to a plate easily and in one piece.

We used home made shortcrust pastry on the bottom and bought puff pastry on top. However, because the Pie Magic closes on the pie you won’t get a puffed up top like you do in the oven – so next time we use it I’m going to try to convince Andy to use shortcrust for the top too.

IMG_2329finished product ready to be devoured

Obviously you can use the Pie Magic for both savoury and sweet pies, and you can also use it for reheating pies. The instruction manual also contains a good selection of recipes most of which are extremely easy.

This is definitely one kitchen toy which is going to get a hammering in our household. It cut down pie making time and hassle by a noticeable amount.

So who needs a pie maker? Actually, it turns out, pretty much anyone who likes eating pie!

Top tip: clean the Pie Magic while it’s still warm. All it will need is a wipe down with a hot soapy cloth.