Food delivery review: Pope Jai Thai island-wide in Singapore

As you know from watching my weekly vlog, it's been quite the journey during this COVID-19 outbreak with circuit breaker measures in place. As a result I've been working from home (thankful, that my job allows for it) and adjusting to the New Normal. That includes having every single meal at home 7 days a week, which I don't think I've ever done in my entire life since pre-primary. However, that's not the point of this blog post. The point is, food delivery services has been really out of reach for me personally since CB started, mainly because of the prohibitive min. orders like $80 and high delivery fees (I once saw it cost $8 to deliver a $5 bachormee from Upper Thomson, which is only about 3.3km away). Not to mention a lot of us realising that the 3 big delivery companies are taking a 30-35% cut from the F&B on top of the delivery fee we pay (all to the rider except 0.20). Still that means F&B businesses, a lot of whom are already treading water, have lower profit margins. That's why I have stopped using those food delivery services and would rather go direct instead. 

And that's what first caught my attention when my friend posted about this Pope Jai Thai food delivery lunch. The min. order is only $20, and there's a $5 delivery fee islandwide. What got to me even more was that Pope Jai is actually a social enterprise restaurant at *Scape and they do social work to support the marginalised. And that's what struck me. Even better was their $8.80 set offer that comes with a milk tea. So I got to ordering direct via WhatsApp from Pope Jai (very simple, just fill out your order, wait for them to issue a bill and you transfer payment by UEN.)

You can view the full menu PDF from this Dropbox link or refer to their website. Alongside the Seafood Tang Hoon set ($8.80) for myself and the Honey Garlic Chicken Set ($8.80) for my helper, I ordered an ala carte Small Green Curry w Chicken ($9) for my dad from there, alongside a Red Ruby ($5.80) dessert! I also got to enjoy a free Mango Sticky Rice through a referral code from my friend. I had ordered quite in advance after lunch, for dinner later. The delivery guy came 5 mins before my preferred timing of 6.30-7pm which was awesome (my folks eat early!). So all these costed only S$37.40 incl. delivery!

So what's the verdict, you wonder? Well! I am happy to report that it was very decent for the value, convenience and taste. I love Thai food and it is one of those cuisines that I can't replicate at home. The Tang Hoon was the best dish among all - it was flavoured just right and the springy noodles with the crunch from the veggies was so appetising. It also had 3 big pieces of prawn in there. The sour chilli accompaniment also added a bit of heat (but not much). That was the main gripe I had for the green curry that my dad ordered - it was on the sweeter side (very lemak!) without much spiciness, probably for those who can't take it. 

As for desserts, I was glad to have ordered the Red Ruby - the chestnuts with starch was fun to crunch on without being too sweet. And when it was delivered the ice was still all there while the mains were hot, which meant it didn't take too long! The mango sticky rice was alright though the glutinous rice was too sweet for me. Same verdict on the Thai Milk Tea - I wished the tea taste itself was stronger. 

Overall though, Pope Jai Thai surpassed my expectations for a good food delivery that was tasty, affordable and with heart. Even though everything probably would taste better there and you could probably find even more authentic-tasting Thai food from places like Beer Thai in Golden Mile, Pope Jai had made the effort to deliver Singaporeans the option of aroy mak Thai food in the comfort of their homes. And as a bonus - I'm sharing my referral code for a free Mango Sticky Rice too valid until 4 May if you order a min. of $$30! So if you are interested, do give Pope Jai a try. 

Pope Jai Thai

2 Orchard Link, #03-03 Scape Co. Ltd, Singapore 237978

www.popejai.com/delivery