For a few years now, there’s been a growing category of food delivery that’s like the cousin of regular restaurant delivery. Some services offer to drop off the ingredients to make your favorite meals while other others deliver full meals that you merely need to reheat. Munchery falls in the latter category. They just came to LA this month and they offered me the chance to check it out first hand with a free dinner order. The verdict: good! There were a few hiccups, like any new service, but overall I was impressed.

While you can use a service like Eat24 or Seamless to get restaurant entrees delivered whenever you’d like, there’s often a problem when it comes to things like timing and quality. As we all know, the more food sits after it’s made, the worse it gets. Munchery solves this problem by offering chef-driven menus that get delivered to you with instructions on how to finish the prep/cooking process. Salads comes with the ingredients in different containers so you can assemble them at your inconvenience without getting the greens all soggy. Entrees come in oven/microwave-safe trays that you pop in your oven/microwave for a specified amount of time and then, voila!, they’re ready. It’s all exceedingly convenient.

What I loved most about the service was the price (which obviously didn’t affect me, since they picked up the tab for dinner). Instead of ordering a salmon dish at a restaurant that would cost $20-$30, Munchery offered the same dish for $11.95. A Crab Louie Salad cost the same, even though restaurant dishes of the same caliber usually cost at least $5 more. The chefs for Munchery have all spent time in restaurants you know, so you’re getting the restaurant quality without the restaurant price. Plus, they literally drop it on your doorstep during the time window of your choosing (they offer hourlong blocks).

The issues I had were minor. I wish the herbs in the Vietnamese Shrimp Salad above were chopped for me. I thought the website could be made a little more convenient. Other than that, though, it was a — pardon the pun — seamless process. The next time I don’t want to cook, but I’m looking for a high-quality chef-made meal, I’m going to give Munchery another try. It’s a great in-between solution that bridges the gap of home cooking and restaurant delivery.

Check and see if Munchery is delivering in your area (they’re fairly limited right now), by clicking over here.