Impromptu Gourmet
Impromptu Gourmet Reviews - Prepared Meal Delivery Reviews
Historically, this company has a generally smaller menu, but focuses on high-quality gourmet meals that you are likely to have when you go out to a fine restaurant. Impromptu Gourmet is well-known for selling gourmet food gifts all year long, and especially around the holidays.
In our order, we found products from other manufacturers, like Cuisine Solutions, which isn't necessarily bad, it just means you are likely to pay for buying from a middle-man. The food is very rich, and you can taste the amount of butter and heavy cream they use. That makes it delicious, but not for anyone interested in healthy dining. We preferred Gourmet Station for this type of food, which was not only better, but more economical.
The high prices, like $28 for a single small rack of Baby Back Ribs, or $55 for a tray of Au Gratin Potatoes, claim to come with a lot more servings than what you may find realistic. However, the quality of the food we tried, except for the BBQ Ribs, was excellent, but it is near impossible to recommend anything as expensive as this company is.
Many of the meal delivery websites require you to buy prepared meals in quantities of two or four servings. This is where a la carte, or buying individual meals, is a huge advantage to the consumer. You can see how quickly your budget can disappear when you have to buy in multiple servings.
Impromptu Gourmet offers many different options for meals including appetizers, soups, entrees, side dishes and desserts as well as options for brunch. Most of the products this company sells come frozen and simply need to be thawed and reheated either by a microwave or conventional oven. Impromptu Gourmet reviews show that customers are pleased with the items they have chosen as well as the variety that the company offers. There are at least three different choices for food in each of the company's sections.
The food that is delivered from Impromptu Gourmet is chef inspired and is guaranteed to suit your specific needs under their customer satisfaction guarantee. The company offers entree choices including beef, pasta, pork, seafood, poultry, veal and lamb.
Their appetizers also include vegetarian options. Impromptu Gourmet also offers the option of sending their food as a gift and can include a greeting card or dinner music with the item that is to be delivered as a gift.
- 100% Satisfaction guarantee. If you are not completely satisfied with any product that you have ordered, they will refund your money or replace your product.
- Impromptu Gourmet is able to ship within the continental United States and Hawaii for an extra shipping fee. They cannot ship to Alaska and cannot ship to post office boxes.
- Shipping fees start at $16.95 for standard shipping in the continental United States, $26.95 for rush delivery and $41.90 for delivery to Hawaii.
- This company delivers frozen meals to your home.
- Impromptu Gourmet offers gift cards, delivered digitally or physically. The gift cards can be used for phone and online order options.
Our Impromptu Gourmet Review of their Prepared Meal Delivery Service
Impromptu Gourmet Meal Choices We Would Not Reorder
Baby Back Ribs $28
These are the worst baby back ribs I have ever had. They are not just bad, I think it is dishonorable any meal delivery service would sell this to their customers. The product is nothing you can't buy at your local supermarket for about $10. I don't think any of those brands are too good, but this one far exceeds them on the low quality scale.
This company has some nerve to charge $28 for this.
-Chef Aldo Piquanti
Mushroom Medley $35
While they are delicious, and sinfully rich, the are just plain crimini mushrooms. I just do not understand how Impromptu sleeps at night selling these at $28 for this small tray.
-Nicole DiLayne
Scalloped Potato Gratin $35
This is the smaller tray which does not appear to be available anymore. The only version available I see as of this writing is $55, which they say serves 7 to 10 people. Haha.
While they are very good and very rich, they are just not worth the asking price. I can summarize my feelings best by quoting a line from Monty Python and the Holy Grail after the attack of the Killer Rabbit: "Run away! Run away!"
-Morris Pelphner
Mac and Cheese $27
I loved this dish. The flavor of the four kinds of cheese, Cheddar, Mozzarella, Gouda, and Parmesan all come through. The tender macaroni is a difficult challenge to reproduce in a microwave dish, but they do it just fine. Impromptu says there are six servings in this tray. No there isn't. Three small servings would be more realistic. Why not just say there are 20 servings to justify your price?
And that is my problem with the company. The prices are just stupid, in my humble opinion.
-Chef Aldo Piquanti
Beef Provencal $50
I thought this was outstanding, rivaling a meal you get in a fine French restaurant. There is just something amazingly special about French braised beef, and this one is at the top of the list. Sadly, I had to give this a thumbs down because of the price. $50? Really?
This small tray doesn't serve four as it says on the website. You can count the pieces of beef in the picture. I count about 14. It makes two reasonably small servings. If it was Filet Mignon, and you couldn't cook Filet Mignon like this, I could see the price, but Beef Shoulder? Too bad.
-Nicole DiLayne
Sauteed Spinach with Pine Nuts $25
If you were serving spinach to the Queen of England, they wouldn't pay this much for Sauteed Spinach with some Pine Nuts tossed in.
Look at the tray, I think three servings is much more likely than four to six as they claim on the website. It's okay, but it's not worth the price.
-Morris Pelphner
Mashed Potatoes $30
I have to apologize to my co-workers for making a scene. I sincerely thought they were playing a practical joke on me. Not only do we write reviews, we make videos of each food blogger as they review a meal. We do so to capture the emotion and feelings on film for future reference.
So the Director said: "Okay Nicole, you have a tray of Impromptu Mashed Potatoes for $30. Ready Action!" And I broke out into laughter. $30? Really? I thought they were playing a joke on me, even when they tried to explain that they really paid $30 for this small tray of mashed potatoes. "Tell them they have crème fraiche in them." Morris said. Okay, now they are worth $12.
-Nicole DiLayne
Impromptu Gourmet Chicken Marsala $35
These individually packaged Chicken Marsalas are exceptional. They are also made by Cuisine Solutions, a well-known and high-quality manufacturer known to supply restaurants. I have seen their food on cruise ships too. The food reheats best by sous-vide but can be heated in a microwave.
These will cost $8.75 each and is just about the only prepared meal component I see on the Impromptu website worth buying at a fair and respectable price. They are deliciously rich and a pleasure to experience, as is most of Cuisine Solutions food.
--Chef Aldo Piquanti
Chef Piquanti Review of Impromptu Gourmet
In my opinion, Impromptu Gourmet stretches the serving sizes beyond what people eat. If I tried to stretch the baby rack ribs into four servings in a restaurant, I would hear complaints, or worse, customers would not be back. The value of the baby back ribs wasn't their only issue. They weren't that good. A supermarket brand could be a third of the price, and much better.
The Four Cheese Pasta and the Medley of Mushrooms were spot on. The Beef Provencal comes with 2-3 cubes of beef if you go by their serving size, but it was good.
Shipping was excellent, but the meals needed to be reheated in the oven, which took 45 minutes to an hour from frozen. I did not find that too convenient. This might be a great service for a gourmet food gift, but I am not sure consumers would find the richness of the food and inconvenience of reheating to be a regular home dining option.
Impromptu Gourmet prepared meals are gourmet meals created by top quality chefs. They make it easy for customers to take the work out of meal preparation. Many of their selections and categories are focused on helping the customer entertain guests with ease. Meals are simple to prepare yet elegant and sophisticated. The food and meal selections are large, including categories for entrees, appetizers, soups, side dishes, desserts, brunch, and dinner for two.
Entrees are generously portioned to serve four or more people. A wide selection allows the customer to choose from 54 different entrees. Customers choose from entree categories of beef, pork, seafood, pasta, poultry, lamb, and beef. If a customer wishes to compliment a prepared meal with sides, then they will find 15 dishes. Customers may also compliment a meal with soup when ordering.
Prepared appetizers that are ready to heat and serve make it easy for customers to provide a starter to a meal. After these prepared meals, customers can enjoy delicious and rich desserts provided by this meal service. Dessert lovers will find that a selection of 17 desserts provides them with more than enough choices.
-Chef Piquanti
Impromptu Gourmet Reviews from Consumers
Do Not Buy from this Company!
Overall: No Medal
- Website Ease of Ordering: Poor
- Reheating: Poor
- Customer Service: Poor
- Shipping: Fair
- Taste and Food Quality: Poor
- Value: Poor
One of the worst ways I've ever spent my money. Some of the food was inedible and we threw it out. And we're not that fussy. That would be the beef stew. The chili was barely edible. We also discarded a chicken pot pie. I hate to waste food. I wrote a letter complaining about the terrible quality and no answer was received. Do not buy from this company!
-Katherine Reynolds, NJ
Customer Service Says Package Ripped Completely Open is Not Compromised and Safe to Eat. No Refund Given.
Overall: No Medal
- Website Ease of Ordering: Good
- Reheating: Good
- Customer Service: Poor
- Shipping: Good
- Taste and Food Quality: Poor
- Value: Fair
I have ordered in the past with no problems however my recent order of appetizers were received in good packaging but the food boxes inside were opened. One box was OK and one had the labeled ripped completely open and I was told they felt it was not compromised. I asked to return or replace this opened box of Chorizo Empanadas and that was the response. I would never purchase from them EVER again.
-Kathy Lucas, AZ
Shame on you Impromptu Gourmet!
Overall: Bronze Medal
- Website Ease of Ordering: Excellent
- Reheating: Good
- Customer Service: Not Observed
- Shipping: Excellent
- Taste and Food Quality: Poor
- Value: Poor
I recently ordered the Escargot en Brioche from Impromptu Gourmet and was underwhelmed to say the least. As a matter of fact, they were awful. This prompted me to write a review; a review that has never been posted to their site. A week later I received an email from them asking me to write a review on my most recent purchases.
Again I wrote a review titled "Awful" for the escargot. This review has also never appeared on their site. I've now come to the realization that they only post the good reviews as there isn't one bad review on their entire website. Had one or two people posted negatively about these escargot, I could have saved myself $46 because I wouldn't have ordered them. Shame on you Impromptu Gourmet.
-Nancy Martin, PA
Customer Service Was Rude and Placed Blame
Overall: No Medal
- Website Ease of Ordering: Poor
- Reheating:
Excellent
- Customer Service: Poor
- Shipping: Poor
- Taste and Food Quality: Good
- Value: Fair
My order was placed on Wed night so it would be received before 11am on Thurs for overnight shipping. I paid $90. Somehow during the process of ordering, a date 4 days out was selected, which would have been 2-day shipping per their shipping FAQs. They shipped based on the date not that I paid overnight shipping. CSR told me it was my fault for not looking at the confirmation. Why does their system allow someone to pay for ON shipping, yet also select the 2-day option. She was rude and placed blame. I told her numerous times I expected to be refunded for the overnight shipping and charged only for 2-day.
-Name Withheld
They Will Not Honor Their Quality of Products
Overall: No Medal
- Website Ease of Ordering: Fair
- Reheating:
Poor
- Customer Service: Fair
- Shipping: Poor
- Taste and Food Quality: Poor
- Value: Poor
We purchased food products that arrived later than scheduled, it was frozen and we did keep it frozen, when we used it the food was unedible. They refused to even accept a return of their product indicating that we did not call immediately upon receipt of the product.
-Juan Lopez, NH
But The Food Was Excellent
Overall: Gold Medal
- Website Ease of Ordering: Good
- Reheating: Fair
- Customer Service: Good
- Shipping: Excellent
- Taste and Food Quality: Excellent
- Value: Excellent
I was very happy to see my mail and their catalog, with the news they had reopened their doors. Our first meal was the Chicken Marsala, Au Gratin Potatoes, and the Mushroom Medley. I have attached pictures of each picture what the meal looks like as a complete meal, with recommended portion sizes.
All in all, the end result is nothing short of perfection and deliciousness. The website is a little tricky to find what bakes and what microwaves. The reheating process does not make this a dinner of convenience. One should be aware of that before ordering.
The chicken marsala (which came in a box labeled Cuisine Solutions) take 3-4 minutes each to microwave. The potatoes and the mushrooms take 16 minutes each to microwave. By the time you finish the last tray, the first parts of the meal are cold and need to be warmed up again.
Our dinner for four took me almost an hour to reheat. The portion sizes were generous, although the potatoes will serve four better than they will serve six to eight as suggested. I especially liked the "pull apart" feature on the bag of chicken breast. It is much easier than cutting hot bags with a knife or scissors.
But the food was excellent. The chicken is a real breast and not one of those frozen manufactured breasts some other places sell. The sauce in everything is exceptionally rich and filling with butter, creams, and a host of of other flavors that truly make this meal a gourmet experience. This dinner for four costs $82.85, just over $20 per person, plus shipping.
-N.F., NY
Baby Back Ribs - Not Worth the Price
Overall: Bronze Medal
- Website Ease of Ordering: Good
- Reheating: Excellent
- Customer Service: Good
- Shipping: Excellent
- Taste and Food Quality: Fair
- Value: Fair
These were very disappointing and in my opinion, not worth the price. For ribs they were okay, but one would have a hard time saying they were any better than what you can buy in the supermarket for under $10. These were $28, and the notion of serving 3 people is a little unrealistic.
-N.F., NY
Macaroni and Cheese - Truly Gourmet
Overall: Silver Medal
- Website Ease of Ordering: Excellent
- Reheating: Excellent
- Customer Service: Excellent
- Shipping: Excellent
- Taste and Food Quality: Excellent
- Value: Excellent
My family is a huge fan of Mac and Cheese, so ordering was a no-brainer for me. When I opened the package I was surprised to find freezer burn inside the packaging. My first thought was "We're not off to a good start," but the Mac and Cheese cooked up perfectly and the added frost wasn't a factor in the quality of the dish.
The crispy crust was something that I didn't expect from a microwave dish, but it was outstanding. They use four cheeses to make it: Gouda, Mozzarella, Parmesan, and Cheddar. It was creamy with perfect texture, and literally engulfed by everyone in the family. The hint of bacon comes from tiny cubed bits, but the flavor makes it without being overpowering.
No American Cheese? That would have been nice, but at $5 per serving, it was not only well worth it, it was certainly gourmet, and the best we've ever tried from a meal delivery service. I couldn't give it a gold medal because of the freezer burn.
-N.F., NY
Disappointed
Overall: No Medal
- Website Ease of Ordering: Poor
- Reheating:
Good
- Customer Service: Poor
- Shipping: Poor
- Taste and Food Quality: Good
- Value: Poor
Very disappointed in this company. I have been a loyal customer for years, along with my entire group of friends - this was our go to gift for new mothers - but when it was my turn and I received a $125 gift certificate, I got BURNED. Even though my gift certificate clearly states an expiration date that has not yet passed, they refuse to honor it. I don't think I will be a customer any longer, sad to say.
-Barbara Meskin, Chicago, IL
Beef Provencal, Sauteed Spinach, Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Overall: Bronze Medal
- Website Ease of Ordering: Good
- Reheating: Poor
- Customer Service: Good
- Shipping: Excellent
- Taste and Food Quality: Fair
- Value: Fair
I had about 40 minutes to get a dinner on the table before I had to drive my kids to their sporting and school events. This prepared meal was far from convenient to reheat. In fact, it took an hour in the oven. The kids ended up getting pizza.
The beef was okay, but to say there was 4-6 servings is totally unrealistic. That translates to 2-3 cubes per person. The potatoes were good, as was the spinach. The whole meal was very rich. I would have liked to have been able to check the expiration dates for other reasons, but there wasn't any. At a cost of over $70, and $17 per serving, pizza was the better choice for the evening.
-N.F., NY
No One Answered the Phone
Overall: No Medal
- Website Ease of Ordering: Poor
- Reheating:
Poor
- Customer Service: Poor
- Shipping: Poor
- Taste and Food Quality: Poor
- Value: Poor
It has now been a week since I ordered food, and I tried to contact the company today, but to my dismay, no one answered the phone....not even a recording or prompt menu. After three minutes of ringing, it went to (I assume) a voice mail box, with no greeting or explanation, just a couple of short beeps. If this is your idea of customer service, you can keep it!
-Mike Pedone, Naples, FL
Share Your Meal Delivery Experiences
Morris Pelphner
Founder and Director
Prepared Meal Delivery Reviews
Chef Aldo Piquanti,
Video Food Blogger
Formerly of Gourmet-Reviews.com
Nicole DiLayne
Food Blogger
Formerly of Prepared-Meals.com
Copyright 2009 Prepared Meal Delivery Reviews. Art Commercially Licensed by Shutterstock. Contact. Companies No Longer in Business DineWise, EasyLife Meals.