The Coolinist: healthy, homemade meals to your door

Update: Damn it, The Coolinist has now closed its doors. I’m on the hunt for other great Santiago take away options… if you know of any, leave me a comment below. 

Urgh, what a month. My kids have been poorly, my husband has been away a lot for work and I’ve been running to and from school with baby Annabelle in tow. I haven’t always had time to eat, let alone cook healthy food, and was relying on the delights of MSG laden Uber Eats takeaway. But then I stumbled upon a no subscription, homemade meal delivery service called The Coolinist.

The best food delivery service in Santiago?

The Coolinist is the ultimate healthy, homemade food takeaway. Unlike takeaway, it’s fresher, lighter and much higher quality. It’s homemade food, just like the Chilean grandma you never had would cook. Service is amazing and it’s pretty damn good value.

The meal delivery service: How it works

The Coolinist emails their menu on Monday, you choose and pay by bank transfer on Thursday, and on Sunday your food delivery arrives. Easy as pie!

You’re not locked into any a subscription. You can order as little or as much as you like: one single portion, or enough to feed a whole family.

You just send an email to thecoolinist@gmail.com to start receiving the menu updates and take it from there.

The Coolinist Menu

The menu changes every week, and there’s always a selection of ten dishes, including meat, fish, chicken, vegetarian and vegan choices.

I’ve been dining alone in luxury lately. Check out my TV dinners…

Lentil stew with carrots and swiss chard:

Roasted aubergine (that’s eggplant to my American buddies) with leeks, peanuts and miso dressing over white rice:

Teriyaki glazed shrimps with rice noodles and bok choi.

Is this really healthy takeaway food? 

The Coolinist is takeaway, but it’s not junk food. It’s fresh, light, homemade and delicious, perfect for all the family.

The dishes we tried were much lighter and less oily than regular takeaway dishes. Meals were grilled or stir fried rather than deep fried and nothing tasted overly oily.

Apart from a lentil stew which did go a little heavy on the salt for me personally (my hubby disagreed), The Coolinist dishes weren’t too salty either. All dishes feature vegetables, but as for me I would have perhaps preferred even more veggies in the mix.

The meal delivery service for children

I ordered a couple of portions for the kids, which they loved.

Sure, Rafa picked out all the vegetables but hey ho… he always does that.

Allergies and special diets

The menu is labelled for allergies and special diets – dairy free, gluten free, sugar free, vegetarian and vegan.

My kid has a severe allergy to pumpkin seeds so I emailed to check and got a very personal reply back from Chef Mauricio in minutes.

How much does it cost?

The menu always includes two types of meals – Regular and Easy. ‘Regular’ dishes are priced at $6,000 CLP per portion and ‘Easy’ dishes at $4,000 CLP.

‘Regular’ dishes are listed as more international in style and ‘Easy’ more family orientated. Personally we couldn’t tell the difference, but then again local, family style Chilean food is rather foreign for us!

Orders over $30,000 qualify for free delivery anywhere in Santiago, otherwise it costs an additional $2,000 CLP.

The verdict 

The Coolinist food is really, really good. In fact I think ‘homemade’ doesn’t do it justice. The food is way better than I make in my home! It’s basically restaurant quality food with less oil, for less money, delivered to your door.

I found the portions rather small for my family of gourmands, but then we eat a lot! Nevertheless, it still offers really, good value for money. This is restaurant quality food for a fraction of the price.

Of course not all the food keeps for a full seven days, so it’s not really a full, weekly meal planning service. It’s more of an ‘I’m too tired / lazy / busy to cook next week’ kind of gig.

Service is brilliant, food tastes great and I’ll definitely be ordering from The Coolinist again soon.

To be added to The Coolinist menu delivery list, email thecoolinist@gmail.com

In addition to its meal delivery service, The Coolinist offers supper clubs, a personal chef service and team building workshops. Soon weekly meal kits, last minute takeaway and lunch deliveries will also be available. Visit www.thecoolinist.com for more.