Rickshaw Chef Brings Tasty Vietnamese Dishes to Your Doorstep

Things we love: local mom entrepreneurs, things that make parenthood easier and good food. All three of these in one business model? Welcome to Seattle, Rickshaw Chef.

photo: courtesy of Rickshaw Chef

What is Rickshaw Chef?
Think of it as the next in the (now long) line of businesses—Munchery, Blue Apron, etc.—built around making your dinnertime less stressful. Rickshaw Chef is a subscription-based meal delivery service that brings a freshly made Vietnamese meal to your door by mealtime. Just heat and serve! You don’t even need to be home for delivery, since they’re happy to deposit foods in a cooler on your doorstep.

The 411 on Deliveries
Currently, Rickshaw is delivering on Tuesdays and Thursdays only—some subscribers choose to only sign up for one day a week—but there are plans to add Wednesdays in the fall and Mondays and Fridays by the end of the year, based on interest. Since it is a subscription model, Rickshaw does not offer the option of ordering one-time meals.

photo: courtesy of Taylor Hoang

The Mom Behind the Meals
Rickshaw is the passion project of Taylor Hoang, owner of Seattle’s five Pho Cyclo cafes. In the 1980s, Hoang’s parents launched a similar business based on an idea from Vietnam (com thang, or monthly rice) delivering home cooking—it grew to include some 500 families. Now a busy mom herself, Hoang decided the concept was ripe for reinvention. “It started with me struggling with what’s for dinner every night,” she says. (Whew, we’re not alone!) “Even though I’m a chef, I was always looking for ideas and the time and coming up with something last-minute.” Her mom (or her restaurants) regularly ended up feeding her family, and neighborhood families as well.

photo: courtesy of Rickshaw Chef

Food for Thought
If the extent of your Vietnamese culinary knowledge starts and ends with pho, be ready for a study in all things delicious. Each dish is crafted to include a healthy mix of proteins and veggies—recent meals have ranged from bo kho (beef stew flavored with anise star and served with French bread) to bun rieu cua (noodle soup with crab and pork patties) to goi cuon chay (vegetarian spring rolls). Tuesdays and Thursdays are reserved for Vietnamese dishes, but when Wednesdays are added, they will rotate through other international cuisines like Japanese, Korean and Indian.

Only one dish is made each delivery day, so there are no choices or substitutions available. This may not be the meal solution for those with severe allergies, but Hoang says that when it comes to picky eaters, she makes the menu with her own two young children in mind. She’s the first to admit that her own kids are occasionally finicky—liking something one day, hating it the next—but it’s all about exposure when it comes to getting them to try (and enjoy!) new flavors. “We have a policy that you take a ‘no thank you bite’ so they will at least try it,” Hoang says. “Usually when you do that, they end up taking another one. It’s a matter of exposing them to learn that food can be good. We do everything from Chinese, Thai, sushi, Iranian, Indian… we do it all!”

Good to Know 
– Packages start with one adult ($13.95 per meal) and go up to six adults and four kids ($71 per meal). A standard four-person family is $29.95 per meal. The per-person price goes down based on the number you’re ordering, so go in with the neighbors and save a buck!

– Our experience is that portions are generous—we had leftovers for lunch the next day.

– Going on vacation? You can cancel your delivery for the day from your account on the website. Also useful if there’s something on the menu that you really dislike.

– The delivery area includes all of Seattle, east to Bellevue and south to Renton. For a full delivery map, click here.

To sign up, visit rickshawchef.com.

How do you solve the dinnertime blues? Give us your tips for stress-free cooking and eating in the Comments below.

— Chelsea Lin