Invited IN to dinner by Charlie Bigham's ! (review)

Sometimes the postie drops something through the letterbox that makes me feel a little bit special. This envelope addressed to me and tied up with a shiny red ribbon was one such example.

 Nestling inside were two vouchers from Charlie Bigham's, inviting us to sample something from their range of World Ready Meals. I had a look at some of the different meals on offer and they all sound totally delicious and just the sort of thing we like to tuck into - Chicken Tikka Masala or Chicken Korma, both served with Pilau Rice; Thai Red Chicken Curry & Fragrant Rice; Chili con Carne & Mexican Rice; Spanish Chicken & Roasted Potatoes; 2 Chicken Breasts in White Wine Sauce & Mash; Peri Peri Chicken & Potato Wedges; Beef Stroganoff & Rice; Beef Bourguignon & Dauphinois Potatoes ...

There were so many delectable dishes on offer that I decided to hand the trickiest part - choosing the menu - over to Madhouse Daddy. It's the only tricky part in fact because the only other thing to do is put the ready meal in the oven ! He came back with ...

Chicken & Mushroom Pies and Steak & Ale Pies. Hmm not very exotic but a good choice nevertheless ! Each ready meal (or pack of pies) contains dinner for two. I love the sense of luxury - each pie comes in a reusable china ramekin, topped with a paper disc held in place with an elastic band, which reminded me off the old-fashioned pies that my nan used to make.

We started off with the chicken & mushroom. The pastry is beautifully flaky and it's a generous size. I served it with some mashed potato and sweetcorn.

I actually thought the sauce was quite runny (maybe it got overly cold/half frozen in the fridge - our fridge freezes things solid if they touch the back - because on the box, it says these ones can't be frozen because the creamy sauce doesn't like it) but it tasted lovely and I ended up mixing in some of the mash and sweetcorn to make a truly decadent feast.

The steak & ale pies were delicious too. I served them with sautéed potatoes, peas and carrots.

They are even better than my homemade pies with succulent meat, beautifully rich gravy and that wonderful flaky pastry again. 

The one thing that made me have a heart attack was when I looked at the number of calories - each steak and ale pie contains 741 calories and 44.7g of fat (of which 21g saturated) and the chicken and mushroom pies contain 717 calories and 54g of fat (of which 25.5g saturates). Eeek !

They are quite expensive too - £6.49 or £7, depending on which dish you opt for - but if you compare that to the price of a takeaway for two, you're still quids in. If you fancy a special meal for Valentine's day (or just a special evening) without all the faff, they'd be a great option.

star rating : 4.5/5

RRP : £6.49-£7

for more information : http://www.bighams.com/

Disclosure : I received the product in order to write an honest review.