Silver Cuisine Review of their Senior Meals and Prepared Meal Delivery Service
About Silver Cuisine Senior Meal Delivery Service
Silver Cuisine is a division of BistroMD
, a long-time leader in the prepared meal, diet delivery business. We were excited to see they have adapted meal delivery service to the senior and elderly markets by allowing their clients to buy senior meals a la carte, instead of mandatory diet plans with automatic reorders.
All the meals we ordered were priced between $8.95 and $12.95. The average price per meal was under $10.
The shipping box comfortably held 14 meals. For remote family caretakers, a senior would probably have no difficulty with its bulk or weight. An elderly loved one may find it a little difficult to manage.
The meals shipped perfectly, there were no broken seals or leaking trays. In our experience, BistroMD has the best design for their meal packaging. You can easily fit them into a freezer, and we love how they put the name of the meal on the side of the box.
- Reheating may also be the best in the business. Any frozen prepared meal is best if you let it defrost in the refrigerator overnight, and microwave it less, but these senior meals reheated very nicely from frozen. The microwave instructions were right on.
- The meals fit multiple diet profiles so ordering for special diets is a snap.
- The images the meals the company shows on the website are consistent with what we experienced in our order.
- We did experience some excessive water in the trays, which dilutes sauces and flavor.
From a family caretaker point of view, you can see Silver Cuisine has a lot going for it. But just getting prepared food delivered isn't a caretaker's only issue. In most cases, we want our loved to enjoy the food they receive thoroughly, and that would be questionable with this senior meal delivery service. We found the portion sizes to be smaller and the mains tasted bland compared to other senior meal delivery options. We think Top Chef Meals would be a better option in the same price range, and Home Bistro to better if you are willing to pay a little more per meal.
Our Silver Cuisine Review
We showed you what Silver Cuisine senior meals looked like when we plated them at the top of this page. Below, we want to show you what they look like as they come out of the microwave. Most people will eat these out of the tray.
Our first observation, and this not just limited to Silver Cuisine, is that there must be a world-wide shortage on trays with three compartments. It seems everyone is switching to one or two compartment trays. We think it is just not thinking of the consumer. Gravies mix with sides, and if you get a meal with excessive water, it contaminates 2/3 of the meal. Trays with the right amount of compartments can't be all that expensive.
We also found the proteins to taste bland. We test a lot of meal delivery services, and it is rare that our tasters don't want to save any leftovers. What was good was too small to have leftovers and what wasn't worth a second bite went in the trash.
Silver Cuisine Meals We Would Reorder
Western Style Omelet
This omelet was packed with goodies, and the hash browns were pretty good. We would have liked to see a little more cheese, but all in all, a good breakfast.
Sadly, this is the only Silver Cuisine prepared meal that made our list.
Silver Cuisine Meals We Would Not Reorder
Southwest Bison Meatloaf with Smoky Tomato Glaze - $12.49
The sides, the Sweet Mango Slaw and Cowboy Kidney Beans, were excellent. Politely said, the meatloaf was disappointing. The texture of the meat doesn't match what we visualize when we think of a meatloaf, nor does the black hole of dryness that absorbs all the saliva in your mouth when you eat it. Everything about it screams "cheap," except the name.
Grilled Chicken Marsala - $10
The chicken was good, but the Marsala Sauce lacked true Marsala flavor. The fluffy brown and wild rice was far from fluffy or palatable, and the roasted carrots were okay.
Turkey Spinach Meatloaf - $11
Again, the meatloaf had a dry, unpleasant texture, and the tomato sauce was more of a hard crust than a sauce. The corn was nothing you couldn't get from a can, but the cabbage slaw was excellent. The very small portion size didn't get Mom through the night without needing a snack, which turned out to be two slices of pizza.
Sweet Onion Frittata - $8
This breakfast meal seemed like there was something missing, like maybe potatoes, to make it a full meal. The Frittata needed seasoning, and we couldn't taste sweet onions. This is another very small portion size that didn't get Mom through the mid-morning without having to snack.
Scallops with Chili Sauce - $10
The unappetizing picture of this meal pretty much tells the story of this meal. It is disappointing to see Mom try and see the positives in all of these meals, but hide her disappointment. The couscous was terrible, and the sugar snap peas seemed off-color and not sweet at all.
Lasagna with Garden Marinara - $10
Here was hope with this dish because it looked good, or at least better than what we've experienced so far, but it was another cheap flavorless meal. The cheese may have been added with an eye dropper, and the sauce tasted like it came out of a jar.
Beef Bourguignon $11
It would be shocking to us that anyone would sign their name to this meal. We will call it "mystery meat" because it appears in many of the beef dishes, but it is of the same quality you would find in canned beef, like a Dinty Moore Beef Stew. The excessive water in the tray killed the gravy. Noodles would have helped. This was easily the worst meal we tried.
Blackened Tilapia - $10
The picture on the Silver Cuisine shows two pieces of Tilapia, we received one, but that would not have mattered to us. The fish was dry, some might even say stale, as was the rice. Most of this was thrown away.
Shrimp Etouffee - $12
We received just three tiny pieces of shrimp. Home Bistro, by comparison, gave us ten. Any grit-lover would be disappointed. We found there to be minimal spices or seasoning for a traditional Etouffee. It seems like every meal is twice as expensive as what you can get at the supermarket for something similar, and better.
Beef Stroganoff - $10
Click the image and look at the enlarged version, then tell us what kind of meat that is. Our creamy Stroganoff sauce was ruined with excessive water in the tray. Again, the same unseasoned "mystery meat" made a flavorless appearance.
Beef Marsala - $10
Is is almost the same dish as the Beef Stroganoff above with flavorless "mystery meat" and a tasteless Marsala sauce. Just swap broccoli bits for gray tinted Italian Beans. Mom asked for a sandwich instead.
Chicken with Lemon Sauce - $9
Here is a meal Mom ate all of. Not because it was so good, but because it was edible. The chicken and sauce were okay. Our potatoes came out hard as a rock (we had to cut them for Mom). The green beans were delicious.
Breaded Catfish - $10
It was hard for us to determine which was drier, the catfish or the breading. The sweet red cabbage was nice, but it would have been better for the catfish if it had its own compartment tray. The roasted sweet potatoes tasted like a warmed up leftover.
In Summary
We had the feeling BistroMD had a meeting and decided to use their diet meals in the senior market. From the viewpoint of shipping, storing, and reheating, it is hard to beat Silver Cuisine. People may expect to "suffer" a little when they go on a weight loss diet plan, but family caretakers feeding their loved ones want them to enjoy their meals. We felt these meals fell way short as far as taste, portion size, and quality ingredients, to be a senior meal solution.
Shared Experiences from Other Family Caregivers
Very expensive for the same quality as in-store frozen meals.
Liked the idea of choosing heart healthy meals. Extremely disappointed. Very expensive for the same quality as in-store frozen meals. Would not recommend.
-Joyce, Crossville TN
I Am Suspecting I Was Lied To
We have tried 5 meals and were extremely dissatisfied with all but one. The food was tasteless, waste of money, if thawed to microwave for 4 mins. If frozen to microwave for 5 mins. Meals always cold after microwaved. Will not waste my money on the food they sent. Poor presentation. Good bye Silver Cuisine!
-Nancy Kuncis, Florida
I Am Suspecting I Was Lied To
I placed an order over a week ago and it hasn't arrived. I called 2 times to try to reach someone...sat on hold 2 hours on a Thursday afternoon. Finally reached someone and was told items were going to be shipped THAT day for delivery Saturday. NOTHING came on Saturday, Silver Cuisine was closed so I couldn't call until Monday. I was not given a Fed Ex tracking # on my Thursday call (because it hadn't been shipped yet). I am suspecting I was lied to. If the items were shipped Thursday, they are surely melted and spoiled by Monday for next Fed Ex delivery! Monday rolls around, I called and gave my phone # for a callback when an agent was available...I waited 3 hours and ZERO call back. And...NO DELIVERY CAME MONDAY! What the hell, people?
-Nonya, Southern California
Of the 20 Meals I Tried Maybe Three I Wouldn't Order Again
Was actually looking for recommendations on Silver Cuisine meals others have enjoyed as I've done 3 orders so far, but I'm a picky eater. Some meals sound and look great, but I wanted other opinions. I'm really surprised that your review was so negative. Of the 20 or so meals I've tried so far maybe 3 were meals I wouldn't order again, but the rest were really good. I looked at some of your other reviews and I'm really confused how you can rate Nutrisystem meals
so highly but give the Silver meals such low marks. I've tried nutrisystem twice and it's been awful both times (about 3 years apart). Maybe you should order again as it really doesn't seem like your review does this wonderful service justice. Just my two cents, but figured I'd share given how different your experience was from mine.
-Todd, Cincinnati OH
One-Star Rating
I had ordered 11 different Silver Cuisine meals for my mother whose only dietary requirement is to avoid red meat. I ordered a variety of dinners with fish and chicken, a soup and breakfast meals. According to my mother and her roommate, they rated the meals for taste with a 1 star rating. The food tastes old they claimed and a was a waste of money. I think it fair to share this with seniors before they chose to invest their money.
-Debbie Hickman
I Will Never Order from Silver Cuisine Again
I received my Silver Cuisine meals and I am really disappointed in them. They do not look anything like the pictures on their website. The vegetables were not fresh. I will never order from Silver Cuisine again.
-Marlene Fagan, OR
Submitted Reviews and Comments
- Have any comments? We would love to hear yours! Please share your food experiences with other family caretakers below. You can upload pictures to seniormealdeliveries@gmail.com.
