Review on Zuo Yue Food

It all happened as my father in law was going for surgery in July and we anticipated that my mother in law would need to care for him hence a confinement lady is required. However, due to COVID-travel restrictions, we were unable to get one that's recommended. That's when I started to toy around the idea of confinement tingkat. 

 I chanced upon Zou Yue Food (ZYF) with that in mind and was happy with some of the reviews on their FB and IG. I didn’t want to go with the mainstream tingkat service such as Thomson Medical though these had good reviews too. 

In any case, I reached out to ZYF and checked out their website. They offer sample meals for those who wish to try. I didnt pick that option as I had already made up my mind. When I was chatting with their representative, they sent me awhatsapp groupbuy link. Apparently if they hit a certain number of subscribers for that month-it was 40 for mine, discounts and free gifts will be given. For the groupbuy Aug, I was given 15% discount for my package. The groupbuy month should be the month of the EDD. However, if delivery gets delayed and stretches to the next month, they will still honor the discount. Payment has to be made in advance. I joined the group buy page in May and paid for the package in Jun. Discount is only given to those who plan ahead! Anyway, their free gifts were a baby oil, $20 nutc voucher and a pack of lactation cookies. Not exactly awesome. I heard other confinement tingkat give stroller as free gift.

After delivery, I’ve given them 2 days notice of my probable package start date and confirmed again 1 day  before 9am. I’ve also requested for 生化汤 , a special soup to help with the removal of lochia.

My lunch was delivered as early as 10.30am and dinner at 4.30am. The food were kept in thermal bag and thermal flask. The meal consists of 1 bottle of red date tea, 1 soup, 1 veggie and 1 protein dish (fish or chicken or pork). The portion is just right for a lactating mom since we are able to eat more than usual. Definitely not for 2pax.

The food gets repeated after 5-6 days in different combinations. Carrots can be seen in every meal. I disliked their stir fry baby corn. There is a weird soup where they add in a sunny side up. They never offer green payaya soup which is said to promote breastmilk production though. 

Overall, their veggies can be a little soggy since it was cooked and delivered pretty early. Their delivery time could vary. I remember receiving one of my lunch at 1pm and dinner at 7pm. I spoke to their representative and they got that corrected. They even gave me 1 additional dish, salmon belly, at lunch to make up for the unhappy experience. Since then, my lunch was always delivered before 12pm and dinner before 6pm. Works for me as I rather receive them earlier. 

Individual dishes review:

Pork trotter vinegar - sweeter than usual. I was served 3x in a total of 56 meals. 

Salmon in cream sauce - one of my favourite dish, served 3x 

Cod fish - normal steamed version. Very small portion though

Mince meat patty - I like it better with tomato sauce. Some times they just fry it dry. Too dry for my liking

A few servings of chicken wings and drumlets - not much comments I guess. 

Soup's quality is much better than the dishes. 

Personally I like the experience of a confinement without a nanny. This means more time with the child and freedom to do what we think is right. Presence of nanny gives me unnecessary pressure. 

I'm glad that I've made the decision to do confinement without a nanny. :)