In a world of digital takeaway menus, which app is best –– Hungryhouse or Just Eat?
Vs
If you were to look in the top drawer in my kitchen you’d find it stuffed full of takeaway menus. It’s my go to location when I’m too busy or too lazy to cook--which is often. I’ve got shiny pizza fliers, Indian takeaway menus printed on recycled cardstock, and Chinese menus photocopied on hot orange paper. The irony of this drawer isn’t missed on me as I’m the kind of guy who likes to have everything digitized: photos, bank statements, letters from my mom.
So this week I thought I’d finally jump into the world of online takeaway ordering and the digitized menu. In the UK there are two big players in this market: Just Eat and Hungryhouse. Each allows you to browse through the digitized menus of thousands of takeaway restaurants, choose what you want, and order it all without picking up the phone. So which service is best for you? I ordered from both to find out.
Just Eat vs. Hungryhouse: Restaurants and areas served
It’s important to note that neither Just Eat nor Hungryhouse are any kind of takeaway chain. Both companies are just facilitators that allow take-aways to join up to their services so they can be added to each company’s database and get potential access to each company’s millions of users.
Just Eat has been around longer than Hungryhouse which is why it has around twice as many take-aways as Hungryhouse. Currently Just Eat says users can select from 20,000 takeaways in the UK, while Hungryhouse offers 10,000. Not that this really matters, though, as most –– read: all –– take-aways on both services usually only deliver inside a five mile radius. That’s why the true test of which service offers more possibilities is found in what areas they serve.
Here it seems both services tie as they each have a wide offering of takeaways in all of the UKs largest cities including Bradford, Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield, with dozens of smaller cities well stocked too.
Just Eat vs. Hungryhouse: Apps
While each company of course has an easy to navigate website, what makes them appealing to the tech generation is their smartphone apps. Browse your location, view menus, and order all right from your beautiful new iPhone 6. No cash is required and you can do everything inside the application. There is the option to pay with cash, however, which is selected in the payment section, handy if you're unsure about mobile payments or don't have a bank account.
Both Just Eat and Hungryhouse offer iOS and Android apps (Just Eat also does a Windows Phone one, too). Each app enables you to create an account or begin browsing what’s in your area by tapping a current location button. A list of nearby and currently open restaurants will appear in each app.
In the Just Eat app you can refine this list by selecting what type of cuisine you want (Indian, pizza, etc) and also sort your results by rating, alphabetically, or by special offers. In the Hungryhouse app you can also refine your choices by cuisines too, but importantly you have greater control over sorting and filters. Hungryhouse allows you to sort not only by rating and alphabetically, but also by distance and minimum order value. Its filters also allow you to limit results to £, ££, or £££ priced restaurants.
The restaurant listing screen in both apps are very similar. You’ll find the name and address of the restaurant along with opening hours and its star ratings. The ratings system is one of the most powerful features of these apps because it allows you to see customer reviews and find out how good that takeaway really is –– like IMBd for take away food!
As far as menu handling goes, both apps present easy to navigate menus that allow you a lot of customization options. For example, if a pizza joint allows you to add additional toppings onto your pie, the app allows you to dictate what those toppings are. It’s all quite impressive in both apps, but I just like the layout of the menu system in Just Eat more. It’s an aesthetics thing for me--and one which is highly subjective.
Just Eat vs. Hungryhouse: Ordering
Each app allows you to keep adding items to your cart and when you’re ready to place your order just tap the checkout button it each app. One thing I like about the Just Eat app is it gives users a warning about contacting restaurants before they order if they have any food allergies.
After you view your order one last time tap the payment button and you’ll be able to pay with cash on delivery or by a credit or debit card in the app. Needless to say I can’t wait until Apple Pay comes to the UK, because this is what the in-app version of Apple Pay was built for. It will be great when you can just tap your thumb to the Touch ID in these apps to pay.
Just Eat vs. Hungryhouse: Winner
This is a tough one to call because the services both Just Eat and Hungryhouse provide are almost identical--as are most of the features in their apps. If I did have to pick a winner, however, I’d say it’s Just Eat. I like the design of their app just a bit more than Hungryhouse’s and Just Eat also does offer over twice as many locations to choose from. However, as I said earlier, those locations really don’t matter that much as your choices are mainly dictated by the immediate area you live in.
Regardless, since both apps are free there’s no reason not to give each a try.
Michael Grothaus
13:24, 19 Feb 2015
Apps
Mobile Phones
Just Eat
Hungryhouse
Apple iOS 8
Android Lollipop