Here’s a detailed report of the second experiment unit in our quest to find the Best Dining App which provides the most savings. In the first unit, Gourmet Passport won hands down by reducing the bill to almost half (46% discount). If you haven’t already, you can check the Detailed Report of the first unit here.

The Apps

The top 4 apps were chosen on the basis of-

• Number of restaurants covered (after all, what is the use of a great discount if it’s not available at your favourite place!!)
• Number of cities covered
• Talking to a few people about the Dining App(s) they used most often

These 4 apps were chosen basis the above mentioned parameters-

• Dineout
• EazyDiner
• Gourmet Passport
• Zomato’s Zomato Gold

Restaurant & Pax

Next, we picked up a restaurant from a list of restaurants which had offers on all the above apps.

After starting the 6 pax experiment we knew the other options we had to do the experiment for was for 2 pax and 4 pax.

We chose The Junkyard Cafe in Connaught Place and decided to do the 2 pax experiment there.

The Menu

A fixed menu was decided after much brainstorming. Yes, brainstorming! Because we had to find price points in the menu which had multiple dishes so that there was enough variety to go there multiple times. It consisted of both vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes such that it worked in all these scenarios-

• If both diners were vegetarian
• If both were non-vegetarian
• If one was vegetarian and the other was non-vegetarian

On our first visit, to our surprise the menu in the restaurant was a bit different (mostly change in prices) from what was uploaded online on Zomato and Dineout. The menu had been updated recently and looks like these apps hadn’t quite caught up yet! But Koi baat nahi, barre barre shehro mein aisi chhotti chhotti baate hoti rehti hai!

So we had to redo our menu on the spot. The veg options were reduced but at the same time non-veg ones were increased. I was happy within but had to contain myself.. Kyonki saathi vegetarian bhai ke dukh mein shaamil jo hona tha! 😛

So this is how our menu selection and estimated bill (without Discount) looked like. We had picked one price point and then based on that picked dishes from the same category-

The Visits

Visit 1 | Zomato Gold

We went ahead for our first meal using Zomato Gold jiska naam aaj kal sabki zubaan pe hai.

Offer Available

Zomato Gold had a 2+2 on drinks offer applicable at this restaurant

Order

Here is what we ordered on our Zomato Gold visit-

• Chicken Biryani | Rs. 425
• Quattro Stagioni Pizza (Four Seasonal Vegetable) | Rs. 425
• Maple Wood Salvage Fluid | Rs. 455
• Bourbon Wreckage Fluid | Rs. 455
• Walnut Epic Brownie | Rs. 395

Offer Applied

1+1 on Drinks

Observations

And here are some points worth mentioning from our experience-

• Menu was changed from what we saw on Zomato and Dineout (both apps had the same old menu). Some dishes were removed and the prices had changed for many dishes.
• After announcing our Zomato Gold redemption, we asked the server if it was Ok to order two different drinks and if the cheaper drink will be free? And he said it was OK.
• We didn’t have to give our phone to the server as he just wrote down the redemption code and it was done.
• We ordered two different drinks but they were both priced same.
• At the time of billing another server visited us and asked us how many drinks we had ordered. We told him ‘two’. He said Zomato Gold won’t be valid unless we buy two more drinks as the offer is ‘2+2 on drinks’. We started a chat with Zomato Help from the Zomato app and apprised them of the situation. The operator asked us for our phone number and the next moment we got a call from Zomato. At the same time, the server got us our discounted bill with ‘1+1’ applied on the two drinks we had.
• We asked the Zomato rep. to clarify the rules of the offer and this is what she told us-
  • ‘1+1’ is also valid, i.e. if we order 2 drinks, 1 will be free
  • Both drinks need not be same but have to have the same price
• We realized that Zomato is facing some teething issues with the Redemption Rules not being clear but their Support is bang on point.
• There was no mention of any discount on the bill, the free drink was omitted from it.

Result

We got a total bill of Rs. 2039 after a 1+1 offer was applied on our drinks through Zomato Gold. Without any discounts our bill was supposed to be Rs. 2639. In all, we got a 23% discount after using Zomato Gold. In terms of INR the discount received was Rs. 601.

If we increased the drinks in our menu from 2 to 4 the discount increased to 31% (Rs. 1201 in cash).

 

Visit 2 | Gourmet Passport

Offer available

Since we were 2 pax, we could use the following two coupons-

• 1 coupon of 1+1 on drinks
• 1 coupon of 1+1 on main course

Order

• Quattro Fromaggio Pizza | Rs. 425
• Quattro Stagioni Pizza (Four Seasonal Vegetable) | Rs. 425
• Metal Bender | Rs. 455
• Bourbon Wreckage Fluid | Rs. 455
• Walnut Epic Brownie | Rs. 395

Observations

• After availing our Gourmet Passport redemption for drinks when we told the server to also redeem for main course, the server said that only one of the offers can be redeemed at one table. When we insisted that it was possible to redeem both simultaneously and that he might not be aware, he readily agreed.
• We had to give our phone to the server twice as he had to enter an OTP/code for every redemption.
• We asked him for a 1 + 1 of Baileys but he told us that shots were not included in the offer. Although we couldn’t find this mentioned in the Terms on the Gourmet Passport app anywhere. He also told us that there is a limit – only items cheaper than Rs. 600 are included in the offer. When asked whether it is written somewhere, he didn’t have an answer. Another thing he told us was that the offer can be availed on foreign liquor as well (whereas Gourmet Passport app states that the offer is limited to IMFL drinks/cocktails only). We finally ordered two different drinks (IMFL based cocktails) but they were both priced the same.
• We also asked him if the same terms (as discussed in the above point) applied in case we used Zomato Gold instead and he said ‘yes’.
• We realized that the Redemption Rules related to whether both food and drinks coupons can be used together at one table are not quite clearly mentioned on the Gourmet Passport app.
• There was no mention of any discount on the bill, both the free drink and the free dish were omitted from it.

Offer Applied

• 1+1 on Drinks
• 1+1 on Main Course

Result

Our total bill amounted to Rs. 1547 after a 1+1 offer was applied on our drinks and 1+1 on our main course through Gourmet Passport. So instead of Rs. 2639 we had to pay only Rs. 1547 which is a whopping 41% discount! In terms of cash we got a discount of Rs. 1091.

If we increased the drinks in our menu from 2 to 4 the discount decreased to 28% (Remaining same in cash at Rs. 1091).

Visit 3 | Dineout

Offer available

20% Off on Total Bill

Order

• Chicken Biryani | Rs. 425
• Junkyard Fajitas – chicken | Rs. 425
• Maple Wood Salvage Fluid | Rs. 455
• Metal Bender | Rs. 455
• Walnut Epic Brownie | Rs. 395

Observations

• We booked the table through the Dineout app. Our reservation was for 9:00pm and due to some reason we got half an hour late. But that wasn’t an issue, we got our table on time without any hassles. (Could be because it was a weekday and the restaurant was pretty empty)
• We decided to pay through the Dineout app itself using their ‘Smartpay’ Feature. We preloaded the money in the app wallet and we got 5% additional money on the amount loaded, i.e., On loading Rs. 1900 we got Rs. 1995 in our wallet.
• After the payment was done, we got Rs. 300 cashback as Dineout Earnings which could be redeemed at any restaurant booked through Dineout within 3 months from the date of dining. Points to note-
  • Smartpay enabled restaurants give 20% cashback (of the bill amount) with a cap of Rs. 300.
  • 25% off the bill amount is the maximum that can be paid using Dineout earnings

Offer Applied

20% Off on Total Bill

Result

Dineout had a 20% off on total bill offer which was true to its name as our total bill amount was Rs. 2111 after an exact 20% discount on an otherwise total of Rs. 2639. In terms of INR the discount received was Rs. 528.

Also, on adding money to the app wallet you get an additional 5% cash everytime which in this case would have meant an additional discount of Rs. 106 and a total discount of 24%, taking it up to the 2nd place.

If we increased the drinks in our menu from 2 to 4 the Percent discount remained same at 20% (Rs. 768 in cash).

 

Visit 4 | Eazydiner

We did this one in theory.

The offer available was a 15% off on food and soft beverages after applying which our bill would have amounted Rs. 2423. Which is a decent 8% discount on an otherwise total of Rs. 2639. Actual discount amount was Rs. 216.

If we increased the drinks in our menu from 2 to 4 the discount decreased to 6% (Still remaining Rs. 216 in cash).

Conclusion

In this experiment unit as well Gourmet Passport was the top app with a massive discount of 41%, followed by Zomato at 23% and Dineout at 20% (See Table 1 below).

Since Zomato had a 2+2 offer on drinks and we had utilized it only partially in our case as compared to all the other 3 apps whose offers we maximized, to be fair we simulated another variation of our menu where we could maximise offers from all apps. To achieve this we increased the drinks in our menu from 2 to 4.

This is how things changed in the above case (See Table 2 below)-

• Zomato Gold came out to be the winner in this case with an impressive 31% discount (Rs. 1201 in cash)
• Gourmet Passport came in a close second with 28% discount (Rs. 1091 in cash)  
• Dineout remained at third place with the same percent discount of 20% (Now Rs. 768 in terms of cash)
• EazyDiner’s discount decreased from 8% to 6% (But still remained Rs. 216 in terms of cash)

Table 1 – Actual Experiment

Table 2 – Simulation

Points to Note

• Dineout and Eazydiner are free apps whereas Gourmet Passport and Zomato Gold are paid services
• Gourmet Passport’s Annual Membership for Delhi costs Rs. 1299, whereas Zomato Gold’s Annual Membership (all cities) is being currently sold at Rs. 1900

What’s Next?

Now that we’re done with our 6 pax experiment and our 2 pax experiment, in the third part of this series we shall bring to you the results from the 4 pax experiment in a Buffet Restaurant. Stay tuned, stay subscribed!

Referral Codes

Use the following Referral Codes on Signup to avail the benefits detailed below-

• Dineout – 5QZRF
• EazyDiner – GURPR3744
• Gourmet Passport – RE178450
• Zomato Gold – GURU4442

Dineout – 5QZRF

When you sign up using this code we both get Rs. 200 in our Dineout Earnings

These earnings are valid for 30 days and one can earn a maximum of Rs. 10,000 via the app’s ‘Refer n Earn’ program.

You can use these earnings to pay 25% of the bill amount in one transaction at all SmartPay restaurants on the Dineout app.

Gourmet Passport – RE178450

If you buy the Gourmet Passport Max Pack using the above code we both get Rs. 100 cash back.

This cash back can be used to purchase future Offer Packs. So, it works as a discount on your next Gourmet Passport purchase.

P.S. For those of us whose phones can’t handle one more app, interestingly Gourmet Passport can also be purchased and used from within the Dineout app.

Price & Current Offers

The All-city Annual Membership is currently available at Rs. 1999. They also have single city packs on offer-

So if you plan to dine in Delhi NCR only you can buy the Delhi Pack at a much cheaper price. Their 3 month packs are a great way to try the app at a much less upfront investment.

If you buy Gourmet Passport through the Dineout App you get Rs. 1000 cashback as Dineout Earnings if you buy the All City Annual Pack at Rs. 1999.

EazyDiner – GURPR3744

On registering using the above code we both get Rs. 100 as Wallet Cash. When you complete a booking above Rs. 500 (within 30 days of signup) we both get an additional Rs. 400 each.

This Wallet Cash is valid for 15 days from the date of credit and you can earn a maximum of Rs. 4500 every month in your EazyDiner wallet via this program.

You can use this cash to buy Prepaid Deals or Prepaid Vouchers on the app.   

Zomato Gold – GURU4442

When you buy Zomato Gold using the code above you get 20% OFF upfront on your purchase and I get 1 month added to my membership.

Price & Current Offers

Annual membership is currently available at Rs. 1900. They have two other membership options available-

• • 6 months – Rs. 1200
  • 24 months – Rs. 3000