It started with a simple discussion in office. We started wondering which app works best in terms of discounts. Some quick calculations and we were confused even more. So we decided to do a controlled experiment to come out with something solid. Here’s a detailed report of the first experiment in our quest to find the Best Dining App which provides the most savings.

The Apps

Soon, we realized there were just too many apps out there to be able to conduct a clear study. So we chose the top 4 apps 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 out app(s) they used most often

And we narrowed down on these 4 apps-

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

Restaurant & Pax

Next, we did some research to find a list of restaurants which had offers running on all these apps. And on popular demand (from the team) chose the first restaurant, Molecule Air Bar, one of our favourite dining out places in Gurgaon, Sector-29 Market. We decided to start with a 6 pax experiment at this place.

The Menu

Our next challenge was to brainstorm a fixed menu so that we had enough variety to go back there multiple times. After a few hours of what felt like a Foodie’s Maths Exam this is how our menu selection and the estimated bill (without Discount) looked like-

The Visits

Visit 1 | Gourmet Passport

Offer available

Since we were 6 pax, we could use the following coupons-

• 3 coupons of 1+1 on drinks
• 3 coupons of 1+1 on main course

Our Order

• Chicken Biryani | 395
• Veg. Alfredo Pasta | 395
• Makhani Chicken Tikka Combo | 545
• Bengali Macher Jhol | 545
• Mutton Biryani | 425
• Chilli Garlic Noodles with Manchurian | 495
• Fig Mojito | 325
• Margarita | 325
• Picasso | 325
• Vodkatini | 325
• Cosmopolitan | 325
• Whiskey Sour | 325

Offer Applied

• 3+3 on drinks
• 3+3 on main course

Observations

Preliminary Observations

• The app mentioned that the offer was applicable only on Indian and Oriental mains.
• We still called the outlet to check whether Pizzas and Pastas were included or not and the manager confirmed they will include Italian in the offer. He also asked us to inform the server when we were there that we already had a word with the manager in this regard.
• Though we didn’t book a table then and went the next day unannounced.

Post Visit Observations

• During our visit we didn’t inform the server about our conversation with the manager the day before nor did we ask him about the inclusion of Italian dishes. We ordered them anyhow.
• When we received our bill it included the Italian dishes in the offer
• 3 highest priced dishes were charged, the other 3 were free and not mentioned on the bill
• All our drinks were of the same price, 3 of them were charged for and mentioned on the bill

Result

We got a total bill of Rs. 3106 after we got a 3+3 on both drinks and food. Without any discounts our bill was supposed to be Rs. 5784. In all, we got a whopping 46% discount after using Gourmet Passport!

Also, in terms of the actual discount received in INR which in this case is Rs. 2679, a new user would have recovered the cost of purchasing the annual membership for Delhi (Rs. 1299) in just one meal.

 

 

Visit 2 | Zomato Gold

Offer Available

1+1 on Food

Our Order

• Chicken Biryani | 395
• Roasted Pepper, Onion, Mushroom & Tomato Pizza | 395
• Nasi Goreng | 545
• Bengali Macher Jhol | 545
• Mutton Biryani | 425
• Cantonese Fried Rice/Noodle with Stir Fried Greens in Garlic Sauce | 495
• Dark Rum Pineapple Mojito | 325
• Margarita | 325
• Caipiroska x2 | 325 each
• Cosmopolitan x2 | 325 each

Offer Applied

We used two Zomato Gold memberships and hence got 2+2 on Food.

Observations

Post Visit Observations

• When we told the server we wanted to redeem Zomato Gold before placing the order, he instantly replied asking how many Zomato Golds did we want to redeem. We had initially planned to use only one Zomato Gold but after talking to the manager decided to use both our Zomato Golds (reason below)
• Had an interesting chat with what looked like one of the managers-
  • He told us that on a table of 4-6 people more generally two Zomato Golds are redeemed and interestingly in our case as well we had two Zomato Golds amongst the 6 people, so we used both.
  • Every server has a Zomato hotline number which they can connect to within 20 seconds. Whenever there is an issue with the customer they make the customer directly talk to Zomato Gold Help. When asked if any other app like Gourmet Passport, Dineout, etc. had similar support he said that for Gourmet Passport they didn’t require that as generally they don’t face any issues with Gourmet Passport diners.
• We had an issue with the bill where we couldn’t figure the logic on the basis of which the two free dishes were chosen.
  • The server showed us a matrix (Check photo below) according to which free dishes were chosen in Zomato Gold and according to that matrix too the bill was incorrect.
  • The guy corrected the bill and came back and it still wasn’t correct.
  • The Zomato Gold logic works like this- if you order all 6 dishes from highest priced to lowest priced, the 2nd, 4th and 6th dishes would be free (If we used 3 Zomato Golds). Unlike Gourmet Passport where the 3 cheapest dishes would be free.
  • In our case our dishes were priced like this (from highest priced to lowest priced) – 545 > 545 > 495 > 425 > 395 > 395
  • The third time the bill was correct and our 2nd (Rs. 545) and 4th dish (Rs. 425) were free (since we used 2 Zomato Golds) whereas in Gourmet Passport our free dishes were the three lowest priced dishes, i.e. (Rs. 425, Rs. 395 & Rs. 395 on using all 3 coupons)
    

Result

Our total bill amounted to Rs. 4664 after using two Zomato Gold memberships of 1+1 on food each. So instead of Rs. 5784 we had to pay Rs. 4664 with a total of 19% discount!

Cash discount in this case was Rs. 1120. Zomato Gold annual membership currently costs Rs. 1679. Hence, the initial investment required for a new user to get the above discount would be Rs. 3358 (Rs. 1679 x 2 memberships) which is about three times of the discount received.

 

 

Visit 3 | EazyDiner

Offer available

10% OFF on food bill was the offer applicable for the time we booked (7:30 PM). Offer until 7 PM was 15% OFF on food bill.

Order

• Chicken Biryani | 395
• Mix Sauce Pasta | 395
• Nasi Goreng | 545
• Chinese Van Chowmein with Chicken Hot Garlic Sauce (N-Veg) | 545
• Dip Your Pizza | 425
• Pan Fried Noodles with Szechuan Vegetables (Veg) | 495
• Cosmopolitan x2 | 325 each
• Roselane x2 | 325 each
• Margarita x2 | 325 each

Offer Applied

10% OFF on total bill (Whereas our bill mentioned 15% OFF on food bill only)

Observations

Preliminary Observations

• Offers looked quite complicated with different times of different days having different offers.
• It looked even more complicated because of the way they were mentioned in the app. An Offer page example screenshot from the app-

Post Visit Observations

• At first no offer was applied despite announcing at the time of taking the table that we had a booking from EazyDiner.
• According to the app, offer applicable in our time slot was 10% OFF FOOD bill. Offer mentioned on our bill was 15% OFF FOOD bill. Whereas, the offer applied on our final bill was 10% OFF TOTAL bill.
• Interestingly, the app and the offer were mentioned on the bill which was not the case in any of the other visits through other apps.

Result

After all the confusion we finally got a total bill of Rs. 5206 as opposed to Rs. 5784 without discount, amounting to a total of 10% discount. In terms of INR the discount amounted to Rs. 578.

 

 

Visit 4 | Dineout

We did this one in theory.

The offer available was a 15% OFF on Total Bill after applying which our bill would have amounted to Rs. 4917. Which meant a true to its name 15% discount on an otherwise total of Rs. 5784. The actual discount received was Rs. 868.

Also, when you add money to the app to use its Smartpay feature you get an additional 5% cash everytime which in this case would have meant an additional discount of Rs. 246 and a total discount of 19%, taking it up to the 2nd place along with Zomato Gold.

Conclusion

At least for this experiment unit Gourmet Passport turned out to be the best app with an unexpectedly high discount of 46% (with one membership), followed by Zomato Gold at 19% (with 2 Zomato Gold memberships) and Dineout at 15%.

An important point to note here is that Dineout and EazyDiner are Free Apps whereas Zomato Gold and Gourmet Passport are Paid Services.

An Annual City Pack of Gourmet Passport for Delhi costs Rs. 1299 and an Annual Pack of Zomato Gold costs Rs. 1679 (current discounted price on their website). In this instance, a table would need 2 people with Zomato Gold memberships hence the cost would have been Rs. 3358. And the discounts received were Rs. 2679 through Gourmet Passport and Rs. 1120 through 2 Zomato Golds.

As can be seen from the above numbers, we have been able to recover the cost of the Gourmet Passport membership in only 1 meal which is amazing!! Whereas in the case of Zomato Gold one would be initially paying 3 times of what is the discount received.

Here is a detailed comparison chart of all the apps and cases-

What’s Next?

By the end of this experiment we realized we have to do a more comprehensive survey otherwise the effort that we already put in this one would not be justified. So we set some rules for ourselves-

1. Let’s do it as a series and not as a one time effort
2. Let’s not focus only on Delhi, but also some other Metros like Mumbai and Bengaluru
3. Let us try and test all these apps ourselves. Not only once but in multiple scenarios to get the data that can give us a clearer picture.
4. Let’s do the experiment for varied number of pax and in different types of restaurants

We are almost done with the 2 pax experiment and I shall be writing about it hopefully next week.

Very happy with how this is shaping up, let’s see where it goes..

If you are in Delhi/Mumbai/Bengaluru and want to be a part of this survey please let us know and we shall work something out. 🙂

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.

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.

Dineout has some crazy offers going on if you buy Gourmet Passport through the Dineout App-

• Offer 1: You can pay upto 50% off the Gourmet Passport price using your Dineout Earnings
• Offer 2: 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. 1679. They have two other membership options available-

• 3 months – Rs. 999
• 24 months – Rs. 2799