Along with long-haul holidays, spontaneous trips to visit a friend and much-anticipated nights out (or 'in', of course, for those facing a long-distance romance right now), the idea of stepping foot inside your favourite restaurant no doubt feels like nothing more than a pipe dream as we enter our eleventh month of pandemic-induced social restrictions.
It's hard to believe that the government's brief 'Eat Out to Help Out' scheme was only a few months ago, but since then - despite the occasional momentary reopening in the lower tiers towards the end of last year - most restaurants have been forced to lock their doors and aren't all confident that they'll ever afford to open them again.
25 best meal prep services for dinners to your door, reviewed
Gallery25 PhotosWith chefs and delivery drivers by no means immune to the impact of Covid, many restaurants that are able to offer a takeaway service are doing so at a reduced and unpredictable staffing capacity.
But that's not to say that all of your opportunities to support the hospitality industry - and taste something other than your partner's (read: Dolmio's) 'legendary' spag bol - have run dry.
Reacting to the demand with a brilliantly sustainable offering during these unprecedented times, many of our favourite restaurants and food outlets have come up with DIY meal kits that serve up all the flavour with - in the majority of cases - only a touch of hob/oven/stirring action required on our part.
And the best bit? They don't only deliver to London. Almost all of these kits all offer total nationwide delivery, meaning that everyone from London and Yorkshire to Aberdeen and Cardiff can get their fix of first class food.
With Lockdown 3.0 seemingly on the brink of an extension and Valentine's Day only a couple of weeks away, these meal kits are the perfect way to make the most of upcoming special occasions. And, hey, if you get rid of the packaging and they just happen to walk in whilst you're 'drizzling' a little 'jus', there's no harm in portraying an ever-so-slightly inflated level of culinary skill for one night, is there?
Scroll down to take a look at our pick of the very best restaurant DIY meal kits and recipe boxes to elevate your lockdown nights in...
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