Considering postpartum meal services? DO NOT make the mistake of choosing this company. It is a complete rip-off and an absolute disgrace for new mothers who deserve better. What we ordered: 1-month meal service 3 meals per day Delivery every other day We were promised nourishing, high-quality meals for postpartum recovery. Instead, what we got was a nightmare: 1. Nothing but bland, watery soups. Nearly every meal was just soup--thin, tasteless, and nutritionally empty. The CEO even boasted about "20 years of chef experience" and "rich proteins," but the reality was undercooked meat, barely any vegetables, and bizarre concoctions like beef with soy milk. Their claims are flat-out misleading. 2. Ingredients and preparation were shockingly bad. These were supposed to be "fresh meals," but it was obvious they were reheated leftovers. The quality was so poor that it's insulting they charge money for it--let alone thousands of dollars. 3. Customer service is dismissive and insulting. When we complained about the lack of substance and the fact that we had to spend extra time fixing each meal, their advice was: "make more dishes on your own to supplement" Think about that--we paid $4,000 for convenience, only to be told to cook more ourselves. Absolutely unacceptable. 4. Most of the food went straight in the trash. My wife, the person this service was supposed to support, could barely eat half of what was delivered. The rest was so unappetizing it was inedible. This company does not care about new moms and their families, charging sky-high prices for food that is low-effort, low-quality, and in some cases unsafe. The customer experience was not just disappointing--it was insulting. Avoid I-San House at all costs. They don't care about postpartum recovery, they don't care about customer well-being, and they definitely don't deliver what they promise. This is a money grab, nothing more. read more

I am purchased the 30 day package and this is easily one of the best decisions I've made for my postpartum recovery. Portions are huge so I shared with my spouse. Food will be minimal salt but that's intentional (my spouse added salt to his portion). It also relieved stress from my mom so she wouldn't have to worry about how to cook all the different foods you are supposed to eat postpartum according to Chinese philosophies. After trying the goat I realized I was not a fan and they were able to take it off my menu for meals moving forward right away so they can always keep certain items out of your meals if you don't like them. There was also sea cucumber one day (I don't mind it). I also started off on a diabetic diet which they could easily accommodate. Then once I got the clearance from my doctor, switched to a regular diet. The variety was great, never had a repeat meal. The drinks are the same every day but the main meal item (usually a soup of some sort) was different everyday. Customer service is impeccable, quick to respond. I don't speak Mandarin but all communication is over text message and email in English so no issues there. The lady who delivered the meals always gave us notice about her approximate ETA and confirmed when she had dropped it off right away. I also asked them to pause meals for a week while I had family visiting who were going to be cooking for us and bringing us food and I knew I couldn't eat both. They agreed to pause the meals and simply resume after the week is over. Do yourself a favor and get this for your self care! Everyone helping you recover will be thankful that your meals are already taken care of and that you are getting something nutritious and healthy. Even though it costs quite a bit, it's a LOT of food and worth the money! read more

For our third baby I reached out to I-San house at the spur of the moment, two days before my scheduled C-Section. They were very responsive and by the time I got home from the hospital, three days later, I started getting the home deliveries. Although they are pricey, it's much less than getting a confinement nanny. The customer service was very helpful and friendly....when I placed the initial order, the lady answering the phone said English wasn't her first language (and I didn't speak Chinese). But the language barrier wasn't an issue as she answered my questions the best she could over the phone and followed up via email for the others. The food quality is good, it included some expensive items such as sea cucumber, abalone, and seafood as well as a lot of chicken, beef and fish. The only downside was that the chicken was dry at times. Aside from that, I loved all the food options, it ended up being so much food I had to begged my husband to help me eat them. You can also specify certain foods you don't want- I opted not to have goat meat or pig feet but did request for more liver- and they were pretty accommodating. Having all the nutritious soups and meals for that 1 month definitely helped to contribute to my fast recovery. Not only did I loose all the pregnant weight, my energy was up and my milk production was the highest it's been so far. Best postpartum splurge ever, highly recommend! read more

Good portion. Taste good and light. Fits me well. Service is good. Pretty good for people after surgery. read more

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I am very grateful for I-San. I will use them again and have even purchased trial deliveries for my friends who are expecting. I-San is not for everyone. The service can be pricey and the flavors may not be suited for people accustomed to bold, heavy, western cuisine. For me though it was perfect. The food was incredibly fresh, surprisingly varied, and service was excellent. My mom and I could not have replicated this on our own, and we're thankful I-San was there to both provide me the nourishment and the cultural experience! Perhaps one more thing to make note of as others already have: There is a lot of food! And you have to have the fridge space to accommodate it. Or get others in the family to chip in and help eat it when everyone needs a break :) read more

The first time I ordered from I-San house was 2016 when I was having my second baby. The food was really good! I loved every bite of it!! I lived in Nevada state..so they ship out by fedex overnight..it was quick and convenient! Every meal would contain brown rice, or red rice, veggie, soup and desert.. no salt,less oil, but pretty tasty !! Now I am having my third baby. I am ordering again from I san house. Hopefully I will get a fast recovery as last time!! read more

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Got a 30 day postpartum package. 1. Convenient - I could just throw everything into a bowl and microwave it and have a meal ready to eat. 2. Generous portions - my husband and mother had to help with meals because there was just so much food (a good thing). 3. Prompt delivery - delivery person would send a text every morning after dropping off the food. She was so nice too! 4. Tasty - bland initially because there's no sugar or salt added but you start to taste more and more flavours as the days progress. 5. Good customer service - I asked for more vegetarian and noodle options and they acquiesced. They're willing to omit whatever you dislike too. They also send emails checking in on your postpartum recover and offer suggestions to questions you may have (e.g., breastfeeding). I don't speak mandarin and all the dialects but they tried their best to answer all my questions in English. I'm tempted to get this service every month just because I recovered so quickly, felt so healthy, and lost almost all my pregnancy weight (I'd gained 48lbs). Highly recommend. read more

I subscribed to one week worth of food and each day I would get food delivered (except sundays, it's combined with Saturday since they close on sundays). The food was not bad, pretty good and I don't normally like Chinese food. They have different food options depending on your method of delivery. It was so much food, I couldn't eat it all. I had to share it with my husband. I ended up getting another 3 days worth of delivery. It was really clean eating for me because when I tried to eat sushi or pizza, my body couldn't take it. It's a great way to recover and you didn't have to cook. I highly recommend it and you have the option to pick your food preferences and if you want to change something you can let them know and they can make sure you get what you want. It's 3 meals a day, breakfast, lunch, dinner and drinks and desserts. Well worth it even though it's pricey. read more

This is my second time ordering from I-San and I was just so upset how they handled my injury. I emailed Emily last month asking for the total price and she responded me with a quote. She didn't mention anything about price will increase in 2 weeks if I don't get back to them fast enough. She just said whenever I'm ready to order so I did. I emailed them back all the forms now only to find out I have to pay $200 more and they apologized for not letting me know about the price increase earlier. I really think that they should have honored the price they gave me last month. Now they jlost a customer. My first time experience with them was fine but now I think I will go to try another postpartum meal service. * Update- regarding the owner said that they sent price change notice to me was a total lie. I asked for the quote on 4/23/19 through email. How could they send a price change notice on 4/9 by mail!? I never received any notice or follow up from them in any form. This company has really lost all of their credibility... read more

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For my first baby, we did not outsource anything. We did all the cooking, cleaning, night duty, all of it. Our parents tried to help, but our families are complicated and that actually went sour really quickly. For my second, we had a confinement nanny but she didnt stay nights because we didnt have space and weren't comfortable but she charged us the same rate anyways. For this third, we had Isan house delivery food T, Thu, Sat and if there were any other babies (nope!), i would do Isan house again! It has been great! Super convenient and don't have to think about my meal. I think the confinement period is really a way of a previous generation passing down traditions. The only thing that might have been scientifically backed is the use of ethanol/alcohol to stop uterine contractions. Everything else (don't wash your hair, don't touch water, don't microwave food, don't soak in water, don't drink water, don't shower, don't go out, don't lift stuff, eat one whole chicken) is just your mom or his mom trying to control you haha i think those "traditions" are mostly wives tales or some backwards ways that people unassummingly bring to today. The water stuff I think has to do with not having running hot water back in the day? Not sure. But also letting the new mom rest for a month and not do anything like wash dishes or laundry etc. emphasizing that the first month is really a time for new mom to recover and be taken care of. But your mom or his mom popping by once a week and telling you not to touch water = not helpful. Its like i have to wash my hands after i wipe my butt. But also when my mom cooked for me or told us what to cook, the baby had major eczema. It took me three kids to realize I don't have to listen to every piece of mom advice I receive. meal delivery simplified things for me. I felt like i was taking care if myself. If you have complicated family relationships, meal delivery is for you. I kind of wish every new mom could get meal delivery! I wish it could start in the hospital since those hospital meals are kind of meh. I also know different asian cultures have different confinement foods. Koreans like seaweed soup. Shanghainese will do a lot of chicken and ginger. Isan house is more Taiwanese I think. Every meal is some soup. Breakfast is porridge/noodle. Lunch and dinner has starch and veggies. Mine also came with two desserts and two drinks. One drink always tasted very herbally. I've enjoyed all the desserts and look forward to them everyday. The starch is never white rice. Even the rice is cooked with goji. I usually heat the soups on the stove and everything else i pop in the microwave. I kind of wish i could have meals delivered for the rest of mat leave or forever! It is a bit pricey to go that long though and im glad i had it for the past 30 days. The food is low sodium, low sugar, low seasoning and all feels very clean it. They also offer consult and advice if anything like the first week baby had hives so we stopped shellfish and peanut. And you can tell then stuff you dont eat like liver etc read more

I used I-San house twice for post pregnancy meals. Each time, I ordered the full 30 days. Their food is suppose to help with postpartum recovery. The food is made with Chinese herbs with minimal salt and ingredients. Just be forewarned, some ingredients are really weird. I had to change my menu up because they were sending me things I just could not eat. Customer service is pretty good and they will accommodate you if they can. You can customize the soups but not the veggies or rice. Each day comes with drinks and desserts. The portion size was good. I was not able to keep up with my meals and days would lapse before I was able to finish. The second time around, I was able to share some of the soups with my toddler and spouse. They also provide free delivery within a 10 mile radius. It's definitely nice not having to worry about food right after you give birth. If you want a healthy and balanced meal for postpartum recovery, this is the place. The price is expensive but it's worth it for convenience. read more

I ordered their post-partum meals for about 2 weeks and had a good experience. Each morning they deliver you a box for your three meals of the day. If you order for the weekend, on Saturday they will deliver both Saturday and Sunday. You can have them start delivery at the hospital, which I didn't do but should've since the hospital food was inedible! Breakfast - 1 meat and 1 carb. The carb is generally a porridge, sometimes noodles. The porridge is either plain, or is sometimes flavored with red beans or squash. Lunch & Dinner are both: - 1 meat, 1 vegetable dish, 1 bowl of rice, 1 dessert, 1 herb drink Before they start the service, you fill out a form with your preferences, which you can always modify. For example, I initially did not exclude liver, but found that I really didn't like the liver and it was immediately excluded from my next meal delivery. The portions are pretty large and I'd say on most days, enough for both me and my husband!! All meat and seafood dishes come served in a broth. They're boiled and are mildly flavored with what they are boiled with. My husband thought some of the dishes tasted too plain and would slabber on his on sauce, but I think the lack of flavor/salt is the point, and I'll say I lost my pregnancy weight quickly when I was on the diet. I always had excess of the chicken and beef dishes, but the fish were in smaller portions. Some of the dishes are not for the faint-hearted-- for example the quails are served as a whole quail with little tiny bones to have to extract carefully. The chicken and fish are also sometimes served dangerously bony, sometimes as fillets. The vegetables come in good variety and I liked them. Again, they are boiled. The portions of vegetables are smaller than that of the meats. Some days we would cook an extra vegetable. Some desserts are better than others. I really liked the black sesame soup, but sometimes "dessert" would be a boiled egg in sweet soup.. I really couldn't stand the herb drinks. They changed the drinks to teas without chinese herbal medicine which made them more tolerable, but I still didn't really drink them. Everything is meant to be microwaved for 1-5 minutes. They were easy to reach by phone or email when I wanted to make a change. It would mainly be voicemail, but I'd get a call back within the day. They speak English, however sometimes the emails back would be in Chinese even when I requested them to reply in English, so it was helpful to have my mom translate them! The service is $85/day, or $550/week or $1900/month. This was higher than rates I read before I ordered them so they must've gone up over the years. I started with a 3 day trial before deciding I liked it and ordered two weeks more. The nice thing is that if you order a week/month, you can have them deliver every other day which I'd recommend since the dishes can really pile up!! You may have to pay a delivery charge if they're outside the area, or if you order a week/month but don't want 2 meals at once on Saturday. It's a bit pricey, but given the convenience and quantity of food I would do it again. read more

My parents ordered me this 30 day Chinese postpartum recovery meal delivery service after I gave birth to my baby and they had done a similar thing for my sister when she had her baby, but a different business. Overall, I've been impressed with the organization, the portions and the timeliness of the daily deliveries. The food itself is not amazing but it's healthy, it has the nutritional and herbal properties needed for my healing and nutrition as well as not having to worry about my next meal while taking care of a newborn. My only feedback would be how much waste these deliveries create since they are using so much disposable plastic containers. My recycling would fill up so quickly from tossing these containers out. Otherwise, it was a good service to have while recovering postpartum. read more

I-San meal delivery is worth the money and healthy. What's with all the bad reviews? I feel the need to stand up for I-San. It's been 6 months since I used their service. Looking back it was worth every penny. The customer service was GOOD. I would tell them I didn't like a dish and they would substitute another dish next time. I also refused to drink the Chinese herb drinks. They gave me an extra dessert instead. All my conversations with I-San were in English and Chinese. WHO SHOULD GET IT You should speak some Chinese and be raised on Chinese food. You DON'T have to be a FOB. Most of the menus are in Chinese and English. I grow up here but can speak Chinese. There are free tasting at their store on the weekends. You don't have to go for the "seminar" which are in Chinese. They teach you basic first time mom stuff. Their philosophy is the same as Western believes so nothing controversial. Nothing about having to stay in bed for a whole month or not showering. If you are not getting one of those Chinese post partum nannies who will also cook for you, this is the next best thing. We didn't have room for a live-in nanny so I got the meal service instead. Next time I will get a Chinese nanny but might still get I-San's food delivery. FOOD 3 meals a day delivered in the morning and left at the front door in a box that you give back the next day. Breakfast is usually porridge and a main dish which is always a soup of some kind with plenty of protein. Lunch and dinner is always rice, a veggie or egg side dish and a main soup dish. The point is nursing moms need lots of liquids so the soups are perfect. Also many of the dishes are suppose to help increase milk production, stuff like papaya are added to the soups. Main dishes are always soups with large pieces of chicken, fish, port and etc. The serving size is good. I was never hungry afterwards. I normally eat a lot for a girl for reference. I combined all 3 items into one giant 2 qt bowl. Dessert was my favorite! 3 desserts a day. So many variety of Chinese desserts like yam in sugar water and sesame soup. Yum. ADD YOUR OWN SALT The meals are healthy because it has no salt. I added just a bit of salt. By the end of the month I noticed I could eat less salty food. Normal takeout was too salty. This is a GOOD thing. You don't realize how much sodium is in normal takeout. read more

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First of all, this is a business specialized for women productive system health. You kind of have to agree with Asian philosophy how food benefit health. Then you will appreciate their food. Put aside the health benefit, their food is simply delicious without additive. I have experience with this business several times. I used to have phobia regarding "herbal medicine"; I simply don't like the smell. But their dessert drinks are simply delicious. No bad smell or artificial taste. I also had a few Taiwanese influenced soup; sesame oil chicken, lamb, shrimp, and fish! I was not a fan of seafood soup, but their recipe renders no foul smell. It was also processed very well with no fish bones. The shrimps were still in their shell, but not a huge deterrent. My favorite was their sesame oil fried rice. It is consumed by mothers 30 days after they gave birth. Their recipe is hard to duplicate and is simply the best! The customer service staff and owner are fluent in Mandarin Chinese and in English. It will benefit you to do a bit research on food/dietary therapy to appreciate what they offer. The owner has a doctor license and is practicing medicine so I am more confident in her food and recommendation. This is an unique service and I hope they thrive. read more

Son and daughter-in-law ordered this food delivery service for the 1st month in last September recommended by her parents. Since I don't believe much in herb medicine nor the traditional Chinese afterbirth one month confinement, I was skeptical at first. Now looking back, I'd agree that it's money well spent and would recommend it to new moms who can handle bland but clean, healthy soupy food. During the 2-3 weeks of the 1st month while I stayed to help out, the food delivery was so helpful, not only it saved me from all the shopping, preparations and cooking I also have the peace of mind knowing the new mom and new born through nursing were well fed with clean, healthy and nutritional food. The service, portion size and variety were all decent, not the most tasty food but fresh and clean for sure. The menu did evolve to accommodate recovery and breast feeding This diet is of course only good if the new mom likes this type of food which luckily is the case in our family. It is not for everyone but we'll probably do it again when the time comes. read more

I used I-San House for my confinement meals after delivery of my second baby. Due to COVID, I opted not to have a confinement nanny so having 3 meals delivered everyday was a godsend. Once you place your order with them, you wait until you are in labor at the hospital before giving them a call so they can start prepping your meals to be delivered. You can tell them your preference for which day you want the meals to start to be delivered. The food is nutritious, healthy, and not salty. It was plentiful too, with 3 decent sized meals and 2 snacks. Each week is different due to the body's needs after delivery. The food was delivered on time everyday (between 5-8AM) and packaged nicely to stay cold before it is put in the fridge. I would recommend any expecting mothers who do not have help at home with meals to give I-San a try. read more

Just had my first baby and we didn't have parents over to support us due to COVID 19. I-San offered a brilliant alternative, especially when you don't want to be heading out doing groceries every other day. The delivery was timely everyday and the meals are super healthy. It did take us a while to get used to at the very beginning because their meals are low on sodium whereas I'm used to heavy salt in my meals. After a couple of days, I acclimatized and it was great. Every meal also comes with dessert and a drink, a wonderful addition. They would also email to check in weekly on any changes you'd like to make. Their meals have a different focus every week, tailored to the type of nutrient you'd require (e.g week 1 focuses on clearing old blood from your uterus). We had a tremendous experience and would gladly engage I-San in a heartbeat for our next birth. It's super convenient and provides such great value! read more

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Misleading info on their website, they claim they deliver to anywhere in the bay area but seems like their definition of anywhere in the bay area is limited to south bay only. If you are outside of the delivery area, you will have no choice but to pick up a week's worth of meal at their south bay location. Girl I spoke to barely understands english, said she would email me some info but took her forever to understand my email, even I spell it out for her, can't seem to distinguish between the letter B and D, C and Z and sadly I didn't receive any email from her after so she got it wrong even after I repeated it more than 5 times. Free tasting is only available maybe once a month and it takes only about 15 minutes. It is held between breaks on the day they have all the potential customers in for the so called free lecture where they try to get you to sign up for the meal service. read more

I ordered I-San house meal delivery service for 30 days after I gave birth to my baby. This is a complete waste of money. Every day, I received tasteless breakfast, lunch and dinner in soups and main dishes. The meal package also came with tasteless dessert and mystery packaged drinks from Korea. I wonder how can soup with fresh ingredients and meat would taste like boiled meat placed into water. After 4-week of meal service, I bought the same ingredients they used and my soup is full of flavor. And the mystery drinks from Korea, they came in small packets. The package has no ingredient list in English nor Chinese! Without that information, how could I risk my baby's health to drink them and nurse my baby? I asked others to take a sip, they taste horrible. After all, I definitely will not recommend I-San house! If you must, negotiate a 10-day trial first. read more

I-San House - I-San house called it "black-boned chicken soup" - Food Delivery Services Near Me - SAN JOSE, California

I-San House prepares and delivers completely cooked meals to mothers who have just given birth. Meals are based on traditional Chinese cooking as well as modern Western nutritional theory. My wife and I used them recently and found the service to be satisfactory. Meals were delivered to the hospital on the day after delivery. This was nice since the hospital only provided food for one person, so the father (that would be me) could eat the complimentary hospital food while the mother could enjoy the specially prepared food. Food could be stored in the hospital refrigerator and warmed up in a microwave. My wife especially appreciated the hot soups that first week. As the service continued, they contacted us to make sure we were enjoying the food, and they made modifications based on our feedback. The menu was customized based on our preferences and/or physical condition. The food itself tasted not of that super strong flavor you might associate with some traditional Chinese herbs, but rather light, healthy and not too oily. Flavor could also be characterized as more Taiwanese than mainland Chinese. There was a price break because we purchased a month of food delivery. A single day will run about $75/day, a week will average out to be about $65/day, and a month turned out to be about $56/day. It's not the most affordable thing in the world, but it's certainly convenient having food for the entire day delivered to your doorstep each morning. Delivery fees are extra, but we negotiated with them and they waived the fees. One word of advice though: make sure you have plenty of refrigerator/freezer space since it's probably not possible to eat the quantity of food given. One month's food is really more like a month and a week or two. There are other services to this one which are similar, however, we found them to be more expensive. Overall, service and food was good and can be recommended. read more

My parents insisted on gifting this wonderful postpartum gift to me so that I don't have to worry about meals after giving birth back in June. I am soooo thankful and grateful! I initially was going to go with Liu Mama (since it was recommended by a friend), but after getting the run around and them ignoring multiple phone calls, I decided to go with a company that actually seems to care and want our business. Thankfully, we did. The food is catered to the needs of a mommy who just gave birth. The food is nutritious and filling. Each day the meals consists of: - Breakfast: a big soupy entree (with meat) + either rice or porridge - Lunch & Dinner: big soupy entree (with meat) + rice + dessert - In addition, every day you get several packets of drinks that you should consume to heal your body I looooved I-San House's postpartum meals that we got 10 more days after the initial one month went by. Every morning, my meal was dropped off roughly around 6am in a nice box, and each meal was individually sealed. There is NO doubt that I'd use this service again if I were to have another baby. They called me every week to check on my health (they adjust the menu if you say, had a cold, etc). Highly recommended! Oh, and even the person who we spoke with at I-San house told us not to waste money on the Organic plan. So I'd just go off their regular plan. read more

I recently ordered one month of confinement meals from this place. I was a little bit skeptical due to the reviews, but I decided to give it a try anyway. I was pleasantly surprised with the food. This delivery service was totally worth it as a new mother it is very difficult to cook. They deliver breakfast lunch and dinner every morning between 6 and 9 AM. The breakfast would be a porridge or an oatmeal and a soup and the lunch and dinner would have rice a vegetable dish and a soup. The soup always had something to protein in it. All the food seems to be really healthy and very low in sodium or none at all. There were some dishes that I did not like so I emailed them and they never gave it to me again. I also like that they called me to make sure that everything was going well with the food. Overall I am very happy with their services. I took off one star because it is quite expensive. Also there was only one day that the meal was delivered a little late, but overall always ontime. I would recommend this place. read more

I-San House - This is an example of a lunch or dinner with the drink and a dessert. - Food Delivery Services Near Me - SAN JOSE, California

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I've been receiving meals delivered from I-San House for two weeks now. I live in San Francisco and it seems like they do many deliveries in the city (the really nice woman who drops off the food tells me she has several drop offs in my area) . My expectations were that the food was going to be super medicinal and I would just force myself to eat it for health reasons, but I've been enjoying the meals! Key takeaways: - The food is Taiwanese style, so people used to really dense Cantonese style soups might find it bland - During the ordering process, you can select if you don't want to eat certain things and they'll exclude it from your meals - I-San accommodated my substitutions the week of, like asking for less porridge and more soba noodles - The meats in the soups are always really tender and fresh. This surprised me because I heated my food up in the microwave - The fish is always amazing. Super fresh and meaty pieces of fish. I once got a giant abalone in its shell - The food comes unsalted, so you'll need to add your own salt, soy sauce, sriracha, etc. - There is a LOT of food! My husband and are both eating it (even though we ordered for one person) and I feel like we can't keep up with the menu. But it's okay because... - ... you can call to take a break and postpone a delivery - Meals are well packaged. Each day comes in its own box with the meal plan in both English and Chinese. The numbers make things easy (i.e., #70B chicken and mushroom) - Communications is definitely easier if you speak Mandarin. The people I've spoke with on the phone so far have been very courteous and quick to help answer my questions/requests. - The woman who delivers the food to San Francisco is a gem. I like getting the text messages in the morning of telling me what the ETA is. The service is pretty expensive if you live far from Mountain View (delivery fee is calculated on distance), but I think it was well worth it and will do it again. read more

I-San House - One day's meals in its own box with the meal plan (green paper) included - Food Delivery Services Near Me - SAN JOSE, California

Stay away like the plague! I cannot warn one enough about this business that has absolutely no regards for the safety or well-being of their customers. I actually started out with a very positive impression. I saw very mixed reviews online but figured it couldn't be that bad, so I gave it a shot. Only if I knew how wrong I would be. I went to a free tasting and had a good experience. They acted sweet and seemingly accommodating, provided promises to be flexible, etc--but that's all it was, just an act. I signed up for a full month of service for $1900. The foods started out okay but then things get shady. I know my Chinese "yue zhi" foods and herbs, after all, this is my 3rd baby. I know when to drink "shen hua" soup and when to stop it, etc. I also am familiar with many other herbal concoctions. But after the first two weeks, herbal drinks start to become very foreign with meaningless names, like "beautiful spirit". I called to ask what exactly is this drink? What kind of herbs or ingredients are in it? And they said they're unable to provide a list of any ingredients. You're just supposed to blindly eat/drink everything. That became my first red flag. In hindsight, I should've listened to my gut. But I thought, well, I only have a few more weeks, let's just finish this up. Then came a small dark brown drink. It was supposed to be a dessert. Instructions clearly stated, heat for 1 minute in the microwave or on stove top. I chose microwave. After a minute, I took it out, placed it on the table, put my face up to the cup to drink it. BOOM! The drink explodes, burning my eyes. I was screaming. There was an hard boiled egg in the hot drink. Eggs have the potential to explode in a microwave, in a delayed response, from the pressure that builds up in the yolk sac. In this article, http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Story?id=127846&page=1, a girl sustained permanent eye injury after microwaving an egg for only 40 seconds. In this case, the hot liquid that the egg is immersed in becomes a weapon, scalding me. After the explosion, the cup was nearly empty even though I had not even actually taken a sip yet. The drink had exploded several feet away all over the floor. There was egg fragments in my hair. It was like a bomb in hot liquid, right up in my face. After tending to my injuries while consulting with an ophthalmologist, I called i-San House to report the incident. They uttered an obligatory apology, but what followed thereafter proved that there was indeed no real remorse or concern for what had happened. They accused my microwave of being "too powerful" and blamed me for not adjusting appropriately to my microwave's power. I told them that they should've had an warning on the drink about the egg and its potential to explode in the microwave--this was a truly dangerous situation, not an experiment to find the amount to time to heat it to the perfect temperature. They continued to deny any fault and blamed my microwave. I was really upset and disturbed by their lack of accepting responsibility for their negligent instructions (I did see the doctor afterwards who indeed verified that I sustained defects to the whites of my eyes. I was lucky that I was wearing contacts at the time and closed my eyes quickly enough that it didn't melt onto my eyes and protected my cornea instead because any damage to the cornea is much more serious and has lasting complications). I also did not want to risk anything else from their company since they've shown no real concern for the safety or health of their customers, so I told them that I wanted to cancel the service. And you know what they did? They had the nerve to charge me a $100 cancellation fee and $65 delivery fee for the deliveries they had already made for canceling early. Talk about the worst customer service and absolute disregard for safety! Not only that, my friend who got the meal later said that the same egg dish still had the same instructions telling their clients to microwave that whole, intact bomb in a hot soup. They should have at least removed such instructions or cut the egg. Do not give i-San House your business--it's basically throwing nearly $2k away to an irresponsible company with absolute no regard for the safety or health of its customers. Don't fall into their trap as I did. Giving them my money is probably one of the biggest regrets of my life. You're better off hiring a "yue zhi" nanny or going with a company that actually cares and have some strand of decent values. read more

This review is way over due. I used this service six years ago when my son was born. Hubby and I decided do postpartum and baby care on our own without nanny or grandparents' help (call us crazy), so I thought getting the traditional Chinese postpartum food service will at least relief us of cooking, plus a good way for me to get proper nutrition/diet to recover quickly. We went to their seminar a couple of months before our baby was due and tried their food tasting. Being a first time parent, I thought the birthing lecture was quite useful, at least better than the birthing classes provided by our hospital. I'm somewhat familiar with Chinese postpartum, so I'm not turned off by the ingredients or preparation methods. I was more concerned with the taste since I'm not a heavy meat eater and dislike oily stuff. To my surprise, the liver soup, sesame oil chicken, etc were very light and not oily at all. Everything was served in broth or soup, so theoretically you don't need to drink additional liquid. They also provided 4 pouches of herbal drinks per day. The herbal drinks are for eliminating excess/dirty blood and body fluid that were gained during pregnancy. I used the 30-day service, so I-San got my hospital address and sent my first meal to my hospital room the morning after delivery. After I checked out of the hospital, they delivered around 7AM each morning to my house. All of the meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner) and drinks plus desserts were clearly labeled on each container. I took out the breakfast containers to eat and then stored the rest in refrigerator. Then I simply microwave lunch and dinner when I was ready to eat them. The portions were generous, normally I cannot finish everything, so hubby helped me eat some of the stuff. There was always a large main dish that came in soup or broth, plus a side dish dish of some sort, like noodles. Lunch and dinner also came with side vegetables and desserts. On top, the herbal drinks that you get each day. The veggies were probably their biggest disappointment, b/c everything was bland (no salt, b/c salt retains body fluid), no oil, which was fine, but it was just sort of steamed/boiled without any flavor. Since vegetable is not a critical part of postpartum, I was ok to go without good vegetable dishes for 30 days. I remember I liked their desserts so much that I asked for extras, and they added to my order everyday without additional charge. The food quality and service were impeccable. I relied on I-San for 30-days, and I never got sick of the food, though I didn't need to add more weeks, b/c my body recovered nicely and I was back to pre-pregnancy shape in no time. I was actually 90% back to normal after 2wks on I-San diet. (I think the food helped with lactation, which in turn, helps the body to get back in shape). All this, of course, was six years ago. I recommended I-San to my friend who also had a baby boy 7 months ago. She liked the food, and I think she's overall happy with the service. read more

I-San House - a variety of containers of food - Food Delivery Services Near Me - SAN JOSE, California

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I order my first month good from this place 5 years ago and had a good experience. I ordered it again 5 years later for my second child and had a completely different experience. First, the food quantity went down (and of course prices went up -$1900 for 30 days or $65/day). Luckily, it is still enough for me. The quality of food went down a little. They used to cook everything with rice wine and do not use any water. But I can tell now that they do use some water. Lastly and most importantly, THERE ISN'T ENOUGH LIQUID. Aside from the soup entrees, they only give you less than two cups of sipping liquid. Aren't we normally suppose to have 8 glasses of water? When I feed backed that there isn't enough liquid, they said that each additional packet of sipping liquid, which is 1/2 a cup, is $5 extra. Are you kidding me? They said I can just drink milk, soymilk, or boil goji berries in water. Last time, I did not have to supplant their meals with anything else and had extras. I am just so dissatisfied that at $65 a day, I don't have enough sipping liquid. When I asked to speak with the owner, the Chinese female staff kept on blocking me from talking to the owner. Why is she trying to block when it isn't even a complaint about her? What kind of a business do they run there？i am told the owner is out for the next three days! I am on day 20 of my meal. My previous post of their quality being worse than 5 years ago stands. What I hate the most is that their soups is mostly just large chunks of meat and nothing else. There is no effort to making it nicer or more elaborate. After all, it is costing $65/a day for three meals. If it is just boiling meat and throwing herbs in there, I can do it myself using a slow cooker. They don't even bother to cut the meat into smaller pieces. Each meat is half the size of my palm. I feel like I am eating a head of cow, pig, etc. Seems so barbaric. read more

I-San House - A typical lunch and dinner. A soup, a veg, and rice - Food Delivery Services Near Me - SAN JOSE, California

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My wife ordered their 30-day postpartum meal plan and had a terrible experience. Before the delivery service began, my wife clearly specified on the contract that there are 2 kinds of soups that she doesn't want from them due to her health condition at the time. The first 2 days of delivery service seemed ok. However, on the third day they sent us one of the soups my wife has specified that she doesn't want. So she called I-San House to inform them about this and they admitted it was their fault and promised not to make the same mistake again. Unfortunately on the next day, they sent us the other kind of soup that my wife specified on the contract which she doesn't need. This is unacceptable because I-San House did this 2 days in a row; we paid for their service and they gave us items that we stated up front that we don't need! To make things worse, we found a strand of hair in one of the dishes they sent us. When my wife called them to complain about this, the response she got from them was "I'm sorry about this but this (hair in the dish) is unavoidable." Disappointed at their response, we asked to change the delivery service from 30 days to one week. They said because we have breached the contract, they need to charge us a 6% transaction fee. Truth is, I-San House is the one who has breached the contract in the first place (sending us soups we specified we don't want), and there is obvious hygienic problem in their dishes. And they accused us of "breaching the contract"! While we couldn't reach an agreement on the phone, the representative of I-San House (Emily) promised to call us back after she talked to her boss (whom she refused to let us to reach out to). An hour later, the only thing we received from them is an email informing us that they have terminated the contract and charged us a 6% transaction fee, and refunded the rest of the money to my wife's credit card. They did this whole "refund process" without seeking my wife's consent. We contacted them 2 times (via phone & email) afterwards but failed to get any response from them. In the whole process we as the customer have no say in customizing our menu (in fact we did have a chance to tell them what we want and what we don't want, but they simply ignored our preferences... so what's the point?) and the hygienic condition of their food is awful. No one deserves to pay over $2000 for such horrible service! We filed a complaint to Better Business Bureau, unfortunately more than a month's time has already passed since we first filed the complaint... they never reverted to BBB nor to us. I-San House simply doesn't care about their customers' well-being and made no effort to remedy the concerns raised by their customers. They are nothing more than a heartless business which aims at ripping customers off. There are plenty other similar businesses in the market, but if you want to use I-San House's service, the only thing I can say is, try at your own risk! read more

STAY AWAY!! Like the other reviewer posted, these guys are sweet as honey when making the pitch. After they've got your $$, you might as well toss your emails and phone calls into a black hole because you'll never hear from them again. We tried negotiating a partial refund for the service we never received, and are still in a dispute via the credit card company after 3 months whether the charge is valid. At best, these folks know nothing about customer service. At worst, they are fraudsters and a service you shouldn't touch with a 10-foot pole. read more

We were very negatively surprised by I-San House's customer service. With their cheapness they instantly transformed what could have been a positive experience into a strongly negative one. After our first 2 weeks of deliveries, we decided to add another 2 weeks. We paid in person, when we were promised 2 complimentary additional days of meals and were given a small discount of $20 for ordering a full month. The next day, we received a call saying not only were they reneging on the 2 free days, but they also wanted to charge us the $20 discount! They blamed the "mistake" on a salesperson-in-training. To put this into perspective, we'd spent close to $2000 for the meal service, and they wanted $20 back - and I can't imagine it costs them much to honor the two free extra days either. When making the sale, the salespeople at I-San House are as sweet and generous as ever. Once they had our money, it was night and day how stingy they became. Please: proceed with caution if you decide to do business with this company. I refuse to do business with any company that doesn't hold its word, and if this is important to you too, I advise you to stay far, far away. read more

I highly recommended I san house. This is my 2nd pregnancy. My mom cooked for me after my 1st baby. Be honest, it's a lot of works. So I decided to try this one after my friends' recommendation. They delivered my 1st 2 days to the hospital room around 7 am and my House everyday (except for Sundays because they delivered both Sat and Sun food on Sat morning) around 8 am. The food portions are very generous. I requested no liver, kidneys or intestine. I linked the dessert drinks the most. I ordered 28 days and there are 2 free days so it covers the whole month. I still have some food leftovers. Emily was great and she called almost every week to see whether I need any adjustment. The food is bland and you may add extra salt, but I normally prefer bland food and it's perfect for me. Again, highly recommended and they did a great job to alternate the dishes so I won't get bored with the food. read more

I-San House - Food Delivery Services Near Me - SAN JOSE, California

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We ordered miscarriage meals for two weeks, but they were not very professional. After having their Chinese herb soup, my wife didn't feel well and went to the emergency. I did research on the internet afterward and found out that normally Dr. didn't suggest to have that soup for miscarried women. It would cause the second harm on women's wombs. Their food made people losing appetite either. The soup tasted like water; every meal was overcooked; the fish was not fresh and didn't taste any texture. Those food material they used were not worthy for the price I had paid at all. read more

The first day after signing "drop-off-without-sign" agreement, the meal is lost. I was sitting next to the door during all the claimed (yes, different versions after being questioned) delivered time but never heard anything outside the door. Door bell didn't ring, of course. The solution they suggested is that I drive to their store, get the meal, and REDUCE THE MEAL CREDITS BY ONE DAY. Good luck if you are considering them. The food is OK and tastes healthy, though. Update: They called to offer delivery for the meal today. When they arrived, they realized it was delivered to a wrong place and apologized. Considering that this is a large community with many identical buildings, I can't blame them as long as this is addressed properly. Ramping up the rating to 4. read more

Sadly, I had to give I San house a one star for their unprofessional business team. Yes, they are very money hungry, not much about customer service or care. I love the owner, she's very caring and awesome in service, but I don't think any concerns were passed on to her, her "business team" will take matter into their own hands. One family member recently gave birth, but she soon developed severe rashes for days after discharged from the hospital. Not blaming their food, but we've decided we probably should just stick with home cooked food to avoid further complications. We contacted I-San house, stating our reason, they said since we breached our contract, we'll need to pay $100 processing fee. And for the week worth of meals we had to pay full price for $85 a day plus delivery fee. (They charge us for 2 days delivery for weekends meals even tho it was one delivery) When we called, they basically stated, it's on the contract, and it's not our fault that you have a rash. You should stay on and let us adjustments and come see our doctor. Let me ask you, who in the right mind will continue to eat outside food when you're not sure what is causing the rashes and while you're so tired, in pain, and it was cold and rainy outside, you would go out in the rain to see the doctor who is 20 miles away? Since we didn't "give them the chance to work it out" we had to pay the $100 for breaching the contract. I have to say to the owner, please, FIRE YOUR BUSINESS TEAM or you will drive your customers away. They only care about your money. When I tried to explained to the business manager Emily (as she claimed) said, "I'm sorry, I'll relay your concern to my boss, but I still think we should charge you the fee." Not even offering any empathy. When I told her I'll have to file a complaint to Best Business Bureau, she said, "yeah, sure." They don't seem to care because their business is doing so well. I can''t believe this is a service that's working with moms in their very vulnerable stage, physically and emotionally. It made me think I-San house took advantages of the moms and family, since arguing with them is the last thing they want to deal with when there's a newborn at home. Terrible marketing and customer care. Stay away. Stay Away! read more

Excellent value for money and very easy to work with. Highly recommended. Recently ordered 1 month of food delivery. In the process there was some confusion about date of first delivery. I-San House customer care took full responsibility and resolved the issue with a smile. The food is healthy and delicious. The servings are huge. Delivery is very reliable and convenient. read more

This review is not about the food services at I-San House. Instead I came in for Dr. Frances on my back problem. I had tried an acupuncturist for a week. The pain from my back to my left leg continued. I started to take Advil for another week without any treatment hoping that it would heal on its own. And things just got worse. I couldn't sleep well at night. I finally started to try a different acupuncturist Dr Frances. With one session physical therapy, a few stretching at-home exercises, the back pain has gone away. I will definitely continue these stretching exercises for my body. Thank you so much Dr. Frances for your care. read more

totally recommend i-san house post-partum food delivery service. it's not cheap but totally worth it: tasty, good variety, and helps save time. the soups are tasty with a different protein for each meal and really helps with post-partum nutrition, recovery, and lactation. portions are generous, comes with veggies & multigrain rice & dessert. you can also request them to delivery to hospital or home, and pause delivery for any number of days, if you have too much food. read more

I was pregnant last year and the biggest concern of postpartum care is the food. I did the research for traditional Chinese postpartum month meals. After I attended 2 or 3 free seminar for pregnancy and postpartum care, tried one day meal from I-San House and I even visited their office in person. I decided to order 30 days meals. Here's a couple of thoughts after having I- San House food. 1. The customer service and delivery service is wonderful; I stretched the delivery term to almost 2 months without any problem. The driver and delivery guy Mr. Gao is super nice and considerable. They are fine to adjust the meals for you. 2. The meals are reasonable good. One day meals contain about 10 CUPS OF FLUID, and no salt, no sugar added. It's the Right food to promote breast milk. I like the vegetable, vast variety of the rice and the dessert. Their main course are the place to improve. I add protein to my meal to get enough nutrient. I would say that if you don't have someone cook the postpartum food for you and you are going to beast feed your new born. The I-San house is a good alternative. I might order their food again if I have another baby. read more

I ordered a full month meal back in June of this year. Their customer service was pretty good. They called frequently to ask how I was doing and how the food was. They were willing to make adjustments based on my food preference. Yes, the food are bland (no salt), as they should be. Adding salt will make the water retention worse. However, I did use soy sauce =) The drinks are Chinese herbal drinks. I also saw the doctor there when I had mastitis twice! She can work the magic!!! She manually unclogged my badly clogged milk ducks. Thus, I was able to avoid antibiotics! My life saver! I'd give her 6 stars. The only things is she can be all booked and doesn't work on Sun. read more

I-San house provided excellent food and delivery service for me during my recovery from childbirth last September. The meals are nutritious and contain Chinese traditional herbs. I-san also periodically called to check on whether any food items should be changed and how service was. The driver always promptly dropped off the food on a daily basis and also called to make sure we knew that he had come by. read more