Category: Dining Out for Food-loving Coeliacs

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Lunch Out & About: Eat a Pitta

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“Bristols best falafels”, and they’re totally gluten free! Eat a Pitta is my current lunch obsession. You can find their stalls in central Broadmead, the lovely St Nicks market and soon to be on Gloucester road. You can choose a salad box, which they cram full of various chickpea, tomato, carrot and cucumber salads, and then add some of the hot homemade falafels on top. Topped off with hummus and a variety of sauces or salsas, it really is just the perfect summary lunch that is super filling. The food is really clean, fresh and tasty. Crispy falafels with a moist (sorry) centre and hummus make a wonderful pair.

Everything apart from the pittas, cous cous and tabbouleh is GF. If you’re coeliac or sensitive ask for the box to be made specifically gluten free, they then pick all the salads and ingredients straight out of the boxes at the back to avoid any cross contamination from the front counter.

The lunchtime queue is always huge, however they’re very efficient so no fear, you still get your falafels and hummus quickly!

This is just a quick post really to say, if you haven’t tried Eat a Pitta yet, definitely stop by! I’m not the usual vegetarian/salad lunch buyer, but as I said this has sucked me in and I can’t get enough!

Forever, The Awkward Dinner Guest

xx

 

Dining Out: Gluten free at Rockfish in Plymouth

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They say the typically ‘British thing’ is to not be able to hear the words “fish and chips” without making that your next meal. I am 100% percent guilty of this. I love a good, classic fish and chips meal so I am always on the hunt for somewhere that is gluten free friendly.

As I’ve mentioned before I spend a lot of time in Devon and Plymouth and the obvious place to eat fish is by the seaside! My favourite spot to visit is Rockfish, a restaurant looking over the harbour at Plymouth’s Barbican.

They have restaurants all over Devon – otherwise known as Britain’s seafood coast – in Dartmouth, Exmouth, Torquay, Brixham and Exeter and source the majority of their fish from this area. They are also huge advocates of sustainability. Their cod and haddock is all sourced from certified sustainable stocks in Norway. As soon as you enter the restaurants you know you are in a place where they are passionate about really great fish.

Most of all, THE WHOLE MENU CAN BE MADE GLUTEN FREE and completely safe for coeliacs. Choose from any of the local fish on the menu which changes daily, pick whether you want it grilled or fried and add on unlimited chips. That’s right, bottomless chips…

Its a lovely atmosphere inside with big windows looking over the sea so you can watch boats coming in and out of the harbour. Or if you fancy, go next door to the takeaway shop and sit outside on their decking or stroll up the road and sit on Plymouth’s hoe.

I’m a regular customer to Rockfish and I can see it staying my Devon favourite for a long time. Good quality, tasty, fresh fish coupled with mushy peas, homemade lemon vinegar, tartar sauce and unlimited chips on the side.

Just try and tell me you will not run off to find fish and chips as soon as possible after reading this?!

Forever, The Awkward Dinner Guest

xx

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Dining Out: Gluten free at The Town House in Bristol

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We had the laziest of May bank holiday weekends ever! I spent the day reading, watching TV and snoozing listening to that spring time torrential rain, it was absolutely lovely. To round off the indulgent weekend we decided to head out and find a nice dinner to polish it all off.

I have eaten at The Town House in Bristol multiple times before so we already knew it caters very well for gluten free eaters. It also offers a 2 or 3 course menu for a set price and we were lucky enough to get there in time for happy hour on cocktails! It’s nestled into a row of restaurants mid way down Whiteladies Road in Bristol.

It offers a classic menu – fish and chips, steaks, pasta’s and mussels. The majority of dishes are gluten free or can be made gluten free on requests. It’s all clearly shown on the menu with that beautiful little (gf*) we all hope for in every restaurant! We were there in time for the lunch menu which runs from 12pm-7pm then it changes to a dinner menu.  You can pick up 2 courses for £10 or 3 for £13.50. The dinner menu will cost you £20 for 3 courses. An absolute bargain really!

I love anywhere with gluten free batter! To have calamari is such a treat and an obvious choice for my starter. We both chose calamari, hanger steak for the main and mint choc ice cream with brownie pieces for a dessert. All the food was tasty and came quickly. I think the cheap price is reflected by portion sizes and we both agreed we could have had another course after. But as I’ve said before I have a rather big appetite, so for most 3 courses would be substantial! From previous trips I also seem to remember the dinner courses being a lot bigger.

My only criticism with The Town House is although the staff are all lovely, they could do with putting on more waiters for an evening – especially on a bank holiday Monday. The staff always seem to be rushing around everywhere. We once waited and hour and a half for our food here due to a big party they had in – luckily they gave us a complimentary bottle of wine and we were with good company so it wasn’t a terrible wait!

I would recommend a trip to The Town House. Its not going to blow you away but, its good, tasty food with as many gluten free options as you could want.

I’m just sad the bank holiday season is over, no more 4 day weeks until August now – good luck to us all!

Forever, The Awkward Dinner Guest

xx

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Teeny, Tiny, Cinema Pizzas. 

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I love going to the cinema but probably average going a maximum of 2x a year. It just seems like it’s going to take a lot of time out of my day. But, after reading ‘The Girl on the Train’ last year I was determined to get to see the film.

A patient had recently recommended The Everyman Cinema in Bristol to me so we decided to try it out. After checking it out online I was even more convinced when I saw they serve gluten free pizzas and flat breads. Pizza and a film is a Wednesday evening I’ll make time for.

We didn’t book in advance and despite the big queues we easily got seats. I ordered a large glass of red wine, the special pizza of the day and made my way to my velvet cushioned sofa seat.

We were really impressed with the decor throughout the whole cinema. In the screen there’s lines of cosy looking two seater sofas, cushions and foot rests – perfect to snuggle down into with a glass of wine. Now to the food. We hadn’t eaten and planned to have the pizzas as our main dinner – this, on reflection was the wrong choice. You order your food at the bar and they bring it to your seats in the screen – a good start. As I said, I ordered the special which was goats cheese and caramelised onion –  brilliant, my favourite. There was a delay in the kitchen that evening so the film had started by the time our food came. My heart sunk as I saw the tiniest little pizza being brought to me through the dark aisles. (No pictures due to the film being on!)

The pizza itself was fine, I was impressed with the GF base. Thin and crispy which is what I like. Unfortunately 3 slices of tomato paste and chutney was really just not enough. But, I guess for £8 there’s not much more I should have expected.

The tickets and drinks are slightly more expensive and the popcorn looked smaller than your average cinema but, you’re definitely paying for the whole experience and the friendly, local, screening feel.

Despite the food fail, I will absolutely go back. The perfect place to go with the girls or for a date. I’ll just eat before and take my own snacks next time!

Forever, The Awkward Dinner Guest

xx

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Shaka Zulu – Camden Town

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So, after months of house hunting, moving and job changes I finally have a few spare moments to write a little update about a restaurant I visited in September!

My boyfriend and I took date night on the road, booked an apartment and went to Camden Town for a night. Last Christmas I was given a voucher for a three course meal at Shaka Zulu a beautifully decorated restaurant in the The Stables Market – nine months later we finally had a spare weekend to use the voucher!

Taking the escalator down into the restaurant you are immediately transported into an African wonderland with wooden carvings, 20ft warrior statues and African drummers. It’s a stunning 27,000 sq feet of a place!

We had a choice from the ‘essence of Africa’ menu. I started with venison carpaccio topped with parmesan crisp, while Matt had game and ostrich terrine. Both lovely, fresh starters that were nice and light to begin with. I had, of course, checked out gluten free options weeks before we even booked. There’s a dietary requirement menu online and you can ask for a specific menu when you are there, luckily there’s lots of options and I’m always a big fan of anywhere that has GF chips!

I couldn’t go to a South African restaurant without trying some game meat. I ordered the ostrich steak and Matt had the 10oz sirloin which he said was the best steak he’d ever eaten. Mine was really tender with a strong gamey taste, very enjoyable.  Excellently cooked food, washed down with great wine and cocktails in a restaurant with a great buzz and a really fun atmosphere.

I don’t want to dwell on it but, the service was really terrible. The people who brought over our food were pleasant and smiley, but this was ruined by the girl serving us – grumpy, rude and made us feel really uncomfortable. After reading trip advisor reviews this, unfortunately, seems to be a bit of a common thing. It all stung a bit more when they whacked 11% service charge on top of our bill.

The food isn’t cheap here, but you are paying for great quality and the whole experience. For a little bit of a different night out with equally good food it’s worth a visit.

We loved Camden and spent the following day getting lost in the Stables and food stall hopping amongst the Kerb markets. I’m still dreaming of these halloumi chips from olibabas!

Camden, we’ll definitely be back and I wouldn’t mind round two at Shaka Zulu’s.

 

Forever, The Awkward Dinner Guest

xx

 

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Beers and Pizza. GLUTEN FREE beers and pizza!

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In July and August this year flat hunting became one of my least favourite activities ever! Apparently a spacious, light, clean apartment in Bristol is near impossible to find.

After another day of fruitless hunting my boyfriend and I decided we needed a treat to cheer up our viewing woes. Pizza was the perfect choice to take my mind off estate agents, online ads and 1 bedroom apartments.

We chose Planet Pizza on the busy Gloucester Road. I’ve driven past the place so many times and after a sign saying ‘Gluten free pizza’ caught my eye, it’s been on my list to visit.

Planet pizza has two restaurants on Gloucester Road and Cotham Hill. They offer takeaways, eating in and a huge menu of gluten free pizzas and desserts –  my favourite.

I chose the capricorn – goats cheese, caramelised onions topped with rocket. My boyfriend went for a mars pizza -meatballs and pepperoni topped with corn chips and guac! Its a really chilled out place with no fancy extras and big servings.

The pizza was tasty but the base could possibly have been cooked for a little longer. Still, this wouldn’t have put me off going back and on a sunny evening it looks like the idea place to sit on the decking and people watch.

5-7pm Sunday – Wednesday is 241 on all pizzas. Its a great spot for mid-week pizza eating, washed down with a gluten free beer or cider and it definitely took my mind off moving flats…for an hour or so! They serve Duara Damm the beer I tend to see most commonly on menus. 

 

Forever, The Awkward Dinner Guest

xx

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Seafood Supper at The Waterfront, Exmouth

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My boyfriend and I met in Plymouth while I was living there for a couple of years. Now living a little more into the country in Bristol we take every free weekend to run back to the seaside for a break away. This past weekend we took a trip to his Grandparent’s house in Exmouth for some crazy golf, beach walks and home made roast dinners.

On Friday night we booked a table for two at the Waterfront restaurant at the Pier head.

                  Beautifully decorated inside they stick to the seaside, cosy theme. There are seats inside and a conservatory overlooking the stunning Exmouth bay. I would definitely recommend booking in advance to try and get a seat in the conservatory.

They offer a nice simple menu varying from poussin to steak tartar and fillet of Cornish hake. Everything is locally source and it all looked delicious – I had serious food envy of our neighbour tucking into a huge seafood platter off the specials board.

We both, of course, opted for starters. I had local scallops with vegetable julienne and red onion salsa and my boyfriend had calamari with garlic and basil sauce. The scallops were perfectly tender, one more scallop would have been very much welcomed on the plate.

For the main we had the Exmouth mussels of the day and a side of fries. Mine came with gluten free bread which I used to mop up the tasty mariniere sauce. They tasted really fresh, the sauce was full of flavour and really filling.

They don’t have a specific allergy menu but when I enquired they said most meals could be altered or substituted to fit any allergies. The staff really were lovely the whole evening, even when we ran about half an hour late after sitting in M5 Friday evening traffic, they held our table and said there were no problems.

For pudding we shared a banana banoffee creme brulee, totally forgot to take a picture as by that time I was in Friday night mussels and wine coma. It wasn’t my favourite dessert ever, slightly strange texture with the banana mashed in but it wasn’t horrible. I finished this off for the both of us!

Exmouth is a small but really lovely town, this place is the ideal, reasonably priced spot for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Take time to relax, drink some wine and look out over the pretty bay. We’ll definitely drop in here again net time we’re visiting.

Forever, The Awkward Dinner Guest

xx

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Bottomless Brunch with my Hen – Avenue, London.

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My beautiful big sister got married on the 18th June 2016. But, before I go into all the exciting details about that, let me take you back to the beginning of June when I was in charge – the hen party!

As head bridesmaid, it fell on me to organise a wonderful send off for my sister. Food, prosecco and dancing was my main theme and this was to be repeated throughout the day. The idea was to start where every Saturday should begin, at brunch, and drink prosecco in the best way, the bottomless way. I decided on London, the brunch centre of the UK, and started researching where to go!

After looking through google and timeout suggestions I narrowed my choices to Bad Egg, Bourne and Hollingsworth Buildings and Avenue. They all looked lovely and seemed to provide what I was looking for however, following recommendations from friends living in London and TripAdvisor reviews I finally decided on the latter. The general consensus was that Avenue are extremely attentive and you totally get your money’s worth – which when it comes to prosecco is very important.

Groups of 8 and under are booked online, if any bigger you can call and reserve your table there. No payments are taken in advance they just require credit card details as a deposit if the party doesn’t turn up.

The brunch menu offers 2 courses for  £23.50 or 3 for £26.00 you then add on bottomless prosecco for £15 per person. Honestly, it really is bottomless. Your table is booked for 2 hours and at no point in that time was my glass empty! The staff were all great and brilliantly attentive. I only had to take a couple of sips and there would be a nice man leaning over my right shoulder to top up my glass!

Now to the food! The brunch menu is a sort of American style lunch affair, varying between smoked salmon and scrambled eggs, pancakes and buttermilk chicken burgers. Of course, not everything is gluten free friendly but I felt happy with my selection. They can substitute any of the bread/toast for gluten free replacements. Unfortunately all granola, waffles, pancakes and burgers were off limits.

I chose two courses and started with eggs royale. The gluten free bread is by no means groundbreaking but it was a good portion and the hollandaise sauce was really tasty. Every brunch should have a pudding so my second course was mint ice cream with hot chocolate fudge…delicious.

We booked for 13:15, it was extremely busy already by then so I would definitely recommend booking first. Despite the tables of excited hen parties and group after group of girls with cocktails and prosecco, we still felt the waiters looked after us really well and were at no point left trying to catch their eye for service.

For us it was the perfect way to start the weekend. I have to confess my planning got rather lax onwards from this and we ran late for everything else! Don’t expect to have a productive afternoon after you fall out of a bottomless brunch! Find Avenue on St James’s Street round the corner from Green Park and Piccadilly tube stations. Grab your best girlfriends and guys and book a table! I can’t think of a better way to spend a Saturday afternoon – can you?

Forever, The Awkward Dinner Guest

xx

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Turtle Bay – Delicious Cocktails and Kind of Gluten Free

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Some friends of mine and I booked a table at Turtle Bay in Bristol on Saturday night for some cocktails and University reminiscing.

We arranged the table for 19:30 and both the bar and restaurant were packed already. Unfortunately we just missed out on happy hour 241 cocktails which runs until 7pm every day. But, I’d hear so much about the cocktails here that we all order some anyway. I had the Jammin’ – white rum, apricot liqueur, fresh mint, ginger, lemon, apple juice and apricot jam. No complaints, we all enjoyed our choices and they went down very quickly.

Turtle bay do have an allergy menu, which at first glance has pretty much every dish marked with wheat or gluten. From what I could work out none of the starters were gluten free – but I had a good smell of everyone else’s which looked and smelt great – not awkward at all for the group! There are some main dishes on the menu that just have flour written in the gluten box. I was told that these could be GF as the flour is just for the roti and the dish can be served without this. So, that gives you pretty much all the ‘one pots’ to choose from!

Unfortunately all the jerk dishes are off limits as soy sauce seems to be used in all of the sauces.

I took my time deciding between goat curry, curry shrimp and mango or Trinidad curry chicken. I finally went for the latter; spiced chicken breast, cooked in coconut milk with spices, garlic and scotch bonnet.

Turtle Bay say “we like it hot,” and they certainly do! Proudly, I have got a lot better at eating spicy food and really enjoy a meal with more spice in now. This curry was just teetering on the side of too hot for me! Saying that, it really was delicious and I ate the whole lot.

I have to admit we all went particularly quiet while eating, sipping water, wine and milky cocktails after each mouthful – Turtle Bay is definitely not for those who can’t stand the heat.

After reading a few GF reviews before going I was pleasantly surprised at how many of the dishes I could eat on the menu. There are some posts out there telling you to avoid the restaurant completely. I probably wont return any time soon for food on my own but, if you’re going with a group wanting fun cocktails and good atmospheric music its a great Saturday night spot. They have restaurants all over the UK, have a look and I’m sure there will be one within a stones throw from you.

Forever, The Awkward Dinner Guest

xx

 

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Curradine Barns -A Gluten Free Wedding Breakfast

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On the 27th May 2016 I was lucky enough to be a bridesmaid for my best friends wedding as she married the perfect guy for her. They chose to be married at Curradine Barns, an insanely cute, romantic venue in Worcestershire. The red brick barns were a lovely setting for what really was a superb day.

Despite rumours of thunderstorms – the sun shone for us all day! The speeches were emotional and brilliant, the ceilidh band got the whole wedding dancing, the bride looked beautiful and most of all, the food was absolutely delicious.

We sat down after endless jugs of peach sangria and I eagerly glanced over the menu.

I have to admit my first thought was oh no, I’m going to be starving, second was I’m probably going to end up very drunk. I awkwardly pulled the events coordinator aside to just double check whether this menu was correct for me and would I definitely be able to eat something? She assured me that all the options would be made gluten free for me and the caterers were aware of any allergies – amazing!

To begin with I was given the best bread roll I have ever had. It had a perfect crust and was so light in the middle. I’ve now emailed the catering company to ask where it came from, so I will keep you updated!

The food was faultless. A huge, crispy scotch egg matched with apple puree to start. Melt in your mouth fillet of beef for main – we already know how much I love steak – and a refreshing stack of GF shortbread and raspberries for dessert. The shortbread tasted just like a regular one no grainy, crumbly texture that is often found in gluten free biscuits. I can safely say I cleared my plate on each course!

One of the best things for me, was having exactly the same menu as everyone else. No substitutes or slightly less impressive replacements just to make it gluten free.

The catering was provided by Galloping Gourmet who are in charge of the food and menus for all Curradine Barns events. They also cater for many other venues, so if you are planning the big day I would absolutely recommend having a look at where they work, whether you are gluten free or not! My boyfriend had the gluten full menu and repeatedly told me that it was the best scotch egg he has ever had!

After planning my best friends wedding at sleepovers for the last 6 years, the big day did not disappoint. I laughed a lot, cried a lot, danced a lot and ate everything – perfect!

Forever, The Awkward Dinner Guest

xx