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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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‘On The Go’ Snacks

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Let’s be honest, we can’t always be ultra prepared with our home made gluten free, sugar free, low calorie, macro friendly snacks to get us through to the next meal time. Sometimes you just have to nip to the shop and grab the first thing you can to help you get through that walk home, the last hour at work or a long car journey. This is something that is easier said than done in a gluten free world! I really struggle when I want something quick and easy to eat that’s not a proper meal.

I’ve come to realise I have some definite go to sweet and savoury products that are found in most supermarkets and corner shops. I’m not saying they’re the most healthy of options, but smalls snacks like this don’t really count, do they?!

  1. Eat Natural Fruit and Nut Bars – I would say these are the easiest bars to find because the majority of shops stock them. So for something sweet I often fall to these. This bar is a mix of coconut, apricots and almonds and goes very well with a cup of tea! I also really like the protein nut bar and the ginger and dark chocolate ones. Very filling and tasty! 247kcal, 23.8g carbs, 3.5 protein, 14.7g fat per bag 

 

2. Metcalfes Milk Chocolate Rice Cakes – I have really had to wean myself off these slightly. A few months ago I was a little bit obsessed and eating a few too many packets a week. But they are a great snack, especially with a cup of tea. Most Sainsbury’s sell them and I can always find them in service stations! 83kcal, 10.9g carbs, 1g protein 3.8g fat per bag 

 

3. Urban Fruit Coconut Chips – Sriracha Chilli – I would have to say these are my current fave and they’re in every Tesco express around town. Great mix of sweet, crisp coconut with that chilli kick but not too filling. I have used them recently as my cooking dinner snack. Speaking of Urban Fruit I also love their bags of dried fruit – if you see the pear and apple mix, grab them! An absolute gem that unfortunately are not the ones sold widely. 122kcal, 4.6g carbs, 1.2g protein, 10.4g fat per bag 

 

4. Pop Chips – Sea Salt and Vinegar – Just yes! I really miss salt and vinegar crisps as so many tend to have barley in them. This is the perfect replacement! Baked not fried, so that instantly screams healthy to me, totally gluten free and a really strong vinegar taste. 120kcal, 1g protein, 4g fat per bag

 

5. Aldi Chilli Rice Snacks – These are probably the hardest to get your hands on as they are only sold in Aldi.  But I would totally recommend picking up a bag if you need a mid shopping snack! I’m not ashamed to say after every weekly shop I eat a bag in the car on the way home!! Tortilla shaped rice based snacks – thin, crispy, with a big sweet and tangy flavour. 181kcal, 29g carbs, 2.8g protein 5.9g fat per bag 

 

 

Let me know if you have any other yummy recommendations for me!

Forever, The Awkward Dinner Guest

xx

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Aldi’s Raw, Paleo and Protein Bars

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If you haven’t jumped on the Aldi bandwagon yet, what are you doing?! It’s cheap, easy to shop in and actually good quality. After moving flats I even go out of my way now to still shop there.

All they’ve been missing is a free from section – until now! They’ve trialled gluten free products a couple of times, but this week I noticed a more permenant looking section with spaghetti, coco pops, soups and the most exciting thing I noticed – raw, paleo, fruit and nut bars. They’re from the company called The Foodie Market who make a few other products for Aldi. I’m already a big fan of their chilli rice cakes which are also gluten free.

There are three flavours available – brazil nut and cherry, cashew and date and macadamia and coconut. All contain simply nuts, dried fruit and oil. High in fibre, vegetarian and gluten free. For 39p each!!! 39p. That’s it?!


They’re tasty, pretty filling, nothing groundbreaking they taste like most raw, paleo bars on the market. But, for 39p it puts them miles ahead in my books. The perfect snack.

Also on offer are protein bars for a whopping 49p. I got the berry flavour but they also sell a banana one. Containing 30g’s carbs and 20g’s protein per bar they’re a really tasty snack during the day or pre/post workout.

Just writing this has made me realise I need to go and stock up before everybody hears about these bars.

Good luck hunting them down! Fingers crossed they’re are here to stay.

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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Homemade Pecan, Yoghurt and Cranberry Gluten Free Granola. 

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Let’s be honest, it’s not cheap to be a coeliac! Whether it’s bread, sauces or granola you’re going to be paying a little more than the average brands. I’ve had to put serious bans on myself before when it comes to buying granola, I eat it so quickly its just not friendly to my bank balance. So, recently I’ve been making my own. It’s really quick and easy and I find you get a lot more for your money!

The great thing about homemade granola is that you can pretty much use a combination of any ingredients you fancy. Whichever oats, seeds, nuts or dried fruit you’re loving at the moment, put them together using this method and you’re ready to go!

This is the recipe that’s my ‘go to’ at the moment – feel free to add or substitute any of the ingredients you want to.

– Ingredients –

150g whole almonds

60g whole pecans

100g sweet dried cranberries

100g oats

40g deassicated coconut

75g yoghurt drops or yoghurt coated fruit

2.5 tbsp coconut oil

2 tbsp ground cinnamon

4 tbsp honey

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– Method – 

Preheat your oven to 180ºc

Blitz your almonds and pecans in a food processor or by hands so that they’re broken up but not completely ground.

Combine the nuts, oats, deassicated coconut and just over half of your cranberries in a mixing bowl

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Place your coconut oil, honey and cinnamon together in a pan over a medium heat. Remove when completed melted – this wont take long you don’t need to bring to the boil at all.

Add your wet ingredients to the dry ones and mix together then lay out on a baking tray.

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Pop in the oven and bake. I cook mine for around 25 minutes, but check every 10 minutes or so to separate the mixture.

When golden brown, remove from the heat and leave to cool.

Once cool add the rest of your cranberries and yoghurt drops.

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Then eat! Top yoghurt with your granola, eat with milk like a cereal or take to work as a snack.

Pick all your favourite parts of ‘off the shelf’ granola and throw together in one pot to enjoy for a fraction of the price!

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