I recently ate out at both Arbutus and Andrew Edmunds in Soho.
Went for a Saturday lunch in Arubutus (they do a great value lunch menu, although in the end I ordered off the normal menu) - the food was good but the main reason I'm posting about them is because the waiter was really thoughtful about what I could and couldn't eat. He checked with the chef what I could eat off the menu etc and was pretty speedy about it so there wasn't the frustrating waiting around that there often is before you can make your order...
The nicest thing though was that he checked what puddings I could have BEFORE bringing the dessert menu, so I was able to just order straight away - made a real difference for a waiter to be so thoughtful - it's the little things...
Andrew Edmunds is a great restaurant that is really good value - an absolutely delicious meal for two (two or three courses each and half a bottle of wine is about £50 plus service) - and the food is really delicious. Simple ingredients combined to be seriously tasty without being fussy. They have plenty on the menu that is naturally gluten-free as they use fresh ingredients etc. I love their dressed crab and they do a great risotto and some lovely fish dishes. The menu changes daily and is hand-written and there are specials on a blackboard inside. Really friendly staff and a lovely atmosphere mean it's always pretty busy... They don't have a website but their number is 0207 437 5708 if you want to book a table sometime... I would.
Friday, 11 May 2007
Wednesday, 9 May 2007
Honeybuns cakes
Honeybuns make absolutely delicious (although quite heavy - but in a good way!) gluten-free shortbread cakes etc.
I am a particular fan of Millionaire's Shortbread and that is something I have really been missing but they do one! It's really good and there are versions with nuts etc on top too - sort of like a rocky road with added polenta/almond shortbread base...
You can get them in loads of places but John Lewis' 'The Place To Eat' is a good bet if you have one of those in your hometown...
I was also particularly excited to discover that they have a stall at Glastonbury so now I don't have to worry about what I can eat for breakfast - woohoo!
They also do brownies and other stuff and you can mail order them from sites like Goodness Direct.
I am a particular fan of Millionaire's Shortbread and that is something I have really been missing but they do one! It's really good and there are versions with nuts etc on top too - sort of like a rocky road with added polenta/almond shortbread base...
You can get them in loads of places but John Lewis' 'The Place To Eat' is a good bet if you have one of those in your hometown...
I was also particularly excited to discover that they have a stall at Glastonbury so now I don't have to worry about what I can eat for breakfast - woohoo!
They also do brownies and other stuff and you can mail order them from sites like Goodness Direct.
Wednesday, 4 April 2007
Absolutely amazing salads!
My new favourite place is Rainforest Cuisine. I first tried some of their aboslutely delicious salads/flans (which are all gluten-free, sugar-free etc - just lots of seriously tasty vegetables/salads all bound together with themselves) at the farmers market in Lyric Square in Hammersmith one Thursday, and then I discovered that they do Spitalfields on Wednesdays and Sundays and seeing as how I work near there it's become my Wednesday treat!
The food is all so colourful - a lot of it is Caribbean - and it's also all raw and organic and living so it's incredibly healthy...
They also do great cakes - again all gluten/sugar-free etc - made from bananas, dates, cashews, coconut, sultanas etc.
They also do Chelsea market on Saturdays, Alexandra Palace on Sundays and Wednesdays at Swiss Cottage.
If you live anywhere near any of these places, or even if you don't, you should definitely try some of their stuff. The mung bean and lentil salad is especially good.
It's £5 for a salad box, or a (huge) piece of flan and 3 different salads - topped with wonderful homemade hummus and either tomato or spicy sauce.
Y.U.M.
The food is all so colourful - a lot of it is Caribbean - and it's also all raw and organic and living so it's incredibly healthy...
They also do great cakes - again all gluten/sugar-free etc - made from bananas, dates, cashews, coconut, sultanas etc.
They also do Chelsea market on Saturdays, Alexandra Palace on Sundays and Wednesdays at Swiss Cottage.
If you live anywhere near any of these places, or even if you don't, you should definitely try some of their stuff. The mung bean and lentil salad is especially good.
It's £5 for a salad box, or a (huge) piece of flan and 3 different salads - topped with wonderful homemade hummus and either tomato or spicy sauce.
Y.U.M.
Sunday, 1 April 2007
Leon add gluten-free labels
Just a quick update - Leon have added the symbol 'GF' to their menu so that you can easily and quickly see what is gluten-free, as well as wheat-free, dairy-free etc... hooray! Makes it even easier to decide what to have off their extensive and coeliac-friendly menu - yay!
Also - they have just changed from the winter menu to the spring one and there are loads of new things to try - delicious.
Also - they have just changed from the winter menu to the spring one and there are loads of new things to try - delicious.
Thursday, 15 March 2007
Sainsbury's add new stuff to Free From range...
Sainsbury's have added some great new stuff to their Free From range... Unfortunately they don't seem to still be doing the pitta breads (which were perfect for making a sandwich if I was going on a train journey or something) but they have added frozen fish fingers which I'm very excited about...! They have also now got lots of frozen Free From ready-meals, which are not something I'm a fan of, but it's nice to have the option...
They also stock the Dietary Specials frozen pizza, which, if you add your own toppings, is a pretty good Friday-night-in-with-a-movie option.
They have also re-introduced their pizza bases, but they are now half the size and you get two in a packet... so not ideal for taking to Strada (as mentioned in my last post) but maybe you could take two...
The Sainsbury's near Clapham Common tube has a great selection of all this stuff but you can get a good list of most of the stuff that's available online...
If we're on the subject of supermarkets, I would add that Waitrose always has reallly good selections of Free From stuff in most of their stores, some Sainsbury's have a great selection, some don't (the Angel one didn't last time I checked) and bigger Tesco's are also good.
However, small branches like the Locals or Expresses are generally rubbish and don't stock any Free From stuff. I'm campaigning for this to change (it's not like people with allergies don't suddenly need a loaf of bread or whatever, albeit different bread, or want to be able to nip in somewhere central on the way home or something) so if anyone else wants to email supermarkets to help the cause, please feel free!
They also stock the Dietary Specials frozen pizza, which, if you add your own toppings, is a pretty good Friday-night-in-with-a-movie option.
They have also re-introduced their pizza bases, but they are now half the size and you get two in a packet... so not ideal for taking to Strada (as mentioned in my last post) but maybe you could take two...
The Sainsbury's near Clapham Common tube has a great selection of all this stuff but you can get a good list of most of the stuff that's available online...
If we're on the subject of supermarkets, I would add that Waitrose always has reallly good selections of Free From stuff in most of their stores, some Sainsbury's have a great selection, some don't (the Angel one didn't last time I checked) and bigger Tesco's are also good.
However, small branches like the Locals or Expresses are generally rubbish and don't stock any Free From stuff. I'm campaigning for this to change (it's not like people with allergies don't suddenly need a loaf of bread or whatever, albeit different bread, or want to be able to nip in somewhere central on the way home or something) so if anyone else wants to email supermarkets to help the cause, please feel free!
Tuesday, 13 March 2007
Strada - you can take your own pizza base!
I lived in Italy for a year and when I came back to London, Strada was the place I went for pizza as theirs were the closest thing to the real deal that I could find (this was before I discovered I was Coeliac). When I found out that I was allergic to gluten/wheat, pizza was one of the things I dreaded not being able to eat most - as I love good pizza (particularly Italian).
However, all was not lost - Strada allow you to take your own pizza base which they will then add delicious toppings to and cook in the wood-burning oven! Amazing!
It's always best to ring the branch you're going to beforehand to check that it's OK, and some of them ask you to bring some gluten-free flour with you too so that they can dust the base to stop it sticking, but they are so lovely that they don't even charge you for a whole pizza - just the toppings that you have!
It is so nice to be able to go out and eat pizza in a restaurant.
However, I am now at a bit of a loss as Sainsbury's, whose bases I found best for this, seem to have stopped doing them since they introduced their new range of Free From foods...
I haven't tried with any others yet as have been making my own and staying in (I'm not sure what the Strada policy is on having to use a sealed base rather than a homemade one as I guess they need to know exactly what's in things in case you claim food-poisoning or something) but am sure there are other good ones out there - suggestions welcome! My problem is that they're all so small and thick...
However, if you're ever in New York you can get the best gluten-free pizza in the whole world ever at this amazing gluten-free Italian (which also does toasted focaccia paninis and cupcakes and stuff - all gluten-free!!) on Bleecker St called Risotteria.
Seriously, it's my new favourite place in the world, but Strada is a pretty good back-up for when you're not in NYC...
However, all was not lost - Strada allow you to take your own pizza base which they will then add delicious toppings to and cook in the wood-burning oven! Amazing!
It's always best to ring the branch you're going to beforehand to check that it's OK, and some of them ask you to bring some gluten-free flour with you too so that they can dust the base to stop it sticking, but they are so lovely that they don't even charge you for a whole pizza - just the toppings that you have!
It is so nice to be able to go out and eat pizza in a restaurant.
However, I am now at a bit of a loss as Sainsbury's, whose bases I found best for this, seem to have stopped doing them since they introduced their new range of Free From foods...
I haven't tried with any others yet as have been making my own and staying in (I'm not sure what the Strada policy is on having to use a sealed base rather than a homemade one as I guess they need to know exactly what's in things in case you claim food-poisoning or something) but am sure there are other good ones out there - suggestions welcome! My problem is that they're all so small and thick...
However, if you're ever in New York you can get the best gluten-free pizza in the whole world ever at this amazing gluten-free Italian (which also does toasted focaccia paninis and cupcakes and stuff - all gluten-free!!) on Bleecker St called Risotteria.
Seriously, it's my new favourite place in the world, but Strada is a pretty good back-up for when you're not in NYC...
Monday, 12 March 2007
Amazing Indian food - with gluten-free bread!
Rasa has a few restaurants in London (I don't want to label them a 'chain' as it has the wrong connotations for these friendly, small, lovely places) - I've so far visited the one on Charlotte Street, W1 and the one just behind Oxford St, W1.
The food is really, reallly good and the Charlotte Street one specialises in fish dishes - all of which are absolutely delicious - and there is a vegetarian one in Stoke Newington, which is the original venue.
There is a delicious rice-flour bread, which has onions and garlic and other tasty things in too, and the basket of traditional, crunchy starters are all made with gram or lentil or rice flour so are all gluten-free! Woohoo!
Seriously, if you want a great curry and want to be able to enjoy all the sides that you would have to miss out on in other places, give Rasa a go.
The fish one and the one off Oxford St are pretty reasonable (main curries about £12 - worth it) and the vegetarian one is positiviely bargainous, with delicious vegetable curries for about £6.
Lots of choice for puddings too for Coeliacs - traditional Indian rice pudding and kulfi are winning.
Mmmm mmmm.
The food is really, reallly good and the Charlotte Street one specialises in fish dishes - all of which are absolutely delicious - and there is a vegetarian one in Stoke Newington, which is the original venue.
There is a delicious rice-flour bread, which has onions and garlic and other tasty things in too, and the basket of traditional, crunchy starters are all made with gram or lentil or rice flour so are all gluten-free! Woohoo!
Seriously, if you want a great curry and want to be able to enjoy all the sides that you would have to miss out on in other places, give Rasa a go.
The fish one and the one off Oxford St are pretty reasonable (main curries about £12 - worth it) and the vegetarian one is positiviely bargainous, with delicious vegetable curries for about £6.
Lots of choice for puddings too for Coeliacs - traditional Indian rice pudding and kulfi are winning.
Mmmm mmmm.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)