Gluten-free Italian - Covent Garden

There is a lovely Italian restaurant on Endell St, near Covent Garden tube (almost opposite swanky media hang-out The Hospital) which does gluten-free pasta. It's called Da Mario and is totally authentic and seems to have been transported straight from Florence to London, complete with comedic waiters. The food is really good and they offer gluten-free linguine or penne and you can have most of the sauces. They also have specials which change regularly - when I went last there was a risotto which was also gluten-free. For pudding there is creme brulee on the menu and also ice creams and sorbets which are gluten-free.

It's pretty reasonably priced too - between £6.50 and £10-ish for pasta dishes and then a bit more for meat/fish mains.

At last - pasta in a restaurant (that isn't a chain...) - hooray! They don't have a website but if you search for Da Mario Endell St you'll find plenty of reviews...

Highly recommended for a girly supper.

Muffins galore

I headed to Covent Garden the other day to find a muffin shop that I'd read about online that does gluten-free muffins - Muffinskis. I found it and it was certainly worth the walk from work as they indeed do make gluten-free ones and the one I had was seriously good! There was blueberry and white chocolate and raspberry and white chocolate on offer - I went for the blueberry. It was pretty fricking tasty - crunchy on top and filled with loads of blueberries so gooey inside - great texture and delicious - hooray! The man behind the counter, who I think is possibly the owner, was really friendly too and knew what was in the muffins (no soya flour, thank God) which is always useful. DEFINITELY worth a visit. My trip there inspired me to come up with a better recipe for my own muffins which I did and I have to say they were seriously winning (banana ones). I will post the recipe shortly...

So visit Muffinskis - you can eat in or take away so a good place to meet friends for tea as, for once, you won't have to miss out on the cakes - yay!

Gluten-free Indian food in Soho

Rasa will always be my favourite Indian restaurant in London, but for lunchtime take-aways I have a new best friend - Imli. As a restaurant that introduced 'Indian tapas' to London, I have always been suspicious of it and never ventured in, but after Googling "best dal in Soho" and seeing it I thought I'd check out the menu on the website. I then discovered that they do take-away AND that on the Imli To Go menu they mark what is gluten-free - amazing!
I went there to pick up some lunch today and had some of the best tadka dal I've ever had, some rice and a delcious passion fruit lassi - all for £5.97 (you get a 10% discount if you pick it up rather than have it delivered) - bargain!
It really was good and they do three desserts which are all gluten-free, starters, mains and sides. No gluten-free bread available but you get free poppadums with your order anyway. A winner.

Vegan, vegetarian - and gluten-free!

Having just started working in Soho, after a lengthy spell of lunchtime-option nothingness in Queen's Park, I have been like a child in a (gluten-free) sweet shop - running around trying all the different options on my lunch hour. I did some Googling to see what came up and found a review for Beatroot - a tiny cafe practically opposite my new office. It has a range of hot and cold options to choose from and three different-sized containers to put them in - ranging from £3.70 - £5.70.
The staff are really friendly and knowledgeable about what's in the food and there are loads of gluten-free options - they even use gluten-free soy sauce in their stir-fries. It's all vegetarian and I think they do lots of vegan things too - including nut/dried fruit cakes etc.
The food I had (dal, rice and some tofu stir-fry) was all really good, simple and nutritious - if I had one complaint it would be that it was slightly bland as not much salt - however, that's good for me so I shouldn't really make an issue out of it...!
Definitely somewhere I'll be returning too - especially as summer dissolves into the cooler months and warming food is on the agenda...

Noodles

Wagamama is a cheap, easy, quick option and they have a gluten-free menu (you can see it online too so can plan what you want - online menu). There are a couple of delicious things on the menu that are naturally gluten-free and then there are a few other things they will adapt for you. I've found the one near Leicester Square the best for the waitress really knowing what she was talking about when it came to allergies but they are all very accommodating.

Arbutus and Andrew Edmunds

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.

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.