So- I've decided to expand my repertoire to include a couple of my favourite g-f recipes!
Spanish Omelette is great hot, but also works really well as a picnic food (good alternative to sandwiches). I've ripped this recipe off a Nigel Slater book...
3/4 large eggs
2/3 peeled potatoes, grated
A clump of parsley
Some mint leaves
Olive oil
Salt and Pepper
To go in it:
5 strips of streaky bacon
A handful of cherry tomotoes
Oregano and rosemary
Firstly- prepare the filling. Halve the tomatoes and lay out in a baking tray, interspersed with the bacon. Put a decent amount of salt on the tomatoes (helps them to dry out) and some pepper. Sprinkle some oregano and rosemary over the whole lot and then a good drizzling of olive oil. Shove in the oven at 160 for an hour or so (until the bacon's gone really crispy and the tomatoes have dried out and shrivelled).
Beat the eggs in a bowl and then mix in the grated potatoes and mint and parsley. Heat some oil in a pan (about a 24cm pan should do the trick). Season the mixture well and then pour it into the hot pan. Whilst the mixture is still liquid, break the pieces of bacon up and add them along with the tomatoes. Cook over a medium heat for about quarter of an hour. Once you're happy it's cooked, brown the top off under a hot grill.
Great.
Tuesday 14 August 2007
Tuesday 31 July 2007
PJ's Grill
http://www.pjsgrill.net/
30 Wellington Street,
Covent Garden,
WC2E 7BD
0207 2407529
We went for one of our first meals here, and I'd picked it specifically because I'd read it was really good for gluten-free stuff. I also checked when I rang up to make the booking that it wouldn't be a problem.
It's a decent enough restaurant, just to the south of Covent Garden. Lots of theatrical photos and memorabilia line the wall. The decor seems slightly dated to me, and it has that touristy feel that lots of places in the area do...
I was worried when we asked what was gluten-free on the menu and were told more or less anything (i.e. do they know what they're talking about?). Became even more worried when our waiter tried to offer Laura bread. Think he was only a little slow however as when we pointed out she couldn't have bread he brought out some rice-cakes for her instead (nice-touch I thought).
I had a nice bit of crispy pork belly (a little too fatty and not quite crisp enough for my taste). Think Laura had some sort of salmon jobbie which seemed quite nice. We didn't have puddings (I'm always slightly disappointed when a main course fills me up too much for pudding), but we did notice there's a flourless chocolate cake on the menu- looks like a winner to me!
Think I'm going to start giving marks for restaurants so...
Coeliac-friendliness: 8 (losing marks for offering bread, extra marks for flourless chocolate cake)
Food: 6 (Perfectly good, but not up there with London's best)
14/20!
30 Wellington Street,
Covent Garden,
WC2E 7BD
0207 2407529
We went for one of our first meals here, and I'd picked it specifically because I'd read it was really good for gluten-free stuff. I also checked when I rang up to make the booking that it wouldn't be a problem.
It's a decent enough restaurant, just to the south of Covent Garden. Lots of theatrical photos and memorabilia line the wall. The decor seems slightly dated to me, and it has that touristy feel that lots of places in the area do...
I was worried when we asked what was gluten-free on the menu and were told more or less anything (i.e. do they know what they're talking about?). Became even more worried when our waiter tried to offer Laura bread. Think he was only a little slow however as when we pointed out she couldn't have bread he brought out some rice-cakes for her instead (nice-touch I thought).
I had a nice bit of crispy pork belly (a little too fatty and not quite crisp enough for my taste). Think Laura had some sort of salmon jobbie which seemed quite nice. We didn't have puddings (I'm always slightly disappointed when a main course fills me up too much for pudding), but we did notice there's a flourless chocolate cake on the menu- looks like a winner to me!
Think I'm going to start giving marks for restaurants so...
Coeliac-friendliness: 8 (losing marks for offering bread, extra marks for flourless chocolate cake)
Food: 6 (Perfectly good, but not up there with London's best)
14/20!
Monday 30 July 2007
Giraffe
http://www.giraffe.net
Spitalfields Market
E1 6DW
020 3116 2000
After spending the morning wandering around Spitalfields market, we were both pretty hungry. I hadn't done any gluten-free research before hand, but I know the area pretty well and was confident we'd find somewhere.
It came down to a choice of three restaurants. Firstly we tried St John's Bread and wine
(Commercial St, E1 6LZ) which I was sure would be fine- they cook simple food very well and specialize in quite unusual traditional English ingredients (e.g. eels, sprats, samphire). Unfortunatly we couldn't get a table there (at least not without a two hour wait).
And then there were two. Canteen, which is right next to Giraffe is another restaurant serving quality British food at sensible prices (the pies are lovely though, of course not gluten-free!). I'm pretty sure they'd know what's in each of their dishes and be able to cope with gluten-free. Again however there was quite a wait for a table so we headed to Giraffe.
Giraffe serves global cuisine (think Burgers, Green curry, stir-fries, salads...). Looking at the menu, Laura fancied the Caesar salad so we asked our waitress if that was gluten-free (obviously it's not because of the croutons, but it's a good sign if they pick up on this!). She didn't appear at all fazed by the question (always nice) and went off to the kitchen to check. When she reappeared she told us that the dressing was fine and pointed out that it came with croutons which they'd leave off!
The salad was very nice, and I'm guessing all the salads would be ok. I had green chicken curry, very good again (though not spicy enough for my tastes) which I also guess was gluten-free (although I didn't check). Lots of other stuff on the menu looked like it would have been ok as well.
Overall a great experience, good food, friendly knowledgable staff. My only gripe would be that the service was a little slow at times, but then again it was packed to bursting. Giraffe has got a fair number of chains across London, and a few in the rest of the country as well.
Spitalfields Market
E1 6DW
020 3116 2000
After spending the morning wandering around Spitalfields market, we were both pretty hungry. I hadn't done any gluten-free research before hand, but I know the area pretty well and was confident we'd find somewhere.
It came down to a choice of three restaurants. Firstly we tried St John's Bread and wine
(Commercial St, E1 6LZ) which I was sure would be fine- they cook simple food very well and specialize in quite unusual traditional English ingredients (e.g. eels, sprats, samphire). Unfortunatly we couldn't get a table there (at least not without a two hour wait).
And then there were two. Canteen, which is right next to Giraffe is another restaurant serving quality British food at sensible prices (the pies are lovely though, of course not gluten-free!). I'm pretty sure they'd know what's in each of their dishes and be able to cope with gluten-free. Again however there was quite a wait for a table so we headed to Giraffe.
Giraffe serves global cuisine (think Burgers, Green curry, stir-fries, salads...). Looking at the menu, Laura fancied the Caesar salad so we asked our waitress if that was gluten-free (obviously it's not because of the croutons, but it's a good sign if they pick up on this!). She didn't appear at all fazed by the question (always nice) and went off to the kitchen to check. When she reappeared she told us that the dressing was fine and pointed out that it came with croutons which they'd leave off!
The salad was very nice, and I'm guessing all the salads would be ok. I had green chicken curry, very good again (though not spicy enough for my tastes) which I also guess was gluten-free (although I didn't check). Lots of other stuff on the menu looked like it would have been ok as well.
Overall a great experience, good food, friendly knowledgable staff. My only gripe would be that the service was a little slow at times, but then again it was packed to bursting. Giraffe has got a fair number of chains across London, and a few in the rest of the country as well.
Sunday 29 July 2007
Ooze
http://www.ooze.biz
62 Goodge Street
London, W1T 4NE
(0)20 7436 9444
We headed to Ooze after bowling at the All-Star Lanes in Bloomsbury with a couple of friends. I'd spent a couple of hours the day before browsing for restaurants in the area. When I checked out the menu of this place and noticed that all the gluten-free dishes were marked, it was a sure-fire winner.
Ooze's thing is risotto- I had seafood and Laura had smoked salmon. It came slightly al-dente (as Ramsey said it should on the F-word the other week) and was generally pretty good. Only g-f dessert on the menu was a panncotta which we shared- very tasty.
Also had a great bottle of wine- the name escapes me now, but it was an Italian white of a type I didn't recognise- went brilliantly with the risotto.
62 Goodge Street
London, W1T 4NE
(0)20 7436 9444
We headed to Ooze after bowling at the All-Star Lanes in Bloomsbury with a couple of friends. I'd spent a couple of hours the day before browsing for restaurants in the area. When I checked out the menu of this place and noticed that all the gluten-free dishes were marked, it was a sure-fire winner.
Ooze's thing is risotto- I had seafood and Laura had smoked salmon. It came slightly al-dente (as Ramsey said it should on the F-word the other week) and was generally pretty good. Only g-f dessert on the menu was a panncotta which we shared- very tasty.
Also had a great bottle of wine- the name escapes me now, but it was an Italian white of a type I didn't recognise- went brilliantly with the risotto.
Introduction
So... the idea for this came up the other day. I'd been looking for a restaurant in London (where I live) to take my girlfriend to (she's a coeliac- i.e. she is allergic to gluten which is found in wheat).
It's pretty tricky taking a coeliac out to dinner- lots of places aren't really aware of whether their dishes are gluten-free or not, and it can be a lot of hassle trying to coax information out of waiters etc.
However, London being the amazing city it is, there are lots of places where they do know whether they've got gluten in their dishes. Chain restaurants which are ok include La Tasca and Nandos (or so I'm told). I'm a bit of a food snob though, and having to eat all my meals out at one of these places fills me with horror.
The good news is- the better the restaurant, the more likely they are to know what's in their food.
The idea then- is to keep a blog, detailing all the restaurants that we visit so that other coeliacs (and more importantly- coeliac other halves) can learn about some of the great restaurants they can visit in London.
It's pretty tricky taking a coeliac out to dinner- lots of places aren't really aware of whether their dishes are gluten-free or not, and it can be a lot of hassle trying to coax information out of waiters etc.
However, London being the amazing city it is, there are lots of places where they do know whether they've got gluten in their dishes. Chain restaurants which are ok include La Tasca and Nandos (or so I'm told). I'm a bit of a food snob though, and having to eat all my meals out at one of these places fills me with horror.
The good news is- the better the restaurant, the more likely they are to know what's in their food.
The idea then- is to keep a blog, detailing all the restaurants that we visit so that other coeliacs (and more importantly- coeliac other halves) can learn about some of the great restaurants they can visit in London.
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