Review: Romeo’s Sugar Free Bakery

I’ve wanted to visit Romeo’s Sugar Free Bakery since I saw their stall at the Allergy and Free From show last year. Last weekend I was visiting the lovely Amy in London and we headed to Islington to have lunch at London’s first sugar free, gluten free bakery.

The lovely Amy

 

The bakery was much bigger than I was expecting and there was ample seating space; we got a table right away. I was immediately excited by the counter full of cakes, quiche, and pizza, all of which I was able to eat!

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Review: Cosy Club, Ipswich

The office Christmas meal was held at Cosy Club in Ipswich this year and it was an extremely enjoyable evening with great customer service and excellent food. True to it’s name, the restaurant has a warm, cosy ambience with large chandeliers and dark, wood panelled walls filled with framed paintings.

Review: Café 21, Colchester

On a recent visit back home to Colchester, I met a friend for lunch at Café 21 which is a small, independent café in the town centre. The café has a cosy, friendly atmosphere and I was pleasantly surprised to see gluten free options clearly labelled on the menu.  They have gluten free bread for sandwiches and a selection of warm meals. I chose the Aubergine and Butternut Squash Moussaka and it was excellent. The portion was big and came with plenty of salad. The moussaka was filled with lots of veg and had a crispy cheesy topping.

There was also a selection of gluten free desserts on the menu including cheesecake and crumble. I had a Peanut and Caramel Tart with ice cream. The tart turned out to be an Almondy cake which was delicious. I’d only seen the Toblerone and Daim Almondy cakes before and didn’t realise there were other flavours so this was an exciting discovery.

I was really impressed by the menu and the quality of food at Café 21 and I highly recommend it.

Awkward Eaters in Amsterdam

We spent 3 days in Amsterdam for our holiday this year so I thought I would share our experiences of gluten free and vegetarian food in Amsterdam. Despite hearing how great Amsterdam was for gluten free we found eating out a struggle. Haesje Claes and Lieve had been recommended to me for their gluten free menus but Lieve was closed when we looked and Haesje Claes only had 2 vegetarian options which we weren’t impressed by. So instead we looked for vegetarian restaurants but these were also disappointing in their gluten free options. Here are the places where we ate gluten free, vegetarian food in Amsterdam.

La Polenteria, London

If you’re an Awkward Eater then no trip to London is complete without a visit to the first Italian, 100% gluten free, restaurant in London, La Polenteria. The menu is based around La polenta which is a popular dish from North Italy made of cornmeal flour.

 

Based in Soho, La Polenteria is a small restaurant with a pleasant, modern interior and a very casual vibe. Space is restricted so the tables are crammed closely together so I was sat almost shoulder-to-shoulder with the people on the tables either side off us. It was very warm as well so if you’re claustrophobic or have an aversion to sitting next to strangers than you might want to choose a quiet time to visit. However, the food and service made up for the slightly uncomfortable seating arrangements. 

Polenta gnocchi with smoked salmon and avocado cream

Allergy & Free From Show London 2016

This weekend Mike and I went to our first Allergy & Free From Show at London Olympia. It truly was like Christmas had come early! If you have any allergies or intolerances or follow a restricted diet for any reason then this is the place for you and I urge you to go next year.

We spent 5 hours walking around all the stalls trying and buying amazing food, meeting lovely people, getting great tips about free from diets and cooking, and just generally having the time of our lives!

There was so much to see and do so here, in no particular order, are our highlights from the show:

Awkward Eaters in Nottingham

We had an action packed weekend visiting friends in Nottingham. We visited the Galleries of Justice and the City of Caves on Saturday which was excellent fun and great value for money. Sunday morning we took a sunny stroll to Wollaton Hall and Park which is stunning. But most importantly we found some fantastic gluten free and vegetarian grub which I wanted to share with you.

Aubrey’s Traditional Crêperie

First up was Aubrey’s Traditional Crêperie for a delicious lunch. Aubrey’s is a tiny little cafe, tucked away in Nottingham’s West End Arcade, which specialises in savoury Galettes and sweet Crêpes. Galettes are naturally gluten free as they are made from buckwheat flour. Their crêpes can be made with either wheat flour batter or gluten free and vegan batter. The cafe is utterly charming with really cute menus, mis-matched teacups, saucers, and crockery and if you are not lucky enough to get a table inside, they provide blankets for the seats outside.