Once again, I bribe the children with drinks and cakes – this time so we can get their feet measured for school shoes.
Because they woke up late (ooh, back to school tomorrow will be a shock), we headed for John Lewis, which as their fans know, doesn’t open until 10am, ducked under the opening shutter and raced up the escalator to be the first in the shoe queue. We only just made it.
40 minutes later – yes, I have three children, and it just does take that long to find shoes that fit – we headed for the cafe. If you were behind me in the shoe queue, I apologise for my son’s indecisiveness.
Nothing labelled as gluten free, but (as a previous customer) I knew that something would be, and sure enough, it was the Paradise Cake again.
There’s nothing wrong with the Paradise Cake – it uses grated coconut, raisins and glace cherries – and tastes fresh and light. Its very pleasant. But coconut isn’t to everybody’s taste (not my daughter’s, for instance), and it would be nice to have a choice.
To be fair, John Lewis were among the first to have gluten free cake as an option, and I remember seeking out the manager about 8 years ago to thank her, in tears because I was so pleased that my daughter could eat something with the rest of us in the cafe. My excuse is that I was hugely pregnant with baby 3 at the time. It was Paradise Cake back then too …
I think it would be quite possible to lunch both well and gluten free at John Lewis – I haven’t tried it in years, because lunch out with three children is very expensive – but they do offer more than just the standard omelette and baked potato. One day I’ll venture out and let you know …
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