Yes, I know I’ve been away for a while – nightmare with our internet connection, and then a family trip to London. We went to see Connie in The Sound of Music – sadly, Connie was poorly, but her understudy was fantastic.
We were staying with relatives, so eating out in London wasn’t too difficult – this is what we found out:
- We went to the Tate Modern (to play on the slides) and went up to the 7th Floor cafe. It has an amazing view over the Thames to the north bank, but don’t expect to have a quick gluten free snack. Maybe the restaurant copes better, but none of the muffins or biscuits available were suitable for a coeliac.
- We had lunch one day in the cafe at the National Film Institute, who coped well, despite having no power in their kitchens. They happily made up sandwiches for our gluten free daughter using the bread roll that I always carry as backup for her.
- We ate one evening in Smollensky’s on The Strand, who deserve a big hug for their menu (and for their child-friendly approach). Both adult and child menus have a range of items that are gluten free, and which are clearly marked.
- On the mini-adult section on the child menu (which our daughter chose from) three out of four main meals are gluten free, and two out of three desserts. She chose lemon and thyme chicken breast, and a chocolate mousse.
- If you’re eating from the adult menu, four out of eight starters are gluten free, as are a salad and a risotto, four main courses and three desserts.
- You can even eat as a gluten free vegetarian. How rare is that! I ate sweet potato, pumpkin and sage risotto. If I had had room, I would have also chosen a roast vegetable salad and a lemon sorbet.
We thought Smollensky’s was fab. The gluten free among us had a choice of options (not just the same old baked potato or plain salmon) and the children were all given a party bag. We’ll definitely go back, and can recommend it to you all.
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I’ve written a book summarising what we’ve learnt over 20 years of dealing with the gluten free diet, and it might be just what you’re looking for. It packs the lessons we’ve learned into what I hope is a helpful and straightforward guidebook. It’s available on Amazon, as a paperback or for your Kindle… |
Thanks so much for posting your information on eating GF in London. Our family is going there in July and I had no idea what I was going to do. Now we have at least one place that we can go to, where I will have a choice of what to eat!
If you are looking for hotels in London that serve gluten free food, you can visit http://www.glutenfreehotelsguide.com/city.php?id=2
The site lists hotels all over the world which are able to serve gluten free food.