Love Gluten Free On Tour - The South West

After a few days of London we headed down to Salisbury as we had a wedding to attend that weekend we thought a few days in the local area would be a good idea.

In the past we have always stayed in B&Bs when traveling around England, so we stayed in one that we had a few years earlier just on the outskirts of town, Avonlea House. The owners have gluten free bread on offer as well as fruit, yoghurt and a cooked English breakfast of your choice.

Salisbury is a town that is near Stonehenge and has the amazing Salisbury Cathedral as the two main sights to see. However the town itself is very old and a great place to walk around and explore. That said there are many great pubs to eat at both in town and in the out-lying villages.  The few that we visited all had gluten-free options on their menus which was fantastic.

The Wheatsheaf Pub Restaurant in Lower Woodford is a very pretty village off the beaten track, well worth the trek to a place a little different.  The pub has a pretty extensive menu and they are able to provide an information booklet indicating any allergens such as gluten and dairy in each of the menu items.  This is really helpful in making your lunch or dinner decisions.  This time round I had a Vegetable Cobb Salad with chips and the chips were gluten free.

In Salisbury town we found The Cloisters was a good choice to stop at as they had gluten free pasta with pesto, naturally this was my lunch.  In addition to the GF pasta their salads and grilled items from the menu were gluten free.

Another pub on the river a little out of the centre of town was The Restaurant at the Old Mill.  It is a really tiny pub on the river, I mean literally.  They have a lovely menu with a code indicating the meals that are gluten free.  The risotto I had here was lovely and fresh, despite the cold, rainy weather.

The Old Castle opposite Old Sarum was a good option close to where we stayed that had very friendly staff who were able to let me  know what was gluten free on the menu.  Dinner was grilled steak, chips (yes gluten free again!) and salad accompanied by a refreshing Magners Pear Cider.

Day trips that we took from Salisbury found us visiting the Cheddar Gorge (where the cheese comes from) and Bath.

The Cheddar Gorge is a really pretty place to visit.  You find yourself driving past green fields of sheep grazing and then suddenly the road becomes even more narrow and winding and then you are in the gorge.  The cliffs are so steep that you find yourself almost stopping to look at the rock climbers who are literally climbing above you.  There are many tea rooms and cafes in the Gorge itself and more in the village of Cheddar once you are out of the gorge, but we stumbled upon Derrick's Team Rooms that had gluten free scones - perfect nourishment on a cold, wet morning.  Their menu is basic but good wholesome food with gluten free options shown.  Some include chilli con carne, jacket potatoes with homemade chilli and cheese or GF brownies.  Here we had Devonshire tea:  GF scones, strawberry jam, clotted cream and a pot of tea, which really hit the spot.

In addition to having a lovely Devonshire Tea, we also had some delicious cheddar cheese from the Cheddar Gorge Cheese Company the only producer that still produces cheese in the Cheddar Gorge and matures the cheese in the caves, which you see when you visit them.

Once we had found our way to Bath we were in desperate need for a coffee and visited a great coffee shop opposite the Roman Baths.  The place is Jacobs Coffee House and they sometimes have gluten free cakes but this time there were none!  Not to worry, the coffee was fantastic and warmed us up and gave us a reprieve from the never-ending rain.

The thing that I really love about Britain is that everything is so close.  By driving a relatively short distance you can find yourself in a totally different and amazing part of the country in a picturesque town or village.  The added bonus is that it is so easy to find places to eat and the knowledge regarding gluten free eating is wide-spread making stress-free holidays.  It is a country well worth the long flight.

Links and other info:

Wheatsheaf Pub Restaurant, Lower Woodford, Salisbury Wiltshire:  click here

The Cloisters, 83 Catherine St, Salisbury Wiltshire

The Restaurant at the Old Mill, Town Path, West Harnham, Salisbury Wiltshire:  click here

The Old Castle, Old Castle Road, Salisbury, Wiltshire:  click here

Derrick's Tea Rooms, The Cliffs, Cheddar, Somerset:  click here

Jacob's Coffee House, 6 Abbey Churchyard, Bath:  click here

Love Gluten Free on Tour - London Tips

When traveling in the UK you find that you do have an easy time when finding breakfast, lunch or dinner. Each time that I return to the UK I find that more and more places have gluten free options advertised on their menu and that the wait-staff are aware of what gluten free means and what you can safely order.

As I have a mentioned in an earlier blog, the River Cottage Canteen was a real treat - all three courses of it. But this was not the only place that I safely enjoyed a meal.

A quick lunch on the run years ago, before my diagnosis meant I would grab a sandwich from Marks and Spencer Food Hall or Boots and eat on the run. Now I no longer have the option of the sandwich, but both Marks and Spencer and Boots still have their takeaway lunches and snacks but they now include salads, sushi and soups. Each of these items have the ingredients listed on the back and highlight any ingredients such as gluten, wheat or dairy.  If you have the pleasure of good weather, then you can enjoy a picinc in a local park or square whilst you enjoy your meal.


If you want to buy a little more in bulk Sainsburys Local, Tesco Express, Marks and Spencer Just Food are all smaller versions of the larger supermarkets and do have a smaller range of gluten free options which is useful for breakfast ie a two pack of muffins or a half loaf of bread.  Some have the gluten free items under the 'Free From' banner - take a look at the links to these stores below. Waitrose have the smaller stores as well and do stock GF items. I have found that they usually have stores that attached to petrol stations along the motorways - useful when on a driving trip.

For a gluten free carb fix I managed to find a few places by stumbling across them in the various parts of town that we happened to be in.
Zizzi restaurant: we visited the Notting Hill branch of the restaurant and enjoyed a gluten free pizza and salad. They have just introduced gluten free items to their menu and were rather pleased that someone was ordering a GF meal. In addition to GF pizza, they have GF pasta as well.
Orsini Restaurant is located opposite the V&A Museum in Kensington. It is a little Italian restaurant that serves GF pasta. They have a good variety of GF pasta types and a variety of really simple yet delicious sauces too.
The Wolseley on Piccadilly: I had never heard of The Wolseley until a friend invited us to brunch there one morning. It is a beautiful building, a very old world, English style of place. I enjoyed an omelette with gruyere cheese - yummo! I would recommend visiting here even for a pot of tea one afternoon for the experience and people watching. But do book as they can get rather busy.
Humming Bird Bakery:  this is a great place to stop early on a Saturday morning before the Portobello Rd Market in Notting Hill becomes chaos.  They have a couple of GF options - I chose the Red Velvet cupcake and a fantastic Illy Coffee - heaven as we had only arrived that morning.

Pubs are always welcoming but the typical English pub is something very special. I find that the older the pub the more atmosphere they have as well as being so different from what I go to at home. Often the pub meals are rather hearty fare but the staff, depending on the pub itself are very helpful and worse case scenario, there is always a grilled steak and salad for dinner. Pubs usually have local ciders on tap which I recommend. A lovely apple or pear cider is rather refreshing after a day of sightseeing and walking around town.

Marks and Spencer click here
Sainsbury click here
Tesco click here
Waitrose click here

Zizzi Restaurant click here
The Wolsley click here
Hummingbird Bakery click here

Love Gluten Free Goes on Tour

Over the last week and a bit I have been away and whilst I do enjoy travelling I do so with a little trepidation. I am always concerned about what I am going to eat. This is the question that weighs on my mind wherever I go, especially when it is somewhere new.

But this time I am travelling on familiar ground and only packed a few snacks for the plane trip - some habits die hard. I am currently in New York however last week I was in London and then Salisbury and ate up a storm. I have been logging most meals along the way.

The highlight of the last week has been visiting The River Cottage Canteen in Axminster in Devon. The trip was in the sometimes pouring rain on narrow winding country roads which was occasionally a little on the hairy side but fun. The novelty and prettiness of the English countryside never bores me. When we arrived in Axminster we had not been very prepared and did not have the address of the restaurant but everyone was very helpful and friendly and we were soon in the queue for a table.

The staff were very apologetic about the wait and fed us cheese while engaging in a little small talk. There was free beer to be sampled but not gluten free. The cheese was a great mix of a cheddar with blue cheese mixed through. An interesting combination that works very nicely and would make a delicious toasted cheese sandwich.

After about a ten minute wait we were seated in the front of the restaurant, there is a much larger space at the back of the canteen past the kitchen which was full of bunting and happy eaters. Our waitperson was lovely and so helpful in knowing what was and was not gluten free. To my delight almost everything on the menu was. I had found my food nirvana!

The menu changes daily using the fresh, local produce that they can buy at the market and also using the remains of what they have in the fridge.

We settled on getting three courses as well as a salad and thought it best to share so we could taste everything. This was a real novelty.

Entrees were: Parsley Soup with Lemon Oil (above right) and Bobby Beans, Baby Carrots, Beetroot, Orange and Asparagus Pesto (picture above).
Mains were: Beetroot Frittata, Lavistock Mozzarella, Cous Cous (served on a separate plate, which my husband ate), Trill Farm Leaves (picture below right - part way through eating before taking the pic oops!) and Beef and Fennel Curry, Flatbread (served on a separate plate) and Mint Yoghurt (picture on right ditto re taking the pic).
Dessert was Poached Gooseberries, Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta and Shortbread Crumbs (not included in my serving, picture below).
Drinks were water, a locally produced apple juice and a pot of tea with dessert.

The dishes were so simple and incredibly fresh. The flavours were out of this world. The Orange and Asparagus Pesto was amazing, the nuts in the pesto, I think walnuts, had been roasted and gave such a wonderful flavour.
The flavour of the soup was a subtle parsley and a hint of chilli and the lemon oil gave a lovely lift. The curry was very delicious the bread would have been the perfect accompaniment but alas it was not meant to be! The frittata was packed full of beautiful, fresh as can be vegetables, again such simple meals and so delicious as it was beautifully prepared. The panna cotta was perfection. The right balance of sweet and vanilla bean with the tartness of the gooseberries.

What can I say beyond if you are in the area you must visit this place even for a quick cup of tea or to visit the deli - they had gluten free vegetable pasties while we were there. And whilst I felt like I was going to burst I was severely tempted to buy one for have on the drive home, but soon thought that this was really not a practical option due to the fullness of my tummy. For us, it was well worth the drive from Salisbury and was definitely a highlight of our trip.


River Cottage Canteen
Trinity Square, Axminster, Devon
+44 1297 631862

A Warming Dessert

When the weather is cold nothing beats a lovely apple crumble topped with cream.  

The recipe that I use is my variation of the one that I learnt in Grade 8 Home Economics class with Mrs Walker - so many years ago now but still delicious but now with a few tweaks of my own to make it even better now that it is gluten free.  
This crumble has the fruit freshly diced and put into the baking dish, rather than 
pre-cooking the fruit allowing faster preparation time.

 Apple and Pear Crumble

3 granny smith apples peeled and diced
3 pears peeled and diced
2 teaspoons of white sugar
zest of half a lemon
1 tablespoon of water
140g gluten free plain flour
100g unsalted butter softened at room temperature
1 tsp ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons firmly packed brown sugar
A few small bits of unsalted butter as an optional extra

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees fan forced.  Grease an oven proof oven dish and place the peeled and diced apples and pears in the bottom with the water.  Sprinkle half of the sugar over the fruit and stir through, then add the rest of the sugar and the zest and stir this through to allow them to be evenly distributed.  If you wish to add the few extra bits of butter drop them on top of the fruit all over - about six-eight small pieces should do it.

In a food processor put the gluten free plain flour, cinnamon, brown sugar and the softened butter.  Blitz until everything together for a minute or two until it resembles fine bread crumbs.  Don't let it blitz for too long or else it will become more combined like a dough - this you need to avoid.  

Once you have the crumble finished, sprinkle this over the top of your fruit allowing some of the fruit to poke through as they will cook beautifully.  Place in the oven and cook for about 30 minutes until it is golden and the fruit is bubbling at the edges a little.  The water and the butter will combine and create a lovely sweet, fruity sauce. 

Serve immediately with cream.

And yes my presentation is terrible but it tastes great!