***Sadly closed down in 2022***

I generally don’t go out for Sunday lunch because, as a coeliac, what’s on offer is rarely as good as I can make at home. We tend to have a roast most weekends – usually chicken, beef or pork, sometimes with Yorkshire puds and stuffing (which are rarely gluten free in restaurants), always with mountains of veg and roast potatoes.

Unusually, we found ourselves in the position of needing to be near Barnsley last Sunday, so we took the opportunity to try out Bistro in the Barn, which is a gluten free specialist restaurant that used to be a cattle feeding barn. It’s right on the edge of the Peak District with fabulous scenery all round. A little outside of Sheffield, but worth the stunning drive out into the countryside.

As well as being a gluten free specialist, they are also gin enthusiasts, so there was a whole menu of gins to choose from – great way to start the meal! The food was lovely and pretty much everything is gluten free, which is a joy, of course. No ring binder of doom to trawl through here…

We started with a complimentary appetiser of parsnip and apple soup, which was a really nice touch.

There was a mix of traditional and some more interesting starter choices. I had a satay chicken. Boy #1 had a huge bowl of creamy garlic mushrooms, and dad had a chive cake with pear and melted stilton, which had a great texture.

For mains, several of us opted for the slow cooked beef cheek with mash and the boys both had salmon with a creamy chorizo and pea sauce. I would have chosen the beef cheek in other circumstances, but I opted for the roast beef, to see how it compared to my home cooked Sunday roast.

I have to complement the Yorkshire pudding, which had a really good structure and made me think I need to experiment with my recipe. And the rest of the meal was lovely, too. The meat was delicious, and there was plenty of gravy, which I love.

Even though we were stuffed, a few of us found room for a pudding. The boys are always drawn to sticky toffee pudding, which I’m told was fab, and not a scrap was left. I tried the apple tart, warm with cream, which tasted delicious, although the pastry didn’t benefit from re-heating.

All in all, we had a great meal. It was really relaxing not having to worry about cross contamination and we were spoiled for choice with all the gluten free options.

Bistro in the Barn, Hazlehead Farm, Lee Lane, Millhouse Green, Sheffield S36 9NN