Hot on the heels of our trip to Wagamama, my mother in law treated us to a meal out at the Florentine pub in Fulwood. It was a rather delayed re-booking from a Christmas that didn’t quite go to plan. But we were very happy to be the recipients of it.

The Florentine is part of a pub chain that has a NGCI menu (no gluten containing ingredients), which is mostly steaks with a few other mains on offer. Unfortunately, the GF offering misses off the pizzas and most of the other mains, so it’s pitched at the pricier end of the menu. (The steaks range from £18 – £32 but the pizzas are £9 – £12.) On the plus side, they do have a dedicated chip fryer, so the chips are safe from cross contamination.

We liked the quirky decor, such as the metal rhino above the fire place, lots of fun lighting and wallpaper made from classic Penguin books.

I didn’t fancy mussels, salad or curry, so I opted for a sirloin steak, but forgot to take a picture – whoops! You can probably picture it though. The chips came in a little metal bucket and my peppercorn sauce in a ramekin. It was perfectly lovely.

Thankfully, I did at least remember to photograph the puddings. There were 3 choices – the classic chocolate brownie, a chocolate and coconut praline torte and a summer fruit pavlova. I was in a chocolate brownie mood and was sold on it by the additional of caramel ice cream and honeycomb. (Lockdown has given me a serious sweet tooth!)

The pavlova was giant, and was not fully defeated despite a valiant effort by my mother in law.

All in all, it was a very nice meal in a fun setting with lovely staff, despite being run off their feet.

The Florentine
Tapton Park Road, Sheffield S10 3FG