We’ve been to The Dore very soon after it opened in summer, and I’m only just getting round to writing about it. It’s taken so long that we’ve already been back, so I’ve got two meals to tell you about. This place is the new incarnation of what was, for 36 years, the Dore Grill. The owners are the same people behind The Bank House restaurant and cocktail bar in Hathersage, which also looks worth a try.

The first time we went in the evening, there were just two of us and we sat inside. The restaurant has had quite a makeover so it’s got a glam-looking interior, with fun decor, playful art and fabrics, and a cherry blossom tree in the conservatory.

The menu is Italian inspired and has gluten free and gluten free options marked on, which made it nice and easy. I started with a bavette steak, which was pretty generous – a chargrilled steak, cooked pink, with a tomato salsa and rocket leaves. A good Yorkshire portion and I really enjoyed it. Other options were soup, king prawns and burrata.

For mains, I decided to try the Porchetta. This was rolled pork with garlic, sage and rosemary, a truffle and parmesan mash and some tenderstem broccoli. Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy this quite as much as the starter as there was quite a bit of fat in the roll – there was still plenty of meat though. To be fair to them, it probably wasn’t the best choice for me as I sometimes don’t enjoy belly pork. The actual meat was lovely though, and the mash was very flavoursome. Just a bit of extra “food admin” to get to the meat.

Other main course options included Tuscan chicken, a GF version of their steak burger and pizzas, as well as salads. And their potato and sweet potato fries are also gluten free, which is a bonus!

I had an apple and cherry crumble for pud; they also offer a creme brulee. Crumble is a fairly unusual GF offering in a restaurant, so I checked it really was gluten free! This came with both ice cream and creme Anglaise, which made it quite indulgent. The crumble was great, but it did have a slightly charred flavour as if it had been blow torched instead of oven baked.

We went back recently with some family on a lovely, sunny day and sat outside under their big glass canopy for lunch. This time I decided to combine a couple of their starters to make my own salad. I forgot to take pictures of them separately, so here they are together – a burrata with sun blush tomatoes and balsamic vinegar dressing sitting on top of a pomegranate & rocket salad. It was a lovely, if unorthodox, combination.

My mum, who’s also coeliac, had a goat cheese salad, which came with gem lettuce, raddichio, semi dried tomatoes and orange segments, with a generous topping of truffle. And the teenager had a carne pizza with ham and pepperoni. I have to say, the home made base was magnificent, although the topping was a little sparse – the regular version comes with meatballs as well and I don’t think they had been substituted with a bit more ham.

Overall, plenty to choose from with light options and full meals – plus a good cocktail menu if that’s your thing. Starters range in price from £6.50 – £11. Mains £15.50 – £24, although their most expensive steaks are a fair bit more. Weirdly, none of their kids’ main courses are marked as GF option but two of them are pizza and burger, so I think they could probably be made GF.

The gluten free experience was fairly sound and the staff were quite clued up, although I did point out they have marked a cous cous dish on the menu as gluten free, and that’s still showing at the moment. Just shows you can’t ever let your guard down…

The Dore, Church Lane, Dore Sheffield S17 3GS