Steeliac

Category: Friends

  • Gillson’s Brasserie on Eccy Road

    Gillson’s Brasserie on Eccy Road

    We recently went out to have a send off for a family friend who’s off to study and play rugby in the States.

    We decided to try Gillson’s Brasserie on Ecclesall Road, which has replaced Patoo Thai.

    I was intrigued when I found out about this new brasserie because it’s owned by the same people who have Gill’s & Co wine bar further down the road, where we had a lovely meal (not to mention a few too many glasses of wine) and they were great with the coeliac precautions.

    They also own a cocktail bar called The Gilmont so they are developing a bit of a monopoly on Eccy Road.

    Whilst the menu had gluten free items marked on already, my very thoughtful friend had phoned ahead to check they could cater for me.

    For my starter, I ordered the crispy fried ham hock terrine with minted pea puree and pickled radish. As you can see, it was incredibly vibrant, with two chunky croquettes and the contrasting puree and pickle. I loved it – a fantastic starter. Accompanied by a rather wonderful dry rose wine, which we shared.

    A white plate with a green rim, sitting on a white table cloth, with a knife and fork either side. In the middle the plate are two crispy, breaded croquettes of ham hock terrine, sitting on a minted pea puree, with a few scattered peas and a couple of quarters of pink pickled radish.

    Other options were a crab and prawn cocktail, or a sun-dried tomato, basil and butterbean pate – which unfortunately wasn’t available.

    Most people went for Sunday lunch for mains – they had belly pork, beef sirloin, supreme of chicken or a nut roast. These were generous portions with giant Yorkshire puddings that obviously don’t come with the GF version, but apparently their stuffing is gluten free, so it’s only the Yorkie that’s missing for coeliacs, which makes it a pretty good option. I can see that’s potentially an inflammatory statement here in Yorkshire, but we have to take what we can get, don’t we?

    I opted for the lighter sea bass with samphire, peas, mussels and a white wine sauce, and I shared some tenderstem broccoli with my friend. Lots of greens! A generous portion of fish too, cooked to perfection, I’d say, with a wonderfully crispy skin. No complaints on this either.

    A close up of a white plate. Two crispy skin-on white fillets of seabass are nestled on top of a pile of peas and samphire. All of which sits in a puddle of creamy sauce.

    I like to squeeze in a dessert for the purpose of the blog – very selfless of me, I know. There was only one GF on offer and it was a mango and coconut creme brulee, so I had that and it was very nice. You never get quite the same texture with vegan ingredients so it wasn’t quite as silky as a dairy based one, but it had the flavour and the caramelised sugar crunch nailed.

    A close up of a white bowl of creme brulee with a green rim. It's almost completely covered in slivers of mango, and on top of that are arranged three pieces of crunchy, sugary, oaty biscuit.

    Price-wise, it wasn’t bad at all for the quality of the food. The roasts ranged from £19-£25. My sea bass was a little pricier at £28 but the portion justified it. Caesar salad was the cheapest GF main option at £19 or you could push the boat out on fillet steak for £39.

    The potato selection is also strong here, with fries, mash, truffled Dauphinoise (yes please) and buttery news all GF.

    All in all, it was an excellent meal worthy of our celebration.

    Gillson’s Brasserie
    607-609 Ecclesall Rd, Sheffield S11 8PT

  • Silversmiths, a decade later

    Silversmiths, a decade later

    It’s been 11 years since we last went to Silversmiths on Arundel Street in what’s known as Sheffields “Cultural Industries Quarter”. Back in 2015, it was brilliant for gluten free, but it subsequently went through a series of ownership changes and different chefs and for a while lost its gluten free offering altogether.

    The most recent revamp retains their focus on locally sourced ingredients and refined cooking but the menu is more gastro-pub / a-la-carte than fine dining and small plates. Happily, it now has a great selection of gluten free dishes on the menu again, so it was time to give it another visit.

    The summer menu was fairly limited, but I don’t mean that in a bad way at all as sometimes long menus can be a bit overwhelming. This one contained five starters, six mains and six desserts to choose from and just over half of those were marked gluten free, as well as most of the sides (including the beef fat chips). Price-wise, it was quite reasonable, with £7-12 for the starters and £20-25 for mains.

    For a starter, I ordered Korean beef jerky, which came with a pickled slaw and fried shallots. I was absolutely delighted when the waiter came out to say our food would take a little longer than normal so they could be extra careful on the cross contamination. That’s exactly the kind of reassurance I like. And we didn’t even have to wait that long really.

    A pile of beef jerky sitting atop a purple slaw on a grey plate. Sprinkled with bits of crispy onion

    The flavour of the beef was brilliant, with a warming blend of spices that contrasted well with the pickles, although I will say it was maybe a touch too dried; it certainly wasn’t easy to stab – but I still enjoyed it. If ordering again, I’d probably opt for the curried scallop or the braised fennel with goat’s cheese, which I’d struggled to choose between.

    My main course was red mullet, which was cooked beautifully and served with lemon herb potatoes, samphire and a pineapple and red onion salsa. The dish tated excellent, with the fish cooked perfectly, lovely, salty samphire, and the tangy salsa was absolutely delightful. The only problem was that the fish was a bit on the small side – in the picture, those potatoes were not massive.

    A textured plate containing a piece of seared red mullet fillet, some new potatoes that slightly dwarf the fish, samphire and a pineapple salsa
    A white plate with two hunks of steak, one lovely and pink. Sitting alongside two large, crispy cubes of potato, some long thin carrots complete with greenery, a few mushrooms and a creamy Bernaise sauce

    My husband chose the steak, which was also gluten free, and a much more generous portion as you can see in the photo. That came served pink with carrots, mushrooms, potato cubes (not the technical term!) and a Bearnaise sauce.

    I wasn’t planning to say anything about the dinky fish, but my friend took it upon herself to mention it to the staff and they did acknowledge it was a bit on the small side. To make up for this later, they said my dessert would be on the house, which was a nice touch, and much appreciated.

    Here is said dessert – a very rare thing indeed, a gluten free lemon meringue pie, which I thoroughly enjoyed. It was a very decent slice, with freshly blow-torched soft meringue on the top. It went down very nicely with my Bakewell tart cocktail to round off the meal and a lovely night out.

    In the foreground, a luscious slice of lemon meringue pie is hiding behind a very beautiful quenelle of pink hibiscus sorbet. Behind the plate is a pink, foamy cocktail in a tall glass and in the background, someone else's pudding is out of focus.

    So a very different experience to last time, but I would recommend it. Great-tasting food, plenty of gluten free options and what felt like a very reasonable price.

    Silversmiths
    111 Arundel Street, S1 2NT

  • Borgo

    Borgo

    We have tried to book at table at Borgo, the independent Italian restaurant on Oakbrook Road (near the Greystones/Ecclesall area of Sheffield) a few times but it’s always been fully booked. We eventually managed to secure a table with some friends one dark, wintery evening, and I was very excited to go.

    Whilst it’s not the most renowned for gluten free, it has a great reputation generally, and it does have some GF dishes marked on the menu. We’re talking four out of eleven antipasti dishes, for example, and two out of seven sides – so if you want loads of choice and a separate GF menu, this might not be the place for you. But if you’re looking for high quality, artisanal food and you don’t mind a slightly limited choice, it’s worth a try.

    My husband and I shared starters, which were the Arrosticini Abruzzesi (grilled lamb skewers with lemon and salt to you and me) and scallops in butter sauce with a hint of garlic and chilli. They were both fabulous, with the high quality and perfectly cooked main ingredients speaking for themselves, with just a few simple supporting flavours.

    a plate with five lamb skewers and a slice of lemon
    A plate with three scallop shells on a bed of green leaves, each containing a cooked scallop, topped with micro herbs and accompanied by a couple of lemon wedges

    Unusually for me, I went with more red meat for my main course. Normally I’d have been tempted by the fish dishes like Merluzzo e Lenticchie (pan seared cod on lentils) or Orata alla Pizzaiola (oven baked sea bream) but I must have been especially hungry!

    The steak, cooked medium rare to my liking, came with plenty of shaved parmesan, cherry tomatoes and rocket. Because I couldn’t have the French fries, mine had a side of rosemary roast baby potatoes, which went perfectly with the steak. Simple but hearty fare, well executed.

    A plate with sliced ribeye beef and salad, hiding under a generous amount of large parmesan cheese shavings
    A metal dish containing roasted baby potatoes with rosemary

    Surprisingly, after all that (I’m sure I left a few potatoes!), I still had just enough room for a dessert, which was a pannacotta with cherries. As per the other dishes, simple but wonderful. Soft, creamy pannacotta and the tang of cherries. What’s not to love?

    A decorative dish containing a pannacotta, topped with cherries and red, fruity sauce, and a sprig of mint leaves

    With prices ranging from £13 – 16 for starters (some of the non-GF were a little cheaper) and £27 – 36 for main courses, this isn’t the cheapest of restaurants, but the food was very high quality, the service was attentive and I felt looked after. Despite the disclaimer on the menu, the staff did what was needed to make my food safe, and I would definitely go back.

    Borgo
    139-141 Oakbrook Road, Sheffield S11 7EB

  • How to be a Coeliac – eating out

    How to be a Coeliac – eating out

    Once you’ve got the hang of eating at home, it can take time to build up confidence to eat away from home. You’ve learned all about how important it is to check the ingredients of everything and to avoid cross contamination. But how can you be sure other people would be as careful as you? How can you even begin to trust anybody else to cook for you? Where do you start?

    In this post, I’ll talk about what I’ve discovered about eating out in cafes and restaurants, and also eating at friends’ and family members’ homes.

    Eating out in restaurants and cafes:

    • The good news is, Coeliac UK have an accreditation scheme that a variety of restaurants have signed up to. Accredited restaurants work with Coeliac UK to make sure they are meeting strict gluten free standards including training staff how to take orders, cook and serve gluten free food safely. I just did a search for accredited restaurants in Sheffield and it returned 26 results. Don’t get over excited as lots of these are chains with multiple venues: Browns and Pho in the city centre, eleven branches of Dominos, seven Pizza Huts, four Pizza Expresses and two Miller and Carters. Not all of their food is gluten free (although at Pho, it’s the vast majority) but they will all have a good selection.
    • Very occasionally you’ll come across a fully GF restaurant or cafe. These tend to pop up where the owner/chef or a close relative is coeliac. There have been a couple of these in Sheffield that have come and gone, and only place I know of in Sheffield at the moment is the Sardinian restaurant Akentannos on Sharrow Vale Road. The owners also run a gluten free delicatessen on the same road called Nue (the arancini are amazing!). There’s also Darnton Coffee House in Barnsley, which isn’t a million miles away (but I’ve still not been). Obviously, you can totally relax in these places, as there is zero risk of cross contamination.
    • There are quite a few cafes and restaurants that have a separate gluten free menu or have dishes that are gluten free marked on the menu. Some places do gluten free really well, e.g. at Wagamama, they only allow managers to take orders from gluten free customers and your food will be cooked by the head chef. Even so, they still have a disclaimer on their website saying they can’t guarantee 100% gluten free because of other ingredients present. So this is where you have to use your judgement. Personally, I’m satisfied that in this case they are taking adequate precautions (I also have gluten present in my own kitchen) and I’ve never had a problem eating there.
    • But what if you’re not sure? Before you book, have a good look at menus online so you can get an idea of the menu options. When you arrive, it’s worth asking some questions to check how well they understand gluten free food. You can ask things like whether they have a separate preparation space for gluten free food? Or can they wipe down an area and use clean cooking utensils. An important question to ask for any fried food like chips is whether they have a dedicated fryer for chips or do they just bung them in with all the breaded items? Don’t make assumptions when it comes to chips – I’ve definitely been in places where they didn’t understand this.
    • In cafes and restaurants where they have cakes on display, this often gives you an idea of how good they are at managing allergens. If they have all the gluten free items at the top of the display or in a separate cloche, and they have dedicated tongs to pick them up, that’s a good sign. If the gluten free cakes are sitting right next to regular cakes, I’d exercise extreme caution. It’s definitely worth asking if the gluten free items were prepared and stored separately and if they have any that haven’t been put out on the counter.
    Lovely, gluten free mini Victoria sponges and mini carrot cakes protected by glass cloches
    Gluten free chocolatey goodies under a protective cloche

    Food on the go:

    • Food from street markets is very rarely ok for gluten free, in my experience, so food on the go tends to be more expensive because you can’t generally just grab a burger or sausage roll. You’re more likely to need to find a cafe or a supermarket where they have pre-packed sandwiches (M&S is usally reliable for a sandwich or wrap). Baked potato places are probably a good bet.
    • Some of the supermarkets and coffee chains have pre-packed gluten free options, but these have decreased unfortunately, as the focus has shifted onto vegan food.
    • In coffee shops, if you have a hot drink with steamed milk, ask them to wipe down the milk steamer because they tend to use the same one to heat oat milk, which generally contains gluten, so there is a cross contamination risk. Chain coffee shops usually have some pre-packaged cakes or flapjacks on the counter but you’re less likely to find savoury food, although I quite like the little egg bites in Starbucks for something a bit different.
    • Takeaways can be tricky, although as we’ve seen from the Coeliac UK accreditation, there are quite a few pizza options. Gluten free Chinese options are fairly rare, although people do recommend Simply Chinese in Dronfield, if you’re over that way. Fish & chip shops sometimes serve GF, often on the day they change the oil in their fryers. Occasionally, you’ll find a chippy that has a dedicated fryer like Neptune’s on Ecclesall Road that calls itself a gluten free specialist. Again, it’s about researching in advance.
    • Indian restaurants and takeaways generally have a few options, as they tend to use gram flour (from chickpeas) rather than wheat flour. You still need to ask some questions about cross contamination though, as all the breads and chapatis will contain gluten so they will probably still need to take extra care with preparing GF food. Poppadoms can be ok, but they generally need to be cooked in fresh oil so you do need to check.
    • Some reliable resources for looking for places to eat are: Coeliac UK, local gluten free groups on Facebook, local gluten free bloggers. I don’t tend to find TripAdvisor that useful, as people tend to over use the keywords. You do need to check the dates on any reviews or recommendations though, as so many places change hands.
    • For a more thorough search, I usually use Google maps to look for any cafes, pubs or restaurants then click through to their websites to look for menus – anywhere that has an online menu with a reasonable number GF items marked on makes it onto the shortlist.

    Here are a few tips from a more personal point of view:

    • I’ve found sometimes I just have to manage my expectations, especially if I’m not in charge of deciding where to eat (e.g. you’re out with work). Generally, you’ll be able to find something, it might just be a bit more plain that you’d like and there might be a choice of only a couple of things. The ubiquitous chocolate brownie is your friend…
    • Brunch and Sunday roasts out are disappointing in my opinion. Brunches tend to be a gluten fest and with Sunday roasts, you miss out on the best bits like stuffing, Yorkies and cauliflower cheese. We tend to eat lunch or evening meals out instead.
    • It’s not that easy to be spontaneous – you generally need to put in some research when eating out, and especially if you’re away from home.
    • Eating out does become less stressful, but you never get far away from having to talk about gluten. Get used to talking about it – a lot.
    Gluten free brownies over the years - 1 of 3, with a white chocolate drizzle, a scoop of ice cream, and a strawberry
    Gluten free brownies over the years - 2 of 3, with a caramel drizzle, pieces of cinder toffee and a scoop of vanilla ice cream
    Gluten free brownies over the years - 3 of 3 - naked, as it comes, on a a paper bag

    Friends & family

    • It’s important to make sure close family who you’ll be eating with understand about cross contamination, especially if you have a mixed kitchen or if you are eating at someone else’s house. It might take a while for people to get used to having different utensils for gluten free food and keeping crumbs out of the butter and jam. You’ll probably need to keep a close eye to begin with.
    • I found some of my friends really rose to the challenge and made a lot of effort to accommodate me with food, keeping the odd gluten free snack in, checking ingredients and being careful about contamination. However, a few people were just worried about making me ill and didn’t feel comfortable inviting me round for food anymore – social invites definitely tailed off a bit. Don’t be offended if this happens.
    • If you are eating at a buffet (e.g. a work function or a wedding), I recommend shamelessly getting to the front of the queue so you can serve yourself before people contaminate the gluten free options by waving bread rolls around and mixing up serving tongs.
    • One thing I’ve found useful is reusable toaster bags – you can pop a slice of GF bread in and use your friend’s toaster that isn’t gluten free. These are very useful for self catering holidays as well.
    • I often find if I’ve been to someone’s house, I end up leaving with a goodie bag of open packets of GF food, especially bread, biscuits or crackers, which I always find quite sweet. I’m unsure if it’s because I’ll get the benefit of it or they just don’t want to eat it – probably both!

    I hope this series of articles is useful for people who are new to the Coeliac game. If you’ve found this one first, here are links to my other recent articles:
    How to be a Coeliac – getting started
    How to be a Coeliac – eating at home
    How to be a Coeliac – food shopping

    Would love to hear any other top tips – please feel free to add into the comments

  • Gills & Co

    Gills & Co

    We had a lovely time with some friends at Gills & Co on Ecclesall Road recently. It’s a wine bar and we’d been trying to book on to one of their tastings, but as we couldn’t make the dates work, we just booked a table one evening instead, for some wine and food of our own choosing.

    Between us, we tried a spectrum of fabulous wines, including fizzy, white, red and a wonderful orange coloured dessert wine, but no notes were taken, so I can’t really write about them. But, that’s not why we’re here…

    I’d checked out the menu beforehand and there were GF options marked on, which was encouraging. And on arrival, what was even more encouraging was that they said it might take a bit longer to serve our food because they’d want to make sure they could take care with the cross contamination – so I very much relaxed at that point. And when I say ‘very much relaxed’, I was sufficiently relaxed that I forgot to take very many photos of what we ate – or indeed what we drank!

    So, I’m very limited on photo evidence, but still wanted to do a quick post because the food was really good and I felt well looked after.

    We started with a few nibbles – some lovely and plump Gourdal olives and a dish of dried figs and almonds – very civilised. Then for a main course, we shared two dishes, which were ribeye steak with peppercorn sauce, and baked squash with kale and pumpkin seeds. Both of these were wonderful. The steak was very succulent and perfectly cooked medium rare. I’m a big fan of peppercorn sauce and this was a good one. We also indulged in some fries with a side of truffle cheese sauce. Frankly, this was a revelation. Lots of people think truffle is over rated, but I’m not one of those and this was a-ma-zing. I’m inspired to go and make a truffle cauliflower cheese…

    A round plate on a table containing, on the left, slices of baked squash topped with pumpkin seeds and kale, and on the right, slices of rare beef steak with peppercorn sauce

    Much later, we indulged in some cheese, including a Poacher 50, which is a hard cheese, a bit like parmesan, a traditionally made red Leicester and a creamy Ribblesdale sheep cheese. We shared these between three of us, so it was just a taster, but rounded off the meal very well indeed. Anticipating the cheese, I had taken my own crackers, as I’m quite particular about decent gluten free crackers, so they are in the picture.

    A plate with some slices of different coloured and textured cheeses, three green grapes and some crackers and toasts for cheese

    Both of these crackers are from M&S. The hexagonal one is their Cheese Crackers from the Made Without Wheat range. These are delicately thin with just the right amount of salt and I could eat them from the packet like crisps. The other is their Date and Walnut Toasts, which are a combination of crunchy and chewy, and a brilliant with a creamy cheese like brie.

    It wasn’t a cheap evening, owing to the quantity and variety of wine consumed, but prices for the food varied from £4-5 for the nibbles, up to £28 for the ribeye. The squash was one of their ‘smaller plates’, at around the £10 mark.

    I would definitely go back here. Everything was wonderfully high quality and the atmosphere was sophisticated but relaxed.

    Gills & Co
    525 Ecclesall Rd, Sheffield S11 8PR

  • Cambridge Street Collective

    Cambridge Street Collective

    We went to Cambridge Street Collective, Sheffield’s new food hall, a couple of weeks after it opened. Whilst we did manage to find some gluten free food options, the experience overall wasn’t that great, so I chose not to write about it at the time, as I didn’t want to be negative. (Spoiler – we went back a few weeks ago and had a much better time, so I’m writing about it now.)

    We arrived just after 7pm on a Saturday, having played a few games of pool at Boom Battle Bar with the teenagers. The place was absolutely heaving. We waited in a queue for one of the bars for a very long time while the (not quite enough) staff were somewhat inefficiently serving people. We then struggled to find anywhere to sit and almost ended up on the roof terrace, which really wasn’t warm enough for me! Eventually, we found a small space at the end of a communal table in the cool Japanese bar on the second floor.

    Thankfully, I’d popped in earlier whilst on my own, so I’d already scoped out a couple of places that served gluten free food. Both places were on the first floor, so we made a bee line for them, through the crowds.

    One of the concessions was an Indian called Hungry Buddha, which served Dosas and curries. A very short menu but all gluten free, which was reassuring. I ordered a paneer dosa from there and my son ordered a loaded fries with spicy chicken from House of Habesha, an Eritrean and Ethiopian concession. (My husband and other son explored other cuisines on the lower floor.)

    There was obviously very high demand so we settled into the bar with our buzzers expecting quite a long wait. After the bar queue and waiting for the food, we weren’t hugely impressed with the portion sizes but the food was nice enough. It would have been better if we’d had cutlery though – I went round asking several stalls for forks, but all I could find was a spoon, which isn’t the best implement for soggy chips.

    We felt a little flat when we left but it seemed like a lot of the problems were probably teething issues, and arriving at the busiest time was a mistake, so we resolved to come back in a few weeks.

    An indoor food stall selling Eritrean and Ethiopian food
    A paneer dosa on a metal tray with three sauces
    loaded chips on a piece of paper on a table with a glass of Coca Cola

    An opportunity for a return visit came up a few weeks ago, when we met with some good friends, and we had a much better experience. We arrived about 5pm and, whilst the place was buzzing, we didn’t have any problem finding a table. We got served quickly at the downstairs bar and it was much easier to chat to the vendors about whether they could safely cook gluten free food. Not every place has GF clearly marked on the menu and it’s definitely worth asking about cross contamination and cooking oil.

    It was a warm day and I didn’t want a curry, so I was pleased to find there were a few really good options at Asia Thai Street Food on the lower floor. We ordered a pad Thai and a nasi goreng to share, and I also popped to the Mexican, El Chappo, for some halloumi sticks as a side (quite the fusion). Here, items on the menu were labelled as GF, but they seemed to mostly be the side dishes.

    Fried halloumi sticks with spicy sauce and herbs on a colourful paper wrapper
    Chicken and rice (nasi goreng) in a white bowl with a blue rim
    A plate of pad Thai

    We didn’t have to wait too long and the halloumi sticks came first, so they made a welcome starter. They’re difficult to spot in the photo under all the sauce, but they were really good – still soft on the inside. As were the nasi goreng and pad Thai, which is one of my favourites. Big, hearty portions and plenty of flavour. And as you can see, there wasn’t a shortage of forks this time.

    All in all, a much better experience the second time around. It’s quite a spectacular building and it was great to see people embracing Sheffield’s newest venue, creating a great vibe in the city centre.

    Cambridge Street Collective
    11 Backfields, Sheffield City Centre, S1 4HP

  • Joni at Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet

    Joni at Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet

    I went to a stained glass workshop before Christmas with a good friend at Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet. At lunchtime, we popped to the new cafe for a bite to eat. I was delighted to find that the cafe is Joni, who used to sell the most amazing macarons at the Christmas markets pre-Covid. There is another cafe in Outibridge but I’ve never been to that one.

    We didn’t have loads of time, but I’d pre-ordered a rainbow salad, which was really nourishing and such lovely colours (clue’s in the name…) It contained turmeric roasted cauliflower, marinated chickpeas, avocado, harissa spiced squash, slaw and roasted cherry tomatoes. My favourite kind of lunch.

    There are a few other gluten free items on the menu such as soup, bhaji wraps and marinated chicken flatbreads, however they are marked as “gluten free option” so I can’t say whether they would actually come with wraps or flatbreads. They have some breakfast items as well, like bacon butties, avocado toast and pesto mushrooms.

    We didn’t have time to indulge in a sweet treat as we had to get back to the stained glass, but there were a few gluten free options, all reassuringly stored on the top shelf of the counter to avoid falling crumbs. Rocky road, flapjacks and cannoli were on offer that day.

    Definitely somewhere to go back, although it’s a busy place and not that big, so I’d definitely recommend booking.

    Joni
    204 Abbeydale Rd South, Beauchief, Sheffield S7 2QU

  • Rafters

    Rafters

    I’ve been itching to write this review since June (!) when we went to Rafters with some dear friends, and I’ve finally got round to it.

    Of course, Rafters isn’t your average tea out – it’s a high end dining experience, so very much in the market for particularly special occasions (like a small lottery win!) But oh my goodness, what a meal.

    The entrance to the restaurant is very unassuming. There’s a discreet shop front at the corner of where Hangingwater Road and Oakbrook Road meet, in Nethergreen, and you go straight up a flight of stairs to the dining room, which has an intimate feel with only 26 covers, exposed brick walls and an open kitchen.

    Sheffield is well reflected all though the design, with, according to the website, locally made tables and pottery, Sheffield cutlery of course, and handmade place mats from Portland Works.

    The meal was a six course tasting menu* (they also offer a four course version), which also includes some little extras like this pretty little amuse bouche – downplayed on our menu as a ‘snack’.

    I was a bit nervous about how a tasting menu would accommodate a coeliac, but I needn’t have worried at all. Having advised of the requirement on booking, the staff were all over it, and my dishes looked almost identical to everybody else’s. There were some obvious tweaks (e.g. my trout came with a tomato broth instead of tomato ponzu) but I have no complaints at all on that front and my versions didn’t seem second class. Everything looked, and tasted, spectacular.

    Below are three of the savoury dishes: chalk stream trout with sesame and tomato broth, cauliflower cheese and hogget with courgette, sheep yoghurt and elderflower. The elderflower apparently came from a tree outside the restaurant – you don’t get many more local ingredients than that! There was a fourth savoury dish of halibut with white asparagus and dill, but I must have scoffed that without taking a picture.

    The two desserts were equally dainty. Amalfi lemon with soured cream and extra virgin olive oil, and English strawberry with lemon verbena.

    It was all an absolute pleasure. In particular I enjoyed NOT having to scour a menu for tiny GFs or quiz the staff to check if they seem to understand about cross contamination. I had every confidence I was being well looked after.

    We emerged from Rafters back into the real world several hours later, and slightly sozzled, having also indulged in the wine pairing and a cheeky cocktail at the start. It was all magnificent and I can’t wait to go back.

    * Six courses for £95 per person (I didn’t want to spoil the run of the text by including that up there.)

    Rafters Restaurant, 220 Oakbrook Road Sheffield S11 7ED

  • The Brook

    The Brook

    Hi, SteelyMcSteel here, and for my third post, I would like to recommend The Brook. It is a perfect option for a good brunch or breakfast out on the town. Their wonderful food along with their snazzy Sheffield themed art makes for a very cosy and comfortable aesthetic. They have a good range of gluten free food options including breakfast fry-ups and omelettes. 

    I went on a friend’s birthday during the summer holidays, this meant that there were few other customers. However, you can take away meals when all the seats are taken. 

    When I went, I had mushrooms on toast. It had a large slice with a delicious sauce which was a perfect balance of garlic and cream.  

    When we go back, I would like to try one of their omelettes, because my friend had one and it just looked perfect. 

    I was unable to have any of the last minute birthday cake, so I had to have some cake from the café! There is a choice of carrot or coffee cake, and oh boy is their carrot cake good. 

    You can enjoy them for yourself at 989 Abbeydale road, or you can visit their Facebook (@thebrookmillhouses) or their website at https://brookmillhouses.com 

  • The George, Hathersage

    The George, Hathersage

    I’m really getting into the swing of going out for tea again! I recently went with some friends to The George in Hathersage – somewhere I’ve been meaning to try out for a while. It’s a relaxed, traditional-style bar and hotel in a 500 year old stone building in the Peak District – but only a few miles out of Sheffield, and in easy reach by train. Apparently, it’s been under new ownership since June 2021, so I’ve no idea whether it’s changed much since Covid. The website suggests ‘dated decor and antiquated ambiance’ have been updated.

    I had a quick look at the menu before we went and it’s quite extensive – lots to choose from and well over half of the dishes were marked gluten free or gluten free option. (I’ve linked to the February menu here, so I’m not sure how long that link will work, but you can navigate from the home page.)

    Starters include dishes like crab pate, courgette & sweetcorn fritters, bourbon-spiced belly pork, but I opted for the spicy halloumi with a honey and sesame dressing. It came with spinach, pine nuts, carrots, spring onions and a balsamic glaze. The flavours were great, although perhaps the halloumi was slightly over for my liking. But we didn’t wait too long to be served and I was still enjoying my G&T when the starter arrived. (They have a whole load of local gins to try.)

    Our server was understanding about me being clear why I’d gone for a gluten free meal, and happily made a note for the chef.

    The main courses were equally varied, ranging from your trad. English fish and chips to a delicious-sounding pork fillet stuffed with sage and chorizo and wrapped in pancetta. That was my second choice dish – one for next time! They also serve pizzas and the menu states GF bases are available. As I was with friends, I didn’t quiz the server on how the pizzas are cooked to avoid cross contamination or ask the many questions about the fish and chips. And there’s teriyaki salmon on the menu, which I’d definitely want to find out more about. So it’s worth assessing the coeliac safe credentials of some of the dishes. Having said that, I do have reasonably high expectations they know what they are doing, and there was tonnes of choice.

    I went for a confit duck leg with stove potatoes, celeriac puree, braised red cabbage, broccoli and apparently a blueberry duck jus. I wouldn’t have known there was blueberry in the jus, but the whole thing had lovely, rich flavours and the duck fell apart, as should be expected.

    I didn’t want a full dessert, but I find it hard to resist the dessert menu, just to see! So I ordered a George Gourmand with a glass of dessert wine, which was supposed to be three miniature desserts. Sounded perfect – just a little something sweet to satisfy the taste buds.

    When it came, it was enormous! For scale, the strawberry in the photo is one of the biggest I’ve seen. Under that is a sticky toffee pudding, there was a chocolate log type of thing, a coconut ice cream, a mango sorbet and a meringue! This was definitely a situation where less would have been more – I found it a bit over facing. But I battled on through most of it and it all tasted great. There was more than enough to satisfy two people.

    Overall, we had a lovely meal with great service and a nice atmosphere. The place was packed out so it’s clearly very popular. I reckon it would be a good place to go with the family – there’s definitely something there to please everybody.

    The George, Main Road, Hathersage, Derbyshire S32 1BB