Steeliac

Tag: gluten free eating out

  • The Florentine

    The Florentine

    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

  • Wagamama’s new menu

    Wagamama’s new menu

    August marked our first meal out in Sheffield in quite a while. We’ve hardly been into the city, but as a gift we had been booked on a CluedUp mystery game, where you have to solve a mystery by interrogating virtual suspects in various geolocations around Sheffield. It was a fun way to spend some time, although we were all glued to our screens for most of it!

    During the game, we dropped into Wagamama in Leopold Square for a late lunch, as I had seen they’ve expanded their gluten free menu (choose the ‘non gluten’ section on their menu page.

    Whilst not the most extensive gluten free offering, Wagamama do put some effort into allergens, with a separate menu for gluten free (and one for vegan) and all allergen orders taken by a manager. So it’s quite a reassuring place to eat.

    We shared some salted edamame, and SteelyMcSteel and I shared some prawn kushiyaki as a starter (or side dish, as they come from the kitchen in any order).

    For mains, I had a ‘Shiok’ chicken, which is chicken marinated in turmeric, garlic and ginger on coconut and lemongrass dressed rice. It’s served with a tangy pickled slaw, radish, lime and coriander. It was dry rather than saucy, but wonderfully fresh flavours. And there are no filters on the photo – it really was that colourful.

    I washed it down with a fun looking can of East By East cider, made from supermarket surplus apples – what a great idea!

    SteelyMcSteel had a mahoosive bowl of chicken ramen. It was actually so big it defeated him. And it would have fed us both, to be fair.

    Despite not really having room, I decided to try the new GF dessert, a flourless chocolate orange cake with miso caramel ice cream. It was lovely but it certainly wasn’t light! A very chocolatey torte, rather than a cake. The strong chocolate drowned out the delicate miso flavour of the ice cream a little, but it was nice to try something with some imagination.

    I’d certainly say Wagamama was going in the right direction.

    Wagamama
    2 Leopold Square, Sheffield S1 2JG

  • Pho Cafe coming to Sheffield!

    Pho Cafe coming to Sheffield!

    Yes, yes, yes! I am so excited – I’ve been waiting for this to happen for years!

    If you don’t know, Pho is a Vietnamese cafe where so much of the menu is gluten free, they asterisk the foods that aren’t. So much choice – noodle soup, summer rolls, curry, fried noodles. Bring it on!

    Location will be in Leopold Square.

  • South Street Kitchen

    South Street Kitchen

    I love colourful food! Look at this lovely looking lunch in South Street Kitchen at Park Hill. I’ve been in the area a couple of times recently and discovered this delightful independent cafe serving Middle Eastern inspired vegetarian food.

    Since Nourish and Eten in the town centre closed, Sheffield has really been really short on good cafes, so it’s great to find somewhere new (not that new – it’s been open for over a year). I can’t say the gluten free choice was overwhelming, but the staff were accommodating of me being coeliac, and a couple of options were marked GF on the menu, which made it nice and easy. Frankly, I can be satisfied with just one option as long as it’s safe and I feel welcome!

    The cafe is located on the ground floor of the first phase of development at Park Hill Flats, overlooking the city. Outside, the cafe is quite unassuming, but inside, it’s rather cool with a great vibe. There’s lots of exposed concrete, as you might expect from the Park Hill development, and they’ve had fun with the decor, even hiding these little guys in the old fittings.

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    I ordered the aubergine, halloumi, basil and muhammara (red pepper dip) rolls, which were served in a really flavoursome tomato sauce. And I got to choose two of the vibrant looking salads to go with it. I chose a cauliflower salad and a red cabbage based one. It was all delicious, and a generous portion.

    It’s nice to read on the cafe’s website that sustainability is important as well – they use ethical local suppliers and green cleaning products. And you can take your own containers for takeaway food.

    I really hope South Street Kitchen increases (or at least maintains) its gluten free offer. It’s great to have somewhere to go close to the city centre – the cafe is only a couple of minutes’ walk up the hill from Sheffield train station. And I’m looking forward to seeing what else the Park Hill development brings to our city in the future…

    South Street Kitchen
    19-20 South Street, Sheffield S2 5QX

  • Ego at The Dore Moor Inn

    Ego at The Dore Moor Inn

    We had a lovely meal at the new Ego at The Dore Moor Inn recently. It’s a new restaurant, which used to be the Dore Moor Inn, on the way out to Longshaw and Hathersage – right on the edge of Sheffield, where it becomes the Peak District. I’ve been to the branch in town a few times, and it’s generally been very reliable for gluten free food. So I was looking forward to checking out their new place.

    The main change that’s been made to the restaurant is opening up the kitchen, and it seemed a bit brighter inside than it used to be. The place was fairly busy so booking is probably essential at the moment. The good news is they have a fairly extensive, separate, gluten free menu, which is always a nice start to a meal out!

    I chose a Meditteranean prawn cocktail for starters, which came with melon, peppers, cucumber and rocket, and a dressing. That was perfectly nice. Other options were chorizo, garlic mushrooms, pate, prawn pil pil…

    Then for mains, I had a hanging kebab. They always look nice and dramatic when they come to the table! Mine was mixed meat, and it was served without the wraps that the non-gf version comes with, but it didn’t really need them, as there was plenty for me. And we had a few chips on the side!

    There were plenty of other options for main courses, including pasta and rice dishes, salads, meats and fish – tonnes to choose from! The gluten free menu is available online here.

    I didn’t really need a pudding, but as they had such a good choice – lemon tart, pecan pie and baked cheesecake, alongside the more usual suspects of creme brulee, ice cream and brownie, I couldn’t resist trying out the pecan pie, which was a lovely treat to end the meal.

    Ego at The Dore Moor Inn
    Hathersage Road, Sheffield, S17 3AB

  • Sebastian’s

    Sebastian’s

    *** Update: This cafe has now closed down***

    I discovered a great little cafe on Sharrow Vale Road last week, called Sebastian’s. I went to find a spot to have a coffee and breakfast whilst our boys were at their Saturday morning sports activity.

    And I think this place is a little gem! They have a separate toaster for gluten free bread so I was able to have avocado on toast. It arrived camouflaged under some salad, seeds and balsamic glaze, but was delicious.

    The menu also had salads, soup, frittata and felafels on offer as gluten free choices.

    And as I was working so hard :-), I treated myself to a cake after. Breakfast pudding – is that a thing? There was an assortment of polenta cakes and other sweet treats that were gluten free, and I was assured they were made separately to the gluten containing food.

    I went for a lemon and poppy seed polenta cake and it was blooming lovely. Possibly the best polenta cake I’ve tried – fairly light, nice and moist with a delicious lemony tang. I must go back to try the rhubarb one.

    It was a lovely way to spend the morning, even though I was working.

    I was also really pleased to spot the really welcoming allergy notice. So unusual right now, when there are so many disclaimers about.

    Sebastian’s
    345 Sharrow Vale Road, Sheffield S11 8ZG

     

  • The Rising Sun

    The Rising Sun

    The Rising Sun pub in Fulwood has launched a new menu and I was pleased to be invited to try it. The pub, owned by the local Abbeydale Brewery, had a refurb a couple of years ago, with an extension and full catering kitchen, which has allowed them to be quite creative with the menu.

    There are plenty of options marked as gluten free on the menu, with a couple of snacks and starters, over five main courses and a couple of puddings. The staff were knowledgeable about cross contamination, and they have a separate fryer for chips and gluten free food from the other fried items, so the chips are gluten free, although accidentally not marked as such on the menu.

    We started off with a Caprese salad, which looked very appealing with its coloured heirloom tomatoes, pea shoots and mozzarella. There was plenty of seasoning and not too much oil, so it tasted as lovely as it looked.

    Our other starter was cauliflower (and lentil) fritters, with a homemade mango and lime chutney. These were great – rather substantial and really nicely flavoured. I might have a bash at making these myself!

    For mains, carrying on the curried theme, I ordered masala spiced cod fillet, with braised lentils, pickled carrot and a coconut cream sauce. I thought this was excellent. The cod was cooked just right and the spicing was bob on for me. Bags of flavour, particularly with the additions of creamy sauce and the tangy carrot. 

    Our other main was a slow roast lamb belly with fresh peas, roasted baby carrots, confit new potatoes and a minted yoghurt. It’s very unusual to see peas in pods these days, and goes to show they’re using lovely fresh ingredients. I’ve not had lamb belly before, so this was interesting to try and we really enjoyed it.

    Unfortunately, we didn’t have time for a pud but there was a pineapple upside down cake and a lemon pavlova on offer, which is a bit different from what might normally find in a pub.

    Definitely worth a trip out to Fulwood. And it was great to see a whole load of local suppliers listed on the menu.

    The Rising Sun, 471 Fulwood Road, Sheffield S10 3QA

  • Amaro Lounge

    Amaro Lounge

    I had a tip off about a new place called Amaro last week, which has a gluten free menu. So when our plans fell through on Friday and the kids were away for the night, we decided to pop down and give it a try – and it turned out to have only been open a couple of days.

    Amaro is part of the Lounge chain, which, from what I can gather, is about hanging out, drinks, food and eccentric interiors with old fashioned photos. Fine by me, as long as there’s a gluten free option – I’m not too picky. Lounge’s food policy is “everyone welcome” with an emphasis on making sure their gluten free and vegan menu aren’t second best. So good news on the free from front.

    As it was Friday, I treated myself to a cocktail (Prosecco and passionfruit martini) whilst we browsed the menu.

    There are salads, sandwiches, burgers, tapas and some main courses on the menu – so plenty to choose from. I went for buttermilk chicken (unusual gluten free offer, but I was reassured about them using a separate fryer) with fries and slaw, and a a side of tenderstem broccoli with chilli and garlic.

    It came fairly quickly and tasted great, with a good crispy coating on the chicken. My only comment would be that the broccoli portion was a bit small (3 pieces so almost £1 a stem), but overall it was very enjoyable.

    We shared a dark chocolate orange tart for dessert, which is on offer alongside the ubiquitous chocolate brownie and a couple of sundae options. The tart was lovely and rich, and could only really have been improved with a dollop of cream.

    Lounge also do some interesting brunch options, which I’m tempted to go back and try at some point. Gluten free breakfast out is usually a bit disappointing, so it’s refreshing to see some creativity on this menu. Chorizo and halloumi hash, Halloumi and sweetcorn pancake, and the Avocado brunch all sound great. And the hash browns are gluten free – winner!

    Looking on their website, there’s also another branch in Stocksbridge called Zorro, which I imagine would have the same menu.

    Amaro, 519 Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8PR
    Zorro, 6 Fox Valley, Stocksbridge, Sheffield, S36 2AE

  • Gluten free meaty feast at Smoke BBQ

    Gluten free meaty feast at Smoke BBQ

    We recently went to a birthday meal at Smoke BBQ, which is at St Paul’s Place, very close to the Charles Street ‘Cheesegrater’ car park and near the Winter Gardens. (Incidentally, the Cheesegrater has just been voted the world’s number one quirky car park!)

    It’s your classic barbecue fayre, with lots of spiced, smoked meats on the menu, served with chips and a side. Not much in the way of vegetarian food, other than a bean chilli – but we went with a party of hungry carnivores, so it worked for us.

    Smoke has a separate gluten free menu, which, if you’ve read other reviews of mine, you’ll know puts it high up my list of places to go. It’s much more pleasant to choose your meal from a list of food you can have, rather than search for things on the main menu.

    I opted for the brisket pit plate, as somebody had previously enjoyed it. This had smoked brisket and burnt ends (which is much tastier than it sounds) with chips and I chose a side of pickled slaw, which I went halves on with a friend who ordered sweet potato mash. There are plenty of choices, including steak, pork belly, chicken, pulled pork, and an assortment of sides including corn on the cob and greens, as a token gesture to vegetables!

    I really enjoyed my meal, which had bags of flavour and great textures to the meat. However, the serving style is a bit trendy: food on a metal tray and my red wine came in tumbler. So if that’s the sort of thing that annoys, this might not be the place for you!

    We were too full for desserts, so I don’t know what’s on offer, although they are referred to on the gluten free menu. Children’s portions are also available, although you need to speak to the server about these.

    Smoke BBQ, St Paul’s Place, Sheffield S1 2NB

  • Cutlery Works

    Cutlery Works

    I went for a great works night out recently at the Cutlery Works on Kelham Island. The Cutlery Works describes itself as a food hall, with a mix of permanent and semi permanent independent restaurants, communal dining spaces, bars and coffee roasters.

    This makes it a great space for informal groups that can satisfy pretty much any dining requirement, from vegan and gluten free, through sushi to pies and chips. Everybody can hang out together and eat from the different places. Although I couldn’t get it to work on my phone, you can order and pay for your food an an app and it will be brought to your table.

    I ordered my food from a vegan restaurant called Shed, but I think they’ve since updated the menu and I can’t find it any more! But it was a fresh tasting salad bowl with rice, broccoli, celeriac, a pickled slaw and I think a tahini dip. They have a variety of gluten free dishes on their current menu including sweet potato bravas, a Sri Lankan curry and a selection of desserts (a beetroot brownie sundae and a cacao and rhubarb mousse amongst others).

    Other gluten free options include Canadian ‘poutine’ from Gravy Train (posh chips and gravy) and plant based desserts from Elly Joy. There are other potential options of Indian and Japanese food, but I’ve not been able to look at menus for those.

    Later in the evening, after a couple of very fashionable gins in fishbowl glasses, I noticed that Fin and Bone were serving chips from a dedicated fryer. I did the decent thing and went over to talk chips with them just to make sure, and I was delighted to buy some piping hot fresh gluten free chips. An unusual treat on a night out – delicious.

    The Cutlery Works has a really nice vibe, with all sorts of different kinds of people. It was a really fun evening, and whilst the place did get busy, there was never really much of a queue for the bar. The table service for food was great, and the huge variety of food was a winner with our group of people.

    It’s open from morning until evening Wednesday through Sunday, so we’re planning to go back with the kids too.

    Cutlery Works, 73 – 101 Neepsend Lane, Sheffield S3 8AT