Steeliac

Tag: Gluten free tapas

  • Iberico

    Iberico

    Iberico is a small, authentic Spanish tapas restaurant hidden away in Dyson Place (just off Sharrow Vale Road in the Ecclesall Road area of town). It has replaced the small plates restaurant Tonco, which sadly closed down in 2024.

    Iberico’s focus is on high quality, home-made food, using imported Spanish ingredients for authenticity. When we arrive, there’s a buzz about the place, with a busy, open kitchen including a barbecue for their ‘fire cooked’ brasa dishes.

    The menu includes small bites or pintxos (pronounced pinchos) at £5 each, hot and cold tapas (£7-13), charcuterie platters (£17-20) and fire cooked dishes, ranging in price up to £22. The vast majority, apart from the obvious bready bits, are gluten free, and the team seemed very clued up on cross contamination.

    To start with, we ordered some olives, Manchego cheese with quince paste, and a wood-fired roasted Galician beef Picanha. This was supposed to come with a micro leaf salad but it came with a regular-looking curly lettuce, and I wasn’t a massive fan of the goat cheese sauce. That’s a personal preference though – my husband liked it. The beef was delightful though – wonderfully soft.

    A plate containing 4 triangular slices of Manchego cheese and 4 small cubes of quince paste. In the background, a small terracotta pot is filled with green olives
    A plate containing very thin slices of barely cooked beef with some lettuce and a yellow goat cheese sauce

    We then had some crunchy belly pork, which was one of the pintxos. Now, this may have been the best belly pork I’ve ever had; I’m not always a fan but I think it had been deep fried and the fat was beautifully rendered down and perfectly crispy. The fish in a sauce with garlic was, I believe, one of the daily specials, and the other two dishes were from the Brasa or BBQ. The mixed grilled vegetables were brilliant and incredibly flavoursome. Unusually, I experienced a second ‘best ever’ moment, and unexpectedly, it was the carrots in this dish: sweet, soft and perfectly seasoned – can I get a wood fired brasa installed in my kitchen please?

    A white plate with three very crispy pieces of belly pork sitting on top of two lemon slices
    A terracotta pot containing a piece of white fish in a buttery, yellow sauce, with slices of crispy garlic scattered on top
    A selection of roasted vegetables (carrot, pepper, aubergine) on a rectangular white platter with a blue pattern
    Slices of barbequed pork on top of some small roasted potatoes with a Padron pepper, on a cream coloured, rectangular plate

    The final savoury dish was the Iberico pork steak, which was perfectly cooked and succulent, and came with some mini roast potatoes.

    We were pretty full after all that and could have happily gone without a dessert, but the menu had two gluten free puds that were crying out to be tried. So we shared an almond based Santiago cake and a burnt Basque cheesecake and had no problems putting them away. Both were delicious.

    Two desserts on separate blue and white plates. In the foreground, a slice of burnt Basque cheesecake and behind, a slice of almond cake with icing sugar on the top

    We really enjoyed this meal. There’s something so sociable about sharing small dishes rather than just tucking into an individual large plate of food, so was a very enjoyable experience, and we’re now plotting who we can take with us next time.

    Iberico
    2 Dyson Place, Sharrow S11 8XX

  • Tonco

    Tonco

    ***Sadly now closed***

    Last weekend we ended up with a child-free day, so we made the most of it by treating ourselves to a nice lunch. We were intending to try the highly recommended Rhubarb Shed but it was fully booked, so we ended up going to Tonco, a small restaurant, hidden away in Dyson Court, just off Sharrow Vale Road.

    The place itself has a fairly industrial vibe – simple wood and concrete decor with pops of yellow – and an open kitchen. And the seasonally changing menu is all about tapas-style small plates, ranging in cost between £6.50 and £14. Lots of the menu is marked as gluten free and the chef was quite happy to tailor a few dishes as well. They were great about cross contamination, despite the presence of some home made bread on the counter.

    Apart from the plate of charcuterie meats, the majority of the savoury options were completely novel to us. My absolute favourite (top middle on the photos) was a salad, newly devised by the chef this morning, of purple sprouting broccoli, blood orange, ricotta cheese, hazelnut puree and chopped hazelnuts. It was so good, we ordered it a second time!

    We also tried vegan croquettes, brandade, which was olive oil mashed potato with confit egg yolk inside, liberally sprinkled with flakes of dried fish. The leeks with smoked beetroot, chilli and almonds were fantastic. It was all fabulous, and I enjoyed a couple of glasses of crisp Alvarinho wine as well.

    We probably didn’t need a pudding, but on spotting a fairly unusual gluten free option, I decided to indulge. Floating islands with custard, rhubarb and almonds, which tasted as gorgeous as it looked! The tangy rhubarb really balanced out the sweet custard and meringue, and the crunch of the nuts made the texture combination perfect.

    We chuckled when we got the bill and it said “VERY COELIAC” in capital letters, which was reassuring. I definitely felt looked after here and we had lovely, relaxing late lunch. I really can’t wait to go back.

    Tonco
    2 Dyson Place, Sheffield S11 8XX

  • La Mama

    La Mama

    We met some good friends for tapas at La Mama on Abbeydale Road a few weeks ago when it was still warm outside. We haven’t been here for a long time but remembered it being great. The atmosphere on a Friday evening was buzzing. With the music, decor and summer warmth with the patio window open, an hour or so in and we felt like we were on holiday abroad.

    It’s a South American rather than Spanish tapas restaurant (albeit plenty of similar dishes), so I started off with a classic Pisco Sour cocktail.

    Plenty of the menu is gluten free (with clear labelling on the main menu) so there was lots to choose from. We started with an antipasti platter, olives and Manchego. There’s a link to the menu here but I think they change it so it might expire after a while.

    So then we had some red wine and got chatting, and I forgot to take pics of the mains. Classic. But we had vegan nachos, green beans with garlic and paprika (they were ace), patatas (or rather Papas) bravas, of course, tortilla and a chorizo stew. It was all fabulous, so we ordered a bit more that we didn’t need. And a second bottle of wine…

    I tried the plantain for dessert, which was interesting… I think of plantain more as savoury, but, well, deep fry it and serve it with chocolate sauce and you can’t go too far wrong.

    My husband had the more traditional Crema Catalana, which looked great.

    And then we rounded it all off with another cocktail. Pandemic? What pandemic? It was so lovely to be out socialising with delicious food in a buzzing atmosphere. Highly recommend this place.

    La Mama
    238 Abbeydale Road, Sheffield, S7 1FL

  • El Toro

    El Toro

    *** UPDATE: CLOSED DOWN***

    I’ve generally accepted that when I go out for a meal, the gluten free choices can be fairly limited in comparison to the regular menu. So I was delighted to find the gluten free offering at El Toro in Broomhill was over 90% of the menu.

    El Toro is a Spanish tapas restaurant, where you order and share lots of small dishes. The extensive choice is chalked up on menus around the walls, with plenty of meat, vegetarian and fish dishes. (Some of the dishes feature on their early bird menu, where you can have 3 tapas and a drink for a set price before 7pm.)

    We began with a cocktail – I had a mojito – whilst we decided what to order. Our assortment of dishes included patatas bravas, meatballs, Catalan duck, lamb stew, goat cheese salad and spinach Catalan. I was glad to hear they have a separate fryer to ensure their food is not cross-contaminated.

    The food came fairly quickly and was all great. Our tapas staples, patatas bravas and meatballs, were as lovely, as expected. The Catalan duck was delicious – well flavoured and falling off its bone and the goat cheese was very creamy. All in all, a great selection, and it’s so enjoyable to share all the little dishes.

    You can’t fail to notice the giant meringues in a display cabinet when you walk through the door. These are enormous, and come in a selection of flavours including almond, chocolate, strawberry and pistachio. I think all are gluten free except the lemon one.

    In the photos are the almond and strawberry meringues. They were delicious and light, with a gooey texture in the middle of the almond one. Definitely enough to share!

    El Toro
    129 Newbould Lane, Broomhill, Sheffield S10 2PL

  • La Mama

    La Mama

    Yesterday we went out for a sneaky Tuesday tea as the boys are away for a few days over half term. I wanted to try somewhere new, and my search led me to La Mama on Abbeydale Road on the west side of town. The restaurant seems to have been around for years, having multiple eating out awards over the last few years.

    It’s a small tapas restaurant and bar, with Chilean and Spanish influence, so some of the dishes are a bit different to those in a regular Spanish tapas place.

    I was very pleased to find the gluten free dishes were all marked clearly on the menu, which makes for a pleasant ordering experience, and there were plenty to choose from. You can have a look at the menu on their website. I was told the kitchen has a separate fryer for cooking gluten free items, which was reassuring.

    We completely over ordered, with eight tapas between the two of us, but really six would have been plenty for a quick weeknight meal, as the portion sizes were generous.

    We ordered a variety of meat, fish and vegetarian dishes. Of the meat dishes, my favourites were Garbanzos con Chorizo, a chickpea stew with chorizo and Caldereta de Cordero, a delicious casseroled lamb. The fish was a beautifully cooked hake loin in a tomato and olive sauce.

    We also had a baked aubergine, Berenjenas al Horno; and a really delicious green beans with paprika and pine nuts (which I’m going to try to recreate). And of course, some spiced La Mama potatoes.

    It was all really good. The place was rather quiet, but then it was an early Tuesday evening in half term, and also the night of the Bake Off final. But I get the impression the place will have a really nice buzz about it on a weekend.

    As well as a variety of cocktails, they serve Daura Damm Spanish gluten free beer – what more could you want? Next time we’ll go at the weekend and I will be testing out the Pisco Sour…

    We didn’t linger, as I needed to get back to watch the Bake Off final before I could accidentally find out the winner!

    La Mama,  238 Abbeydale Road, Sheffield S7 1FL