Tag Archives: gluten free food

Prezzo Gluten Free Pizza

12 Nov

The gluten free world was recently sent into excitement by a glut of pizza announcements.  The news that Pizza Hut, Domino’s and Prezzo were launching gluten free pizza bases was swiftly followed up by Ask Italian.  I recently posted a review of the Pizza Hut gluten free offering, and with news that the Domino’s GF launch has been delayed until November 19th and the lack of an Ask Italian in Plymouth, I set out to try the Prezzo version.

Prezzo are currently offering a voucher on their website offering two courses for £10.  The voucher applies to the entire table, and as there were four of us this was a good deal.  Unfortunately the offer expires 12th November.  The Plymouth branch of Prezzo is situated in the Royal William Yard, which is fast becoming a gluten free hot spot.  The restaurant itself is very well decorated and situated in a great location.  It was also pleasing to see an Italian restaurant with several Italians on the staff.

I decided to skip the starter and go straight for the main course.  My wife was the only one to order a starter, some bruschetta, and nearly thirty minutes after ordering this hadn’t arrived.  My wife chased this and it arrived a few minutes later, and I suspect there was a mix up in the kitchen.  Mistakes happen and I always think it is better to judge a business on how they rectify a problem rather than whether they had one.  The waitress apologised for the delay, had the starter out in a few minutes and offered a free round of drinks for the entire table to make it up to us.  Great customer service after a rocky start.

I of course went for the pizza for the main meal.  I asked which toppings were gluten free, and was told I could have everything but the spicy beef.  I had heard the same from a few people on Twitter, so this gave some reassurance.  I quizzed the waitress with regards cross contamination and she seemed well informed.  I am very sensitive to cross contamination and I am pleased to report I have had no reaction at all to this pizza.  I did note that the menu did have a disclaimer that other gluten items were made in the kitchen, and they could not offer 100% guarantee that the kitchen was free from “airborne contamination”.  Unless the kitchen is 100% gluten free, it’s pretty standard to get a disclaimer similar to this.

There were no further delays in the service and our main course arrived shortly after.  I would usually have gone for a meaty pizza, but wasn’t feeling particularly hungry so was going to order a margherita pizza as I thought it would be less filling.  I had seen comment that the pizza’s here weren’t particularly cheesy, so at the very last second I changed my mind and went for the quattro formaggi.  This was a bit of an error on my part as I hadn’t spotted it had gorgonzola on in my last second switch.  I am not a fan of blue cheese so picked this off.  There was also a bit too much goats cheese for my liking which overpowered the other cheeses, so I regretted my choice a little.  The base itself was thin and tasty, it was crispy on the edges but quite soft in the centre.  My parents enjoyed their gluten filled pasta dishes, but my wife wasn’t particularly impressed with her gluteny pizza, saying she would have liked it crispier.  She tried my base and actually preferred it.

I had scoped out the allergy information pre visit and had been excited to see the vanilla panna cotta was gluten free.  However this was not on the dessert menu which was a shame, so I assume this is maybe a special.  The only gluten free dessert choice was a hazelnet bombe.  This was ice cream covered in chopped hazelnuts with a meringue centre.  This was nice but was no panna cotta.  It certainly would have been nice to have another gluten free choice for dessert.

Overall I think I slightly preferred the Pizza Hut base, though maybe this is down to my poor topping choice influencing me.  I’d be keen to try this again with a different topping and it’s definitely nice to have another gluten free option.  I’d give this a good but not great verdict overall.  See comments on this post for reviews from couple of other people who have tried the Prezzo GF pizza.  Next stop, Domino’s!

Kevin, Gluten Free by the Sea

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Gluten Free Gluttony at Chambers Notte Street

9 Nov

Update: Chambers has now been renamed Restaurant 60, but is still owned and run by chef Graham Ledwith: http://www.chambersandthenotte.com

Well after a rant, helping you find supermarket treasure and even a recipe it’s time to get back to the main focus of Gluten Free by the Sea; Helping you find great quality local gluten free food.  You may remember me mentioning Chambers Restaurant in an earlier Eating Out Gluten Free in Plymouth post, and I’ve been keen to go back to do a full review.  Situated on the Barbican this restaurant offers good quality locally sourced products, and is extremely gluten free friendly.  A Living Social offer presented a good excuse to go back, and we managed to pick up two courses and a glass of wine each for £30.  Chambers are running another Living Social offer in the next couple months so keep an eye out for that.

As we were seated we stated that I was coeliac and the chef came over and ran through the menu with me.  Basically he was more than happy to adapt any of the dishes to be gluten free, other than the obvious ones that were in batter, breadcrumbs or pastry.  He apologised that there’d been a diary mix up and he hadn’t realised a coeliac was visiting, else he would have gone out and got gluten free bread in specially.  I did indeed get gluten free bread on my last visit, and I always think this is a great touch.  Anyway, there was more than enough food to keep me going!  I also asked the key question as to whether the chips were fried with gluten items, and was told mine would be fried in a separate pan as a matter of course.

For starters I went for the leak and potato soup, and my wife went for baked field mushrooms.  The soup was good, but slightly salty for my taste.  The only thing I could find any fault with at all during the meal.  Abby loved her mushrooms and was impressed with the number of vegetarian choices too.

I’d had steak on my previous visit, which was excellent, so I thought I’d go for chicken for the main to try something different.  I was about to order a chicken in a garlic and brandy cream sauce, when I spotted chicken wrapped in Parma ham and stuffed with chorizo and cream cheese on the specials board.  This sounded great but came with bacon mash rather than chips, which also sounded amazing.  However I had my heart set on chips and they kindly let me have the special served with chips instead.  This course was excellent, and was served with a beef jus and champagne drizzle which were both extremely tasty.  The chips were delicious and I loved the presentation.  Abby had a goats cheese Wellington and enjoyed this too.

Abby was too full for dessert, as was I to tell the truth.  But what sort of reviewer would I have been if I didn’t try the dessert for you?  I ordered the “Something Chocolate” which was a cone shaped set mousse, with plenty of raspberry and banana coulis drizzled on the plate.  Apparently all the coulis contain about 4% alcohol!  The dessert was rich and light, and had an amazing chocolate flavour.  I absolutely loved this and had no problems at all in polishing it off.  However, in my haste to demolish it I made a huge error and forgot to take a photo – oops!  Anyway, here is the empty plate to show you how much I enjoyed it 🙂

Overall the food was excellent as was the service.  The chef told us he has a nut allergy so was very appreciative of the needs of someone suffering from an allergy or intolerance.  In fact he had recently successfully catered for someone who was gluten free, dairy free and vegetarian.  With the Living Social voucher this meal was a bargain, but the normal prices are very reasonable for the quality of the food.  If you are based in Plymouth or even visiting, then I can highly recommend paying a visit to Chambers.

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Eating out gluten free in Plymouth

9 Aug

One of the main purposes of this blog, is to help people following a gluten free diet find places to eat out safely.  Here is part one, and I aim to follow this up in the future with more restaurants as I find them, hopefully through your suggestions!  When eating out as a coeliac it is always advisable to call ahead so both you and the restaurant are comfortable with the situation.

Chambers

I recently visited Chambers who are based on Notte Street on the Barbican and had an excellent meal.  I called ahead and when I arrived the waitress (whose mum was gluten free) spent time going through the menu, telling me which dishes they could provide gluten free.  It was made clear that most of the dishes could be adjusted to be gluten free.  While this was happening another waitress brought gluten free bread to the table, a good start!  They also mentioned they had GF crackers in so I could have the cheese course.  I enquired after the chips and if the fryer would be contaminated.  I was told the waitress would check and if so it would be no problem to change the oil.  I went for the rib-eye steak with chips.  The steak came with fried onions (replacement for onion rings) and a herby sauce which was a replacement for the peppercorn sauce.  Everyone had fantastic meals and the starters and desserts were equally good.  I will definitely be going back! Update: Read full review here

The Glassblowing House

Also situated on the Barbican is The Glassblowing House.  After my wife noticed the menu states “most of our dishes are available gluten free” we decided to give it a go.  It is a very nice setting here and we visited on a sunny day and the place opened up large sliding doors  to a view of the harbour.  I went for an organic chicken breast, stuffed with goats cheese and tomato mouse, wrapped in pancetta.  The food was very nice, though I have to say the one time I’ve been here the service was pretty slow (packed and not enough staff).  I will be giving this another go at some point.

Plymouth Canteen & Deli

Situated within the Royal William yard is Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s Plymouth Canteen & Deli.  The food here is excellent and they have an allergy register where you can register yourself as coeliac, though I have to say I’ve not seen any evidence that this is used for anything.  The menu is made from the freshest local ingredients, so there is a new menu each day depending what is available.  Staff are very helpful with regards gluten free options and I have now visited several times with no issues.  90% of the menu was naturally gluten free on my last visit.

Nandos

There are a few gluten free friendly chains around too.  Nandos are situated both in town, and at Barbican Leisure Park.  They have a very clear allergy menu and have always been very helpful when I have been there.  If you tell them you are coeliac the duty manager usually cooks your food separately.  I have only eaten here since being diagnosed after it was recommended by other coeliacs and I’m now a regular visitor!

Bella Italia

One of the first restaurants I visited after being diagnosed was Bella Italia.  More in the “cheap and cheerful” bracket, but I had a nice meal here.  I’d called ahead and they had a separate gluten free menu waiting for me, the waiter ran through the specials un-prompted saying which ones were GF and which ones could be made GF.  There were pasta, pizza and choclate cake options on the menu.  There are nicer restaurants around, but if you are looking for somewhere cheaper or just gluten free pizza then it’s worth checking out.

See also:

Gluten Free by the Sea – Plymouth posts
Coeliac UK Plymouth
Live Gluten Free – Plymouth eating out

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