When I was doing my research for my Wales and Scotland trip in the fall, I connected with Sam via Twitter. Sam is the owner of Gluten-Free Nottingham, a business that supplies high-quality, handmade, gluten-free food to people in the UK. Here is today’s guest post from Sam about all things gluten-free in Nottingham, England.
Gluten-Free in Nottingham, England
Twitter: @glutenfreenotts
www.glutenfreefoodnottingham.co.uk
www.facebook.com/glutenfreefoodnottingham
Hello, I’m Sam and I live in Nottingham, England. I run my own business making fresh handmade food for Coeliacs. To make life simple I named my business Gluten Free Food Nottingham – does what it says on the tin. I set up my business in August 2012 after discovering I was Coeliac in Summer 2011. I was really disappointed with the food that I could find in the supermarkets so I decided that I would do something about it. Through my business I sell baked goods such as cakes and quiches to shops, delis and the public, I also provide catering and run pop up restaurants at different venues around the city. I am very fortunate to be able to do this and it is just the best thing making someone smile when they realise that they can eat anything on the stalls that I run or anything on the menu at the pop up restaurant nights. The service is very unique to the area and I pride myself on being able to provide great tasting food that not only the Coeliac enjoys but everyone else at the party too.
Even though I cook a lot myself it is always nice to have a break from this. The number of venues in Nottingham that cater gluten free are growing all the time. There’s plenty of choice in and around the city. All the following are places that I have been to and eaten at safely and would happily recommend:
The Manor
Nottingham Road Beeston, Nottingham NG9 6DN
http://www.themanortoton.co.uk/home.htm
The Manor offers a brilliant gluten free pub grub menu and at great value. There’s a really good range across all three courses, expect hunters chicken, fish goujons, burgers and tasty desserts. The owner and staff are super friendly and provide a great service.
La Rock
4 Bridge St, Sandiacre, Nottingham NG10 5QT
http://www.larockrestaurant.co.uk/index.php
For fine dining head to La Rock in Sandiacre. Pretty much everything on the menu will be gluten free. A recent meal included wood pigeon for starters, venison for main and my very own gluten and dairy free dessert that they rustled up just for me.
The Griffins Head
Moor Rd, Papplewick, Nottingham NG15 8EN
http://www.griffinshead.co.uk/
Heading north away from the city in a little village is the Griffins Head, a traditional local pub which has extended in to restaurant with a brilliant menu for Coeliacs. A wide menu is on offer.
Alley Cafe
Cannon Ct, Longrow West, Nottingham NG1 6JE
http://www.alleycafe.co.uk/
The Alley Cafe is the cities long standing vegan bar. They have a range of gluten free snacks such as GF vegan burgers and cakes. Good for a chilled out drink with friends too.
Hartley’s Coffee & Sandwich Bar
21 Carlton Street, Hockley, Nottingham. NG1 1NL
http://www.hartleyscoffeebar.co.uk/menu–blog.html
Hartley’s is a family run business in the heart of the city, open daily they offer gluten, egg and dairy free options on their menus. Dawn the owner is gluten, egg and dairy free, her and husband Kevin train all the staff in preparing the food safely. Great for sandwiches, a slice of cake or an all day breakfast with GF sausages.
Nando’s
12 Angel Row, Nottingham NG1 6HL
http://www.nandos.co.uk/restaurantmenu/mains
Chain restaurant Nando’s has one of the best system I have discovered so far for serving customers with allergies and intolerances. Go in and tell them you are Coeliac and they will provide you with a menu that has every food that they sell and the ingredients and allergens for each of them. Go to Nando’s if you want chicken and fries or a vegetarian option.
D’s Pop Up Kitchen
https://www.facebook.com/dspopupkitchen?fref=ts
Dena makes beautiful vegan food that is gluten and wheat free too. Search her on Facebook to find where her next event will be.
Green Revolution
Vegan Takeaway service – call 44(0)7974 507 097
https://www.facebook.com/vegan.greenrevolution?fref=ts
The fantastic Hanna Garcez provides a vegan and raw food takeaway service direct to your door. With advance warning she can cater for multiple intolerances. Not least my demands for Gluten Free, Oat Free and Maize Free food.
Rectory Road Fish Bar
Rectory Road, West Bridgford. NG2
https://www.facebook.com/RectoryFishBar?fref=ts
Every Monday evening until 8.30pm Rectory Road Chippy offers Gluten Free fish and chips. Also try out the mushy peas, the homemade fishcakes and the battered sausages too.
Oriental Pearl
42-44 Bridgford Rd, West Bridgford, Nottingham NG2 6AP
http://www.the-pearl.co.uk/
This is a stylish Chinese Restaurant that uses locally sourced produce and has a separate gluten free menu.
Carluccio’s
12 Low Pavement, Nottingham NG1 7DL
http://www.carluccios.com/
Chain restaturant serving beautiful Italian food. A good selection for GF
Find my gluten free cakes in the following places:
Deli No. 8 – 8 Gordon Road, West Bridgford,Nottingham. NG2 5LN
Cafe 118 – 118 Burton Road, Carlton. Nottingham. NG4 3GP
Taste – Clumber Road, West Bridgford, Nottingham. NG2 6DP
The Ned Ludd – 27 Friar Lane, Nottingham. NG1 6DA
Hartley’s – 21 Carlton Street, Hockley, Nottingham. NG1 1NL
Eats n Treats – 43 Nottingham Road, Eastwood, Nottingham. NG16 2DH
The Deli @ Radcliffe – 29 Station Terrace, Radcliffe on Trent, Nottinghamshire. NG12 2AH
What a great job Sam has done expanding the business! I’m in my research phase too for Gluten Free in Ireland, Northern Ireland and Scotland for my trip coming up in April. I’m still a bit worried where it comes to finding foods for my two days trekking over 4 munros. I’m crossing my fingers 🙂
Thanks. It’s lot’s of hard work but totally worth it.
The supermarkets are all pretty good these days. Chains such as Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose have gluten free aisles, even the smaller of their stores will have a bit of bread and a couple of cakes. possibly tinned soups and in the frozen section there will be ready meals in the larger stores. The supermarkets are a bit of a plague and pop up everywhere (terrible for the high street but handy if you need to eat gf). The labelling laws are really good too for manufactured food. But you will need to take precautions in restaurants and ask plenty of questions as you would anywhere….Let me know if you need any more info.x
Thanks, Sam! That’s actually a tremendous help 🙂