Gluten free dining in London

Hi, we are gluten free as well, due to my intolerance and our 3 daughters all having celiac disease. Hubby and I are going on a 3 week UK trip this summer, and also very excited! He has faithfully gone GF with us, even though he is not sensitive, for the past two years. I have been telling him that he doesn't need need to stick to it while we are there! Enjoy the fish and chips, for pete's sake-- and the beer, especially the beer! :)

That said, we have always had good luck just googling it-- for example, "Gluten-free London" and all kinds of lists come up. In fact I just found a well reviewed fish and chip restaurant, Oliver's, within a 5 minute walk of our B&B in north London, that does "Gluten-free Wednesday" where everything is GF including their fish batter.

I have read that GF awareness and availability is more on the radar in Europe and the UK than here in the US. Don't know how accurate that is; living where I do, near Seattle, we have lots of resources here.

The British are very aware of gluten intolerance, whether from celiac disease or other causes. We just returned from a 3-week trip and I saw the GF "gluten free" designation on many menus, even in small pubs. I ate very well with no worries ( but no fish and chips). As for beer, I cannot offer any assurance, as I drink wine instead.

Many many places cater to GF in London - I'd venture to say, most.

There is a strong knowledge of it. Supermarkets are easy - look for the "Wellness" aisle or some such.

GF pasta is readily available.

If you are interested in tea in London most places will offer GF cakes, and many of them are really scrummy. Just ask.

As the others say above, gluten free products readily available and restaurants are very aware. For example, I was recently in a chain called Leon and there was information on the menu about it. The Pret a Manger chain (which are everywhere) website also has section on allergens, including gluten free. If there are specific restaurants you want to visit check their website, you may find information there or if not ring them up.

Just a quick warning - "gluten free" is becoming a bit of a fad diet over here among people who don't actually have any reason for it. Places that advertise "gluten free" may not in fact make the effort to avoid dishes being contaminated by traces of wheat material with the rigour needed by people with actual celiac disease.

You might find the website of coeliac.org.uk useful. London is probably the easiest part of the UK for a gluten free diet, but the rest of the country is not that difficult. Not easy, but not too difficult.

Hello!

My wife is on a permanent gluten-free diet too, so I sympathise! Some general advice:

1. If you are staying near a large supermarket (Tesco; Sainsbury; Asda; Morrisons; Waitrose) go in and ask for their 'Free From' range. All the supermarket chains (in their large stores) now do a range of gluten free products, including breads, cereals, biscuits and so on - in a larger supermarket you will find snacks you can buy to eat, even if you don't have the facility to make your own sandwiches! PS. I just discovered recently that the larghest branches of Sainsburys now stock two varieties of gluten-free bread fresh sandwiches. There's even a wheat-free beer on sale....oh - and Marks & Spencer do a small range of gluten free foods too.
2. Nowadays most products have to list all allergens - thus looking at the ingredients list will often show you if gluten is included. If it is excluded it may be highlighted in some way, either in bold, in a separate box, or with a logo (often a wheat-ear crossed through). It pays to be careful though - for instance some flavours of Walkers (US Lays) crisps have gluten in their flavouring, but others don't!
3. Some restaurant chains are beginning to make a feature of their gluten-free offerings. For instance Pizza Express do an entire range of pizza bases and pastas that are also supposedly prepared in a gluten free environment.
4. Many of the coffee bar chains have a minimal gluten-free offering, often consisting of a wrapped chocolate brownie slice, or flapjack. Beware some of these - the difference between it and Styrofoam is sometimes minimal ;-) Starbucks doesn't even do that.
5. Be careful if you are considering eating in any Indian, Chinese or other similar cuisine restaurant. To my knowledge their ingredient listings are at best patchy, and the chances of their meat sauces (for instance) not using ordinary flour as a thickener are low. Even asking the question does not guarantee you a knowledgeable reply.

Overall though, the limitations you face are lessening every day. Good hunting!

We were just there, and found a great variety of foods. We try and keep our gluten down because my husband has an auto immune disease. He had just a beer or two, but we were surprised at how great the wine was in all the restaurants. There were tons of Asian restaurants of every variety. And we decided after all these years it was much better to just stay on track with our diets and not worry about what we cannot have. We both spent those two weeks feeling fantastic. The fish and chips were easy to take the breading off it that would work for you. And it did not seem to be that big an item in London these days. We also felt like the types of beers were very high in gluten.