LONDON: The Best Restaurants for Gluten & Dairy Free
Given I live in Covent Garden (yes I know, who lives in Covent Garden?!), I think it’s a bit of a crime that I haven’t shared my fav places to eat out, GF DF style! Theres also lots of reviews for GF restaurants out there, but not so many for both GF & DF so I hope this helps!
You’ve probably heard of lots of these but fingers crossed there’s a new name or two in there for you… I know the joy of finding a new, amazing and accommodating place to eat!!
I’ve included £ signs to give you an idea of how expensive they are:
£ = <£5 for a main,
££ = £6-10,
£££=10-15,
££££ = 15+
My list is ever changing and I have a huge list of places I want to try saved on my phone, but if you have any other recommendations for me, I’d love to hear them!!
So here goes…
COVENT GARDEN/SOHO
Wild food café: £££
Very cool, casual vibe. Vegan, raw, GF lunch & dinner.
GF, vegan, raw and mostly refined sugar free but you’d never know! Hidden up a strange little stair case in Neals Yard, this place is a must. Admittedly, I barely recognised any ingredients on the menu but don’t let that put you off because every dish is totally dreamy. I sat at the bar which is wrapped around an open kitchen & I could have sat there all day. Every dish looked like a work of art & tastes incredible – deserving its high price tag. Don’t expect fast service though, its very ‘relaxed’. My recommendation: BBQ pulled jackfruit sandwich followed by banana bread with almond custard.
Duck & Rice: £££
Smart restaurant – the “nice top & jeans” kind. I’d recommend dinner.
Really cute venue, menu is a little difficult to work your way around if you’re GF & DF but the waiters are very helpful, aware of cc and the slightly painful experience is so worth it. Have the egg fried rice, it’s the best ever.
OXFORD STREET AREA
Ethos: ££
Posh self service. Best for lunch.
I first discovered this from a recommendation from a GF insta friend. It’s a self service style place & you pay by weight of your plate. There’s a massive table of salad options, and another full of hot dishes which means you have the full permission to pick a random plate of bits you fancy – one meatball, half a piece of chicken, 1 stem of broccoli, bit of pasta, beansprout salad, whatever it might be! I believe some of the cakes are made by Mrs Hollingsworth so you know youre in safe hands there too.
Deliciously Ella’s Deli: ££
Casual, build your own style breakfast & lunch.
Only a small restaurant with sharing tables. Everything is GF & DF and they list ALL the ingredients so its perfect for people with strange intolerances like me. For me, its all about the Five Bean Chilli & Rustic Corn Bread with Cashew Cream.
Detox Kitchen: ££
Lunch/Deli, build your own healthy eating
You know the lunch boxes you can get from Selfridges? Did you know they have a full deli too?!! its amazing. Rows and rows of different salad options, massive frittatas, chickpea burger, the lot. Something for everyone and you’d never know everything was gluten & dairy free.
FULHAM/CHELSEA
The Ivy Chelsea: £££
Smart restaurant, feels like a treat but not too pricey
Admittedly, there’s no GF menu BUT my experience so far is that the waitress/waiters have all been highly informed as to what I could or couldn’t have and happy to adapt most things. Ivy Chelsea is my fav. The garden is beautiful on a warm summers day. If you can tolerate a little bit of cheese, have the shepherd’s pie. You won’t want it to end. If not, there’s plenty of options – seared tuna tuna, steaks, fish of the day, roast chicken, indulgent salads etc. All in the most gorgeous, romantic setting.
Good Life Eatery: ££
Upmarket Café, clean eating. Breakfast, lunch or dinner.
Clean eating at its finest with locally sourced produce. My recommendations: For breakfast, share the Chestnut Waffles with Coconut Yogurt, Berry & Chia Compote and Banana Mash AND Carrot Fritters with Egg/Tofu, Smashed Avo & Salsa Hermosa. All allergens are listed on their website so you can check it out before you get there.
OTHERS AREAS
Scalini: £££/£
Traditional Italian
As hard as I’ve tried, gluten free pasta just isn’t the same. But these guys do pasta so well, you’d never know. Also a lot of the sauces are tomato based and therefore naturally dairy free. Can’t recommend the ‘Spaghetti alla Pescatora’ enough.
Pearl & Groove
Notting Hill. Cakes – Gluten, dairy & sometimes refined sugar free
Worth the trip. Plenty of gf & df options. The banana and PB is my fav but I don’t think you can go wrong with any of them!! Also offers salads, soups & brunches if you have room after scoffing all the cakes.
Borough Market – freefrombakehouse & big v
Open air food market – from fruit & veg stalls to fast food, coffee & cake
After my diagnosis, I was worried I wouldn’t be able to eat out in markets like this and Borough is one of my favs. Luckily, I didn’t need to worry! I now go there just to visit the Free From Bakehouse (loads of homemade GF, DF cake choices to drool over). Main meals are a little trickier but my top choice is either the Indian stand (not sure what its called but you wont miss it, it smells insane and the onion bahjis are to die for) or the Big V (a vegan burger stand which offers a GF DF vegan bowl full of tasty goodness).
Niche – ££
Angel. Bistro style, casual restaurant.
Absolutely love it here. The owner used to have a bakery, but once he found out he was coeliac, he turned his passion into a GF venture… which means you know the food is goooood. You have to have the gluten, dairy free sausage and mash with gravy and gigantic onion rings. The GF dream right? Near Angel tube station and is only a little place so I’d recommend booking at night.
CHAINS
Leon: ££
Healthy fast food restaurant
Gluten, dairy free breakfast pots. Most of the lunches come with brown rice & range from chicken satay to gf nuggets and thai curry. Make sure you save a space for doughnuts too!!
Pod: £
Healthy fast food restaurant
Website lists the FULL list of ingredients which is handy for people with weird allergies like me. Surprisingly, a lot of the hot dishes like Green Thai Curry are GF & DF. Yum yum.
Wagamamas: ££
Asian, fast food. The most accommodating chain out there.
Fancy Pad Thai? They’ll make it gluten free. Fancy Donburi? They’ll do that too! The manager takes your order & nothing seems a hassle.
Masala Zone: £££
Upmarket curry house where pretty much everything is GF & DF
Planet Organic & Wholefoods: High end Supermarket style places where I can spend hours and hours looking at all the GF DF goodies that you’re unlikely to find in a regular supermarket. They both have little restaurants in them too. Have the thali so you can try a bit of everyth
Honest Burgers
Everyones favourite burger house
I haven’t heard a single bad review of this place. The rosemary fries are a revelation & the burger special of the week is always incredible. What’s more, you’d never know the bun was GF…see it to believe it.
Yorica!
The Gluten, Vegan, Nut Free ice cream of your dreams
Need I say more? Toppings include Jammy Dodgers, Popping Candy, Sprinkles and Fresh Fruit, just to name a few.
Amorino
Flow shaped ice creams with gf cones and ice cream macarons
Flower shaped!! And you can have every petal as a different flavour. They separate all the vegan ice creams from the “normal” ones so its easy to see what you can have. Loads of choice from chocolate to my favourite, melon.
