On the Road Again – Gluten Free Dining in York

To think of York is to think of Vikings, Romans, The Minster, cobbled streets, the Shambles and the River Ouse and if you are travelling with Emma & I….shops, restaurants and an eclectic foodie scene! Mix them all together & what have you got? A vibrant city that is perfect for that city break!
Excited about a joint birthday celebration we headed to York for a three-night break at the Grand Hotel.
Always on the hunt for new Gluten Free dining experiences our research had revealed a good range of choices, over the three days we tried & tested the following:

Lucia
Location: Swinegate
Cuisine: Italian
Meal: Dinner
Dedicated Gluten Free menu

The GF menu was varied with an extensive choice of dishes –
Emma chose the Belly Pork which was served on a bed of pancetta & sautéed savoy cabbage, creamy chive mashed potato, broccoli spears & a red wine sauce.
I chose the Sea Bass also from the GF menu which came resting on a bed of saffron risotto, rocket & parmesan salad.
We chose well, both dishes were well presented & delicious!

Tomahawk Steakhouse
Location: 26 Lendal
Cuisine: Steakhouse
Dedicated Gluten Free menu
Meal: Dinner

Whilst there are a few other choices, as the name suggests the menu is dominated by steak dishes, but then that is the point of visiting a steak house.
All the staff were really friendly, nothing was too much trouble, and the food was amazing! We highly recommend this restaurant.

We opted for the Sharing Board which includes: Iron steak, Fillet, Sirloin & Ribeye. It comes with a dish of Garlic Prawns & a choice of 4 side dishes from an extensive list, we chose Potatoes with Cheese, Charred Broccoli with Garlic Butter, Bacon & Creamed Peas and a Green Salad. We also added a side of  four Jumbo King Prawns…..well it was a special occasion!

Dessert: Emma indulged in the very decadent Tomahawk Bombe which is a melting chocolate bombe with vanilla ice cream & honeycomb with hot caramel sauce!
I opted for the Crème Brûléé which came with a shortbread biscuit & a perfectly caramelised top.

Bill’s
Location: Coney Street
Cuisine: Modern British
Dedicated Gluten Free menu
Meal: Dinner

If you’re not familiar with Bill’s all their restaurants have a quirkiness about them which makes for interesting surroundings.

Having had a late lunch a light dinner was all that we wanted so Emma chose the Sticky Duck Salad from the GF menu which consisted of pulled duck in a spicy BBQ sauce with watermelon & coriander with a side of fries, her verdict was that it tasted as good as it looked!

Bella Italia
Location: Low Petergate
Cuisine: Italian
Extensive Gluten Free menu
Meal: Lunch

We opted to share a selection of starters & sides all from the Gluten Free menu:
King Prawns oven baked in garlic & chilli butter served with toasted ciabatta
Tomato Bruschetta
Mozzarella & Garlic Flatbread
Meatballs

The staff were really good on advising what we should put together to make a sharing platter, great place for lunch!

Las Iguanas
Location: Back Swinegate
Cuisine: Latin American
Extensive choice of Gluten Free dishes
Meal: Lunch

We chose a Taco Sharing Board which comes on a round tray with soft tortillas in the centre surrounded by several small bowls containing: guacamole, sour cream, roasted tomato salsa, jalapeno & coriander salsa, pickled slaw, cheese and a choice of fillings, we chose the Smoked Chipotle Chicken and the Shredded Chipotle Beef.
The presentation was great & the food deliciously spicy.
It’s a great place to meet up with friends & enjoy a fun lunch and it’s refreshing to have something like this that is all Gluten free!

Crumbs Cupcakery
Location: College Street (not far from the Minster)
Cuisine: Cupcake Shop
Good choice of GF cupcakes & the hot chocolate is also GF!

On a cold & breezy day after a morning of retail therapy what could be more enticing than a mug of steaming hot chocolate and cake! Look no further than this shop / café which has an amazing array of beautifully made & decorated cupcakes including a good choice of GF ones. The café is very small inside but has outside seating in the better weather. It is a popular stop off & there is a steady flow of customers popping by to purchase cake to take away.

We can highly recommend this café!

On our last day we chose to have a light lunch in the Grand Hotel 1906 Bar before heading for the train, the station is just a short walk from the hotel.
The bar is in fact an elegant lounge with sofas and high-backed easy chairs.
We enjoyed a Gluten Free Smokehouse Fish Platter which consisted of; smoked salmon, smoked trout, peppered roast salmon, cucumber salad and potato salad with a side of crispy cod fingers and crispy Yorkshire squeaky cheese fingers.
It was all very light, full of flavour & most enjoyable!

I’ll keep you updated with any further Gluten Free choices we discover in York!

If you are interested in reading about what there is to do and see in York, look out for my Blog…

On the Road Again – York coming soon