The Roaches Tea Rooms, Upper Hulme, Leek

Could this tea room have possibly one of the best views in the whole of UK? I certainly think so.

Take a look at this for a view.

Not a bad place to stop off for a brew and a piece of cake is it?!

I recently discovered that The Roaches Tea rooms not only have amazing views of the Peak District countryside, but also their very own gluten-free menu! And it's only a short drive from Leek where I live.

Here's a copy of their GF menu

I was really impressed with the choice. Plus there's always a good selection of gluten-free cake.

It's still quite rare for a restaurant to have a separate gluten-free menu so any place that makes the effort to print their own gluten-free menu's will certainly get my business time and time again.

I've been here a couple of times now, the first time just for coffee and cake, but the second to have lunch - which was a lovely tuna mayo ciabatta with chips and salad. Now there aren't many places that actually will have gluten-free ciabatta's available either!

The tea rooms are ideally located at the South-western edge of the Peak District National Park and so is a very popular pit stop for walkers and hikers alike. It can therefore get quite busy at peak times, so may be best to call ahead and either reserve a table or get there nice and early before the lunchtime rush. I would highly recommend one of the tables outside (weather permitting) with their breathtaking views.

I'm so incredibly lucky to live near here!

http://roachestearooms.co.uk/

Tea 42, Manchester

My apologies for the lack of blogging this past month or so. Things have been a little crazy recently as we are in the process of buying a house and my husband is just about to start his teaching career after a year of intensive training (exciting times ahead!). However, I just have to tell you about this amazing new gluten-free restaurant, Tea 42, I have just discovered.

I finally made it to Tea 42 in Manchester on Monday after my husband's graduation ceremony (his third graduation no less). I'd heard lots of good things about this modern restaurant from my Twitter friends, so I was dying to go and check it out for myself and what better way to celebrate a happy occasion than with some great gluten-free food!

This is probably the best gluten-free place I have eaten at since diagnosis in terms of gluten-free choice, quality of food and Coeliac-friendly staff. It's a modern and stylish restaurant and amid its quirky and vibrant decor, Tea 42 offers an exceptionally high quality dining experience. I mean this could be a Michelin-starred restaurant for all I know.

I immediately felt at ease when, before taking our order, our waiter asked if there was anybody with any food intolerance's. Thumbs up to Tea 42 for understanding people's needs who suffer with allergies and intolerance's. This is probably due to the fact co-owner Will Hannah is a Coeliac himself.

Tea 42 offer an extensive gluten-free menu, practically everything on their menu is gluten-free or can easily be made gluten-free if you just ask, and the menu has options for breakfast, lunch, dinner, afternoon tea and even tapas. Now there aren't many places gluten-free eaters can eat out at that offer tapas. The gluten-free afternoon tea looked amazing too, I definitely need to come back and try that!

Gluten-free tapas!

I was immediately drawn to the tapas and opted for 3 dishes, all reasonably priced at £4.75 each - the Moroccan pulled pork with quinoa salad, tomato, basil and red onion bruschetta and the pesto and parmesan arancini. All 3 tapas were absolutely delicious! What I loved about the food was that each individual dish was beautifully presented and obviously a lot of time and effort had gone in to making the food look good as well as taste great.

Moroccan pulled pork and quinoa salad

Tomato, basil and red onion bruschetta

Pesto and parmesan arancini

Tea 42 offer a great selection of cakes and desserts too which are all displayed in a huge glass display case at the back of the restaurant. When I asked the waiter behind the counter which ones were gluten-free he said all of them were! I really couldn't believe it, this never happens anywhere! As we tend to "eat with our eyes" Tea 42 like you to see the desserts before choosing what to have so we all walked to the display case and had a peek at each mouthwatering cake before we chose - this is a really nice touch I thought.

Scrummy strawberry cheesecake!

Also spotted on the menu was a whole list of gluten-free beers and a host of fancy cocktails. They are a must for next time too!

I'm completely in love with this place and can't wait to go back! The freedom of being able to eat gluten-free here is what makes this restaurant so special.

Here's their website

Gluten-Free Afternoon Tea at Browns, Cambridge

I had the pleasure of visiting beautiful Cambridge at the weekend to attend a friend's hen party. I'll admit, initially the thought of a hen party away from home in a city I've never been to before did fill me with dread. It's hard enough eating out being a Coeliac at the best of times let alone when you have no control of the places where you eat. However, the wonderful organiser of the hen party was really understanding and accommodating of my dietary needs and every place we ate at she managed to arrange a gluten-free alternative for me.

Part of the hen do festivities involved a visit to Browns in Cambridge where I had my first ever gluten-free afternoon tea. Now, I'm probably not your typical afternoon tea type of girl - for a start, I don't like normal tea and only drink fruit tea infusions - so some might say an experience like this is wasted on someone like me. Because I am Coeliac I can't eat normal scones, cucumber sandwiches and fancy cakes that you would normally serve with afternoon tea, however, on their website Browns state:-

"If you have specific dietary requirements, please contact your local Browns and we can advise you on our menu or our chefs (with a little notice) can prepare a dish especially for you".



So definitely make sure you call them in advance! I was grateful to Helen for calling them beforehand on my behalf.

Here it is - gluten-free afternoon tea for one

Here's what I got:- 3 sandwiches each with a different filling including cucumber and smoked salmon (I can't remember what the third was but it was yummy) all served on gluten-free bread, 4 bakewell tarts (yes 4) and fresh strawberries and pineapple to top it all off nicely. I was actually really impressed considering they don't normally cater for Coeliacs on their regular menu. Because they probably had to go out and buy gluten-free products especially for me this really shows how they will make the effort if you have a dietary requirement all you have to do is ask. I guess it would have been nice to have had a choice of cakes rather than just 4 bakewell tarts but really I was just so grateful to be included in the hen party activities.

Browns not only provide afternoon tea but they also do breakfast, brunch and lunch menu's, cocktails, Sunday lunch and even lobster nights.

To make a booking at Browns click here for more info