Gluten free at Honest Burgers in London

A great meal out at Honest Burgers on Pentonville Road.

Even though I have Coeliac Disease I do enjoy eating foods. While living on a strict gluten free diet can be hard going at times I find that I am able to eat a varied diet, albeit mostly on shop bought and made from scratch meals. Not necessarily a bad thing.

What I do miss, and something that impacts on Emily, is the ability to dine out easily. There are so few places offering gluten free meals that are safe and suitable for people with Coeliac Disease.

That's why until yesterday evening the last time I'd eaten a meal outside of my flat was on the 21st September. Almost three months ago!

I've had Coeliac Disease since 2008 and I'm still adventurous in my eating habits, so it's really disappointing that we've not been able to find anywhere suitable to have a breakfast, lunch or dinner on our travels.

So, it was brilliant that last night I got to go out for a meal with Emily and my brother Christopher.

The last place I'd dined out was Honest Burgers on Pentonville Road in London when Emily and I had an Oktoberfest Burger for lunch on Miniature Golf Day. And we returned to try the new special burger on the menu - the XMAS BURGER.

A proper Christmas dinner. Don't forget the beer

It was delicious.

And filling.

Especially when you factor in the tasty Rosemary Fries that come with each burger.

Plus the sides we ordered too - coleslaw, salad, two portions of onion rings (they are massive) and a portion of chicken wings. It was a real feast, served by knowledgeable staff in a nice venue and location.

The Christmas Special Burger consists of a beef burger, smoked bacon, deep fried brie (it's breaded in gluten free crumb and poppy seeds and deep fried in clean oil), cranberry sauce and rocket.

It was honestly a very tasty burger. I love the theming the team at Honest Burgers add to their specials too

We ordered so much food I had the meat sweats, not helped by the very insulating Christmas jumper I was wearing. In fact I had to strip down to my t-shirt in order to finish the food. It was nice to be full and bloated by excess, rather than the discomfort, pain and illness caused by eating gluten!

The only gripe I have about Honest Burgers is that they charge you an extra £1 to get a gluten free bun. A small price to pay I suppose to ensure that you don't get cross-contaminated, but still a tax of sorts on those afflicted by Coeliac Disease.

Apart from that I cannot wait for my next meal out. Let's hope it's not another three months until I feel safe enough to venture out for some food.

Related blog posts:
- Gluten Free
- Coeliac
- A gluten free meal at Honest Burgers in London

Links:
- Honest Burgers website
- Honest Burgers on Twitter
- Honest Burgers on Facebook

A gluten free meal at Honest Burgers in London

Honestly one of the best burgers ever.

I recently visited Honest Burgers in London and I really wish I'd been there sooner.

On an evening out in King's Cross we were feeling hungry and as a Coeliac that's not always a good thing due to the limited choice available when dining out. Luckily Emily remembered that Honest Burgers on Pentonville Road served gluten free options - she'd noticed they served Estrella Damm Daura gluten free beer on a previous visit.

Honest Burgers stock a lot of beer, including the very good Estrella Damm Daura gluten free lager

We checked out the menu and saw they had GF options, including buns (although there is a £1 surcharge). As dining out is an anxious affair for me I steeled myself with another alcoholic beverage but then bit the bullet and decided to go there.

We were welcomed by a member of staff and I asked her about the gluten free options, where the GF buns were heated and other food was cooked?

I received very confident answers on the preparation and cooking of the food and cross-contamination controls in place. Additional information on the cooking of the fries was also volunteered meaning I would be able to have a whole meal with no substitutions, or going without. This was all excellent.

When we were seated I was shown the allergy sheet so that I could see what was/wasn't OK to order. Thankfully for gluten free/coeliac diners most of the menu is OK. I chose the Special Burger - Beef, smoked bacon, Honest guacamole, Swiss cheese and Harissa mayonnaise. Served with rosemary salted chips.

It was absolutely delicious.

A very happy Coeliac with his gluten free burger, chips and beer

Check out the links below for more about Honest Burgers, the menu and locations.

I'm looking forward to returning and working my way through the other burgers.

Links:
- Honest Burgers website
- Estrella Damm Daura

Related blog posts:
- Gluten Free
- Coeliac
- Burgers
- Estrella
- Beer

Gluten Free Options at the Carnaby Burger Company in London

While in London yesterday we walked past the Carnaby Burger Co and noticed that they had Gluten Free Options on the menu.


Later that day we headed back for dinner and I ordered the very good 'Plain & Simple' Burgers - two Burgers and Salad. Very tasty they were too (as was the Mai Tai Cocktail).

I will be back for more in the future :-)

Lots of gluten free goodies

Yesterday I got a bunch of great gluten free stuff.

The team at Delicious Alchemy kindly sent me a box of their gluten free goodies to use and  review, I found a great reduction on some Triple Chocolate Chip Biscuits by Farmhouse Biscuits in Asda (only 61p a box, so like an extreme coupon-er I bought eleven boxes) and received a £10 'Burgers for Nothing & Chips for Free' voucher from Celia Lager to use at Gourmet Burger Kitchen!

Gluten free biscuits, Delicious Alchemy goodies and a £10 voucher to spend on burgers :-)

Looking forward to scoffing it all.

Links:
- Delicious Alchemy
- Gourmet Burger Kitchen
- Farmhouse Biscuits
- Celia Lager

Hesburger

The best Burgers in all of Finland can be found at Hesburger!

Hesburger in Tampere, Finland

While playing for the Great Britain Minigolf Team at the 2008 Nations Cup we enjoyed the meals at Hesburger

Link:

- Hesburger

The UK's first Gluten Free BBQ Meal Deal on Ocado

Special Gluten Free Barbecue Meal Deal announced by CELIA Lager.

The team at CELIA Lager have let me know about a new barbecue meal deal they've set up with some other gluten free brands.

Until the 30th June 2015 you can order the UK's first Gluten Free BBQ Meal Deal on Ocado.

For £15 you'll get 4 burgers, 4 buns and 4 bottles of beer. The price is a saving of over 20%.

Obviously I've tried CELIA Lager before (although I haven't had the new CELIA Dark yet) and I've eaten many Genius gluten free products, but I hadn't heard of Dee's or Muddy Boots until this deal.

Find out more about the offer at the Gluten Free Burger Meal Deal for £15 on the Ocado website, and the brands on the links below.

Emily and I are always looking for new gluten and wheat free brands and recently found some savoury treats on our holiday on the south west coast. When we came home we noticed that some of those products (and a few others) are on sale via Ocado. We'll be looking to do an order...

Links:
- CELIA Lager
- Genius
- Dee's
- Muddy Boots
- Ocado

Related blog posts:
- Gluten Free
- Coeliac
- CELIA Lager
- Genius Gluten Free

Caddies Crazy Golf and Restaurant in Southend

There's a new indoor Crazy Golf course opening in Southend next month.

The venue will feature two Crazy Golf courses and a range of food and drink including BBQ, craft burgers, vegan dishes and desserts.

Check out the Caddies Crazy Golf course website, Facebook and Twitter for more information.

We're looking forward to checking it out on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour - we've played the other minigolf courses in Southend a LOT over the years.

Related blog posts:
- Southend
- Southend-on-Sea
- Indoor Minigolf
- Minigolf in Essex
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Ed's Easy Diner goes gluten free

Ed's Easy Diner announce a new gluten free menu.

Ed's Diner is opening in The Mall Luton in May 2015

1950's themed diner chain Ed's Easy Diner has launched a new gluten free menu!

I was tipped me off about the new menu as she is a big fan of the diners and received the latest newsletter with info all about the gluten free options.

It looks and sounds great. Having been on a strict gluten and wheat free diet since my diagnosis with Coeliac Disease in 2008 I haven't eaten anywhere like Ed's for ages. Luckily there is a new diner opening at The Mall in Luton this May. I can't wait to try it out as there looks to be a lot of choice (85% of the 'normal' menu has been adapted to make it gluten free).

The gluten free menu will be served from breakfast to dinner. There are GF buns for hot dogs and burgers and the fries are OK too! Special malt-free milkshakes and three desserts will also be available. On the alcoholic beverages side of things you can get CELIA gluten free lager.

Ed's Gluten Free Menu looks great - with a choice of ten Hamburgers and five Hot Dogs!

With more new diners opening there will soon be over 30 to choose from around the UK.

Check out Ed's Easy Diner website for more information, locations and menus. You can also sign-up to Ed's Club where you'll receive news and offers.

Links:
- Ed's Easy Diner
- Ed's Easy Diner on Twitter
- Ed's Easy Diner on Facebook
- Coeliac UK
- CELIA Lager
- The Mall Luton

Related blog posts:
- Gluten Free
- Coeliac
- Funny things about being a Coeliac #2 - I live in Luton, but I can't eat Gluten

A gluten free burger in a gluten free brioche-style bun!

We're always on the lookout for new and interesting gluten free food and we made a great discovery at Waitrose in Lutterworth, Leicestershire at the weekend when we spotted the packs of brioche style buns made by Just: Gluten Free Bakery!

What a find!

For dinner tonight we cooked up some gluten free burgers from the Co-Operative and put them in the brioche buns. They were delicious.

A fine burger, topped with bacon and cheese and stuffed in a nice brioche style bun. The free from Onion Rings from Tesco were great too. Note the healthy items on the plate

Check out the links below for more info on Just: Gluten Free Bakery.

Links:
- Just: Gluten Free Bakery website
- Just: Gluten Free Bakery on Twitter
- Just: Gluten Free Bakery on Facebook

Related blog posts:

- Gluten Free
- Coeliac
- Funny things about being a Coeliac

The London Allergy and Free From Show 2015

A review of the The London Allergy and Free From Show 2015.

On Friday 3rd July I travelled to Olympia for the London Allergy and Free From Show. Last year was my first time visiting the event and I was interested to see what new products would be on show.

I was pleased to see some new gluten and wheat free ice creams available. On our recent two-week holiday around the south west coast of England I had only managed to find suitable ice cream tubs in two places! Fingers crossed the ice creams from Sweet Rebellion and Jollyum get stocked in more places as they were very tasty.

The Jollyum Ice Creams were very nice

Earlier this year Emily visited Spain and brought me back some Sin Gluten goodies and so it was nice to see the team from Esgir at the show with their range of five gluten and wheat free products that are suitable for Coeliacs. I was so impressed that I bought some of the products.

A good haul from Esgir. I bought one of each of the products that include gluten free croutons, crunchy crumbs and choco snack sticks

I spotted some new gluten free beers from exhibitors including Estrella Damm Daura (with their new Märzen variety), the Wellington Bomber Porter beer from Glebe Farm, Outlook by Stringer's, and Hepworth & Co. While Green's have updated and refreshed its branding. I also got to try CELIA Lager's new Dark variety. Very nice it was too.

The brand new Märzen gluten free beer from Estrella Damm Daura. It tasted great

CELIA Dark was very nice. Martin from CELIA tells me it's a great beer to accompany autumn and winter meals too

The updated branding on the Green's Gluten Free Beers range

I enjoyed the new Wellington Bomber Porter from Glebe Farm

Check out my compilation blog post on all the gluten free beers, ales and lagers I've found since I was diagnosed with Coeliac Disease (the list currently stands at 89!).

Stringer's Outlook gluten free ale, one of the GF beers I'm yet to try

It was also good speaking with the team from Can I Eat There? and finding out more about their allergy and intolerance aware restaurant listings and review website.

I did feel that too many of the exhibitors at the event were trying to sell sell sell, rather than doing something a bit different to engage with the audience. The show offers from Esgir were very good, while many other stalls were selling at not much less than a supermarket price. Couple this with the fact that it was baking hot, and while in London people may not want to carry around lots of shopping (including raw meat, or frozen products) so it would be really nice to see the brands trying something new.

Another thought is that because the show is catering to so many different audiences (all with their own varied needs - some lifestyle, some medical) there will be some clashes. This was evident in some of the exhibitors who I know have products that are not suitable for Coeliacs due to manufacturing processes and/or potential cross-contamination - but are labelled as gluten and wheat free. I think that if you're going to offer gluten and wheat free you should go 100%. No half-measures. Granted, there are people with wheat intolerance and non-Coeliac Gluten Sensitivity etc. who may be fine after consuming these products, but there is a larger proportion who won't be. It leaves a Coeliac like myself with a bitter taste, to be tempted with GF & WF packaging, only to be let down when reading the small print.

As a 'veteran' Coeliac I check, double check and then check again before I take a bite or a sip of anything. Having been glutened on a number of occasions I know it's not worth the risk, so I hope some of the rookie Coeliacs at the show didn't make any errors, or get carried away, in their sampling.

The next food fair I'll be visiting is the Home Counties Gluten Free Food Fair organised by the Herts & Mid Beds Coeliac UK Volunteer Group. Hopefully there'll be lots of new and interesting gluten and wheat free products on show and to sample there.

To round off a very pleasant day in London Emily and I had another brilliant gluten free meal at Honest Burgers.

Check out the Allergy Show London website for more information on the event.

Related blog posts:
- Gluten Free
- Coeliac
- Funny things about being a Coeliac
- Home Counties Gluten Free Food Fair 2015
- The Allergy and Free From Show 2014 at Olympia
- Sin Gluten
- Gluten free beer

Links:
- Allergy Show London
- Coeliac UK

Popeye's Take Away in Blackpool

A look at Popeye's Take Away in Blackpool.

Popeye's take away in Blackpool

Popeye's takeaway in Blackpool has had a bit of a refresh since last year.

Popeye's take away in Blackpool has some new signage

They sell kebabs, pizza and burgers. But what about spinach?

Is spinach on the menu at Popeye's?

Related blog posts:
- Popeye
- Popeyes Take Away in Blackpool

Happy National Hot Dog Day

Today is National Hot Dog Day.

Not a day for burgers

You can find out more about National Hot Dog Day and National Hot Dog Month on the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council website.

Related blog posts:
- Hot Dogs
- National Hot Dog Month

Swingers Crazy Golf in Shoreditch, London

Playing the new Swingers Crazy Golf course in Shoreditch.

A view of the Swingers Crazy Golf course in Shoreditch

Ahead of its full launch today (25 September) Emily and I visited the new Swingers Crazy Golf course in London on Wednesday 24 September.

Swingers - a part of The Institute of Competitive Socialising

It's a really good layout, with some good solid borders, good hole-in-one opportunities

Holes 2 and 3

Playing hole 2 - a couple of ways to play the hole, but watch out for over-hit shots

The course has a par of 21 - with some real par-3 holes, especially the 8th, which features a bridge, dogleg, elevated green and two pipes!

Emily on the tee at hole 8

There's a real party atmosphere at the venue too, with DJ's playing music throughout the night and 'The Royal Shoreditch Golf Club' clubhouse has plenty of alcohol available - with drinking on the course encouraged!

A sand-trap hole!

The 7th hole at Swingers Crazy Golf

Swingers Crazy Golf was the 581st miniature golf course we've visited and 347th played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour since September 2006.

Emily playing a shot on hole 2 as one of the Royal & Awesome bedecked course guides/umpires/caddies looks-on. This hole has a tiered green and three routes to the hole

In our match-up Emily won with a score of 21 to my 23 after I scored a dreadful six on the tough water hazard last hole.

I 'decided' to wash my ball on the last hole. For a 6

The current course record is 20(-1) and is held by the course creator - Josh Ford, founder of the Winterwell Festival. We'll be back to have a crack at bettering that score.

Playing hole 6. Noticed the Windmill on the drinks table - there's one for each of the nine holes

In addition to the Crazy Golf course there are two very well-stocked bars - the main Clubhouse and a Freixenet bar - and street food from Patty & Bun and Pizza Pilgrims. Emily tells me the burgers from Patty and Bun are very good. I enjoyed sampling the Freixenet during the round and drowning my sorrows after my loss to Emily with a Gentleman Jack cocktail.

A view of the course from the Clubhouse

There will also be further pop-up food vendors including When Mac Met Cheese, Butchies and Hix Fishdogs heading to Swingers in the coming months.

There's a unique 'Lucky Last Hole' at the course too. The Freixenet challenge offers the winner a prize if they can knock down the six-pins on the Bowling Alley lane! The closest we got was leaving just one-pin. It's a really nice touch having the hole there as an extra challenge.

The Freixenet Challenge Lucky Last Hole

Emily playing a shot on the Freixenet Top Hole

The six wooden Freixenet bottles you have to knock down to win

Advance booking is necessary to guarantee a round of Crazy Golf at Swingers. The club has seen a huge amount of bookings made already and have already announced that they will be open beyond December, with tickets now available for January, and also for Saturday afternoons.

Emily playing the loop-di-loop hole

If you can't get an advance ticket then there are tickets available on the door for walk-ups. You can also make bookings for large groups and events. More details on the three options for entry to the Swingers Crazy Golf club can be found on the booking section of the website. 

Swingers - the Crazy Golf Club - can be found at 7-11 Hearn Street, London, EC2A 3LS. Doors open at 6.15pm and the venue is open to 12.30am.

More information on the course, bookings and prices are available on the Swingers Crazy Golf website. You can also sign-up to the enewsletter online for regular news and information.

Links:
- Swingers Crazy Golf website
- Swingers Crazy Golf on Twitter
- The Institute of Competitive Socialising on Facebook

Related blog posts:
- Swingers Crazy Golf to open in Shoreditch, East London
- Minigolf and Crazy Golf courses in and around London
- Indoor Minigolf, Crazy Golf and Adventure Golf courses
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- New Mini Golf course played in Las Vegas - The Swingers Club

Like the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour on Facebook, check out our YouTube channel and follow me and Emily on Twitter.