So Mark and myself, as you might know, stayed over in London last weekend and of course had a great time. Whenever we go away, finding delicious yet safe places to eat is always part of the exciting mission. We had a few places that we were definitely going to be enjoying food wise over the weekend. Having worked in London in the past I have got to know many gluten and dairy free places that we can enjoy; however, London is a big place and there are always more delights to discover.
We decided on Friday night we were going to go somewhere we haven’t been before and so embarked on a wander from our hotel near Liverpool Street through Spitalfields Market and onwards towards Shoreditch and Hoxton. I know that Shoreditch is a mecca for lots of great eateries but I didn’t exactly know where they all were, and on foot with hungry stomachs we were getting pretty ‘hangry.’ This made our decision to try somewhere new not so important. We decided to walk towards Hoxton Square as we know the area quite well having stayed in The Hoxton Hotel a few times before.
When we arrived at Hoxton Square we decided in the end to opt for somewhere completely new for us… Bill’s! Now I have always wanted to go to Bill’s having walked past the Brighton, Soho and Norwich branches on endless occasions over the past year. The restaurant always looks great, just my cuppa tea… but the menu doesn’t necessarily always look my gluten free cuppa tea. I have tried to make myself go in the past but couldn’t justify going when the menu looks fairly limited.
However, I decided to overcome this and wander inside. I immediately asked if they had a gluten free menu and they brought across an allergy menu, explaining to me how it worked. It looked great and really well thought out. It was very clear and covered gluten, dairy, soya, nuts and other various possible allergies. They also explained to me that I could change parts of the dishes to make them suitable; they also had gluten free bread.
Unfortunately, they then explained that although they had gluten free bread, all the burgers (beef) contained gluten, which I found very disappointing. As well as this both chips and sweet potato fries were not suitable. The gluten free bread would have worked well with a burger, which I really fancied but it was not meant to be.
The menu is really delicious for those without any intolerances or allergies. For example they had an epic sounding fish pie (one of my favourites), a chunky fish finger sarnie (another one of my favourites!) & of course a huge array of amazing desserts such as pecan pie (my ultimate favourite!).
I had a great time at Bill’s
However for those with intolerances I found the menu incredibly limited. I eventually opted for a half a chicken, which was nicely marinated. I asked if I could swap the sweet potato fries for jasmine rice, which they were happy to do. However within five minutes they returned to inform me that as of that week they no longer did rice and would I liked a salad or some veg with it instead. This is a fairly problematic situation (and was very disappointing) for me as an IBS sufferer. My IBS issues have resulted in basically the entire removal of green vegetables from my diet. The effect of green vegetables can actually have a worse effect on me than gluten can so I was a little stuck. The amount of chicken I had was great and possibly the best chicken I have ever had so I was very happy, and being in such a good mood, I quickly forgot about the accompaniment issue and looked forward to indulging in a dessert!
Mark opted for the fish finger sandwich with sweet potato fries, this looked amazing. The fish fingers were huge and very homemade in appearance. The tartare sauce within the sandwich was said to be delicious too, however maybe a little more tartare sauce on the side would have been better too.
Nevertheless the food that we both had for our main courses was delicious and I can’t complain about what I did have. It definitely allowed for a dessert for once!
We were given the allergy dessert menu too, which was a little more promising for the gluten intolerant. With a Peach Melba Sundae, Eton Mess and a selection of ice creams and sorbets. For the dairy intolerant sorbet was the only option which I always find disappointing. Therefore Mark opted for the Blood Orange Sorbet and I opted for 3 scoops of ice cream. I went for Honeycomb, Vanilla and Milk ice cream. They were all delicious, so delicious that I almost forgot the girl on the table next to me was just ordering Pecan Pie!
Overall our trip to Bill’s was a really enjoyable one. I really love the environment in Bill’s, the interior is perfect and there is a buzzing atmosphere, which really makes the evening feel special and social.
The food we did eat was delicious and perfectly cooked and it is great that the staff seem to be so aware of the options for gluten intolerants. However, the staff should be aware of the options for gluten intolerants really because in my opinion there are so few! Although it is great to have an allergy menu, in this day and age having one where so much is out of bounds for us intolerants is just quite depressing. This is especially so when so many of the items that are out of bounds on the menu can actually be ordered gluten free naturally elsewhere.
Mark had a great time too 🙂
With that in mind although I had a great time, I don’t think I will be heading back there in a massive hurry. I would love for Bill’s to consider us intolerants a little better, the cuisine of restaurant that they are gives a great amount of opportunity to cater for us… so Mr Bill please think of us some more! Basically I really, really want to visit more but you are preventing me!
I would love to know of any other gluten intolerants or those with other intolerances and food allergies who have visited Bill’s. It would be great to share experiences, so drop me a line if you’ve been.
For now I will be more content eating Mum’s Fish Pie rather than Bill’s. I’m still on the hunt for the perfect gluten free Pecan Pie. I lived on them in America many years ago when gluten was a friend of mine, I’d like to be friends again one day.
Anyway thanks for reading, and I hope to visit Bill’s again one day for a more extensive gluten free menu!
Love Becky x
