So if you read Gluten Free Cuppa Tea regularly you will have seen that last week Mark and I visited Norwich, one of our favourite cities in the UK for a relaxing early birthday day out.
We had a great day and visited a favourite café of ours for lunch, which you can check the review out for by clicking here. When it came to dinnertime however, we were fairly undecided as to what we fancied. Basically, we were hungry and fancied everything and anything, which made the decision even harder. Further still, the fact that I can’t eat gluten, Mark can’t eat dairy and we both have various other food issues relating to our IBS, always makes our decision fairly important and thus not by any means, an easy one.
We both eventually decided on the one and only TGI Fridays, a place we have both always loved for the food and especially, especially… the cocktails! However, things
Birthday Boy with his definitely Lactose Free dinner!
have certainly changed since our first trips to TGI Fridays many years ago… plenty of the menu is now out of bounds and neither of us have stomachs that agree wholly with alcohol, so I guess we weren’t getting our hopes up too much.
We arrived, and immediately in terms of setting I felt like TGI Fridays was the perfect place for a fun evening. I love the TGI Fridays style; I love watching the bar staff make cocktails and I love watching an embarrassed birthday girl/boy being loudly sang to by the whole restaurant.
As we were being seated I mentioned to the waiter that I was gluten intolerant and did they have a menu. I have never asked this before and usually just play it safe or suffer for a week afterwards by eating something I thought I could, but couldn’t. However, I am so glad I asked, as the waiter was incredibly helpful and rushed off to get a special menu. He returned with a properly printed menu that had a page for gluten free options, a page for lactose free options and even a page for kids gluten and lactose free choices. We were amazed and also felt silly to have never asked before. For once in our lives Mark and I could absolutely guarantee that our meal at TGI Fridays was not going to damage us in any way!
Gluten Free Menu!
Lactose Free Menu!
The gluten intolerant choices were fairly extensive including steaks, burgers with a gluten free bun and even an amazing sounding ‘Popcorn Sundae’ dessert. Lactose intolerant choices were also extensive and looked very inviting.
I chose the BBQ Salmon, which came with cheesy mash and seasoned veg. I also added a Cajun-spiced king prawn skewer to my meal. Mark went for the Jack Daniels Chicken with fries and seasoned veg. I can tell you straight off we made epic choices.
The BBQ sauce coating my salmon was delicious; there are actually quite a few BBQ sauces, which I often can’t eat, so this was quite a treat. Of course the cheesy mash was off the chain, I have always adored TGI Fridays mash and that will never change; Mark was incredibly jealous! The Cajun-spiced king prawn skewer was a great addition to my meal; they were really plump prawns with a strong smoky flavour. Basically I will definitely have this again! Mark’s Jack Daniels Chicken looked delicious too and he reports it was epically tasty. The fries are also gluten free in TGI Friday’s and were perfectly crisp; I couldn’t help but steal a few!
Gluten Free BBQ Salmon, Cheesy Mash, Seasoned Veg & a Cajun-Spiced King Prawn Skewer!
I always knew I wouldn’t be able to fit a dessert in but one day that Popcorn Sundae will be mine! Although I must say our drinks were so refreshing they felt almost dessert like! We both went for a slush! I opted for pineapple and Mark went for green apple. I would definitely recommend a slush if you are choosing against alcohol (though if you fancy alcohol, you must try out the cocktails. From too much past experience I have the authority to tell you they are some of the best!)
Overall our experience at TGI Fridays in Norwich was absolutely perfect. We had great service and great food. The staff were highly knowledgeable on gluten and lactose free, which isn’t always the case in similar chain restaurants. I will definitely be visiting TGI Fridays again and I would definitely recommend that if you want a fun, safe and tasty meal out you choose TGI Fridays too! It certainly doesn’t have to be a Friday to have a good time here!
Thanks for reading,
Love Becky x
