LDNGuide
Where To Eat When You’re Gluten-Free & Don’t Want To Play Another Round Of Dish Detective
This one goes out to all of our gluten-free readers out there. Our Wheat-Weary Warriors. Our Guar Gum Googlers. Our Fearless Free-From Friends. OK, we’ll stop now, but seriously, following a gluten-free diet when eating out is hard. It requires rounds of inspecting dish ingredients Sherlock-style, sad bun-free burgers, and spending half your salary on hummus chips. That’s why we’ve made this guide, so you can enjoy Saturday morning pancake spots and date-ready pasta restaurants that don’t just have plenty of gluten-free options, but gluten-free options that you’ll actually be excited to eat.
A little small print: some of these restaurants have entirely gluten-free kitchens and are approved for coeliac diners. But some of these restaurants might have cross-contamination going on. You know the deal, check before you dine.
Gluten-Free Brunch Spots
As fun as spending your Saturday morning in the gluten-free aisle screaming “THREE BLOODY QUID FOR A SCOTCH PANCAKE?!” is, brunch at Where The Pancakes Are is better. It’s entirely dedicated to the best of the beige foods, there’s some swell outdoor seating, and there’s gluten-free pancake batter available. Get yourself a carafe of mimosa too. You should know that their 3-in-1 batter is also dairy-free and vegan too, so everyone in your group can enjoy sea salted caramel pancakes at the Southwark spot.
First off, props to Granger & Co for having one of the most thorough allergen menus of all time. We salute this behaviour and more importantly, we salute how tasty the brunch options are at this Aussie spot in King’s Cross. As well as your egg and avocado classics, it serves things like four grain hojicha porridge, braised cannellini beans, and gluten-free bread. Freshly squeezed OJ and Allpress coffee encouraged.
photo credit: Rob Greig
Farm Girl is one of those places where the menu reads sort of like a haiku entitled ‘Vitamins Are Our Friends’. We’re talking cacao nibs, toasted sesame, ginger, cardamom, candy beetroot, dragon fruit, and açaí bowls. But amid all of the herbs and hibiscus, you’ll find dishes like cherry pancakes and spicy fish tacos that are completely gluten-free. Follow up brunch at the Australian cafe with a casual stroll around Portobello Market. You sophisticate you.
Gluten-Free Pasta Spots
Heroes come in many forms. Doctors. Teachers. Nurses. For you, cornstarch. And when you’re looking for a hero at a perilous time of crisis—getting a serious pasta craving on a Wednesday night—Pastaio has got your back. This bright and easy handmade pasta spot in Soho has gluten-free penne that you can swap in for most of the other pastas, so it’s perfect whether you’re after eight-hour beef bolognese or a chilli, clam, and caper moment.
Locanda Locatelli in Marylebone is one of those restaurants where you’re 99% convinced that everyone eating around you is either a reigning editor of a broadsheet, related to Helen Mirren, or is in fact, Helen Mirren. It’s expensive. It’s pretty la-di-da. And it just so happens to be home to the best gluten-free pasta in London. With pasta so good that you’ll inevitably ask your suited server if it is “definitely gluten-free” at least twice. This is the kind of fine dining Italian you hit up for a birthday or any special occasion that deserves a £50 bottle of wine.
photo credit: Karolina Wiercigroch
Bancone is a no-brainer. This little handmade pasta bar works for dates, mates, birthdays, and miscellaneous occasions like ‘your flatmate who secretly eats your expensive yoghurts is leaving for six months and it’s time to celebrate’. It’s one of our favourite places for a serious carbohydrate situation and you can swap out the regular pasta for a gluten-free alternative. Although it gets pretty busy, you can always try the Soho or Borough Yards locations if the Covent Garden restaurant is full.
Gluten-Free Pizza Spots
Gluten-free pizza falls into three categories: edible cardboard, cauliflower that has been steamrolled into the shape of a pizza, and actually tasty. Theo’s is the latter. This Camberwell pizzeria not only has our hearts and lifelong commitment to its chilli sauce, but it makes the best chewy Neapolitan-style pizza in London. Heads up, there’s another spot in Elephant and Castle too.
photo credit: Giulia Verdinelli
We would like to personally thank True Craft for saving our gluten-free flatmate from many a weep session with its pizzas. We’ve eaten them enough times to know that the free-from pies are very nearly as good as the standard sourdough pizzas. Personally, we have a real soft spot for the balsamic pepper and mascarpone pizza, but the spicy ‘nduja one or pepperoni-heavy ‘The Legend’ won’t let you down either.
photo credit: Karolina Wiercigroch
We’re not sure how Voodoo Ray’s manages to create such a good crust on a gluten-free pizza. Is it actual voodoo? We don’t know, and frankly, we do not care. Specialising in New York-style pizza—lovingly herein named pies—you can get everything from a pepperoni number to a veggie green sauce situation. All of the 10-inch gluten-free pies are available from its restaurants in Dalston and Peckham, or you can get them delivered direct to your door.
Gluten-Free Bakeries & Sweet Treat Spots
Sometimes we’ve theorised that the moisture in gluten-free bakes is meant to come from your own tears. But not the gluten-free bakes from Prestige Patisserie. This little Tottenham spot makes classic, aesthetically pleasing patisserie but it also has several gluten-free options including a triple chocolate brownie. There’s also a charming little outdoor setup and big-smiles service.
Good name, right? Straight to the point. In case you haven’t already guessed, The Gluten Free Bakery specialises in loaves and baked goods that are totally gluten-free. Sort of like the Banksy of free-from bread, its loaves have popped up all over London, including at Eat 17, Panzer’s, Daylesford Organic, Brickwood, and Greenspeares. You can also order everything from cinnamon bagels to big boxes of sourdough rolls online, directly from the Peckham bakery.
Gluten-Free Dinner Spots
Tendril has made it easy with a separate gluten-free menu. The Mayfair restaurant is mostly vegan (bar a couple of cheesy dishes) but instead of fobbing you off with a suspicious lump described as ‘faux sausage’, it serves really great vegetable dishes. Food is inspired by Asian and Middle Eastern cuisine—think moreish purple potatoes in a sticky sesame glaze, and pak choi in a shimmering massaman curry that we could drink by the jugful. The dining room is buzzy, even midweek, and it’s a pretty place to have a classy catch-up.
photo credit: Kathrin Werner
Being loved-up? Fabulous. Not being able to eat noodles on your date night? Terrible. Enter Lahpet, a cool and casual Burmese restaurant in Covent Garden, where the go-to glass noodles are gluten-free and importantly, covered in chilli jam. This place has a whole host of free-from options and although the coconut-packed curries are an easy win, it’s extra exciting that so many of the noodle dishes are gluten-free too. The downstairs table is a big sharing situation with other diners, so opt for the upstairs tables if you want to set the mood for a little romance.
It’s hard to really show off your best, most loving self while simultaneously ranting about the unnecessary use of wheat in sausages. Go ahead and table that conversation for another evening and enjoy a casual dinner at Chicama. This Peruvian spot in Chelsea has a great little outdoor terrace, plenty of seafood, salads, and ceviche, but from our experience the best things here are the vegetable-heavy dishes.
photo credit: Giulia Verdinelli
The fact that Bubala’s tasting menu uses the initials ‘ngf’—not gluten free—should fill you with confidence about this little Middle Eastern restaurant in Spitalfields. It’s one of our favourite spots in the area and after one taste of the hummus or huge slabs of honey-covered halloumi, you’ll see why. The only thing on the £42 tasting menu that isn’t gluten-free is the laffa bread. Come evening you can expect plenty of tealight candles and a cosy atmosphere.
photo credit: Giulia Verdinelli
When you’re looking for dinner and a show but have absolutely zero incentive to venture anywhere near the West End, go to Abeno. This lovely Japanese spot in Bloomsbury specialises in okonomiyaki and as soon as you walk in you’ll hear the sound of tasty things sizzling on each table’s hot plate. You can opt for the gluten-free dough for the full okonomiyaki experience, and it’s always a good shout if you’re after an activity that’ll mask any and all awkward silences.
photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch
If Chuku’s was a person we’d let them be in charge of the AUX at all of our parties. A high accolade, we know. But as they say, a playlist is the window to a restaurant’s soul. Or something. The point is this place is this Nigerian tapas spot in Seven Sisters is loud, proud, and alongside vintage hip hop tunes, there are so many gluten-free options you might actually get the opportunity to be indecisive. Think yam brownies, plantain waffles, suya meatballs, and fluffy egusi that will fill that dumpling-shaped hole in your dietary life. Don’t miss the rum cocktails either.
Outside of David Attenborough documentaries and songs with the word ‘funk’ in the title, it’s hard to find unanimous crowd-pleasers. But Dishoom is one of them. This ever-popular mini chain of Indian restaurants has a great ‘everyone welcome’ philosophy that applies to everything from the laid-back atmosphere to the menu. As well as gluten-free dishes, there are also plenty of dairy-free and vegan options available. If the Kensington spot is busy, give the Shoreditch one a go.
Sure, you still don’t have the heart to tell your friends that the carrot cake they got you for your birthday was definitely not gluten-free, but that doesn’t mean you need to spend your catch-up nibbling a single lettuce leaf. Especially at Ceru, a bright, holiday-feel restaurant in south Kensington that specialises in modern Levantine dishes. We’re talking big lunch platters, citrus-spiced chicken wings, and honestly, every meal we’ve had at Ceru has left us very full, very happy, and wondering whether we should paint our living room yellow.
