RNA Xmas dinner - food intolerances

The Saturday just gone, I went to the Sir John Balcombe pub in Marylebone for the RNA Xmas dinner. I had preordered what I wanted, telling them what I can't eat. Here are my impressions of the pub and the food.

First of all, I was not impressed by the lateness of the food. We didn't get to eat to going on 2pm, when the email said 12.30pm. I, and others, were getting hungry by then. As I didn't order a starter (I never do) I asked for crisps, which I got in a small bowl. Then came the mains which for me was turkey breast, a jacket potato, and carrots. The turkey was the best bit of it. The potato was too dry for me, I had a few peas but as they were fresh and I don't like fresh ones, I only had a few and some carrot sticks.

The red bits on the side is red cabbage. I tried a couple of bits to see what it was for a friend.

The dessert I asked for berries, which I got. Red berries, raspberries with a strawberry on the top. This was really nice.

Overall, the staff were very nice and accommodating. The room was nice, but you can't move the furniture around like you can at the Lamb in Holborn, and you can't move about and mingle as much either. Personally, I prefer the Lamb as they aren't that late with delivering their food to you. If the meetings are held at this pub again, I shall have to hold judgement on their food from their daily menu. So far, I am not that impressed.

Another oaty tale

So, following on from my first GF oaty tale when I discovered I couldn't eat 100% GF oats. I thought I might try something that was 80% GF wholegrain oats. I had got a coupon for Nairn's biscuit breaks, (the ginger ones) and thought I'd try those.

I bought these and tried them. Both my mum and I really liked them. But again as they were wholegrain, after a couple of them, they had a similar effect. I knew they had other flavours, so bought the choc chip ones.

I tried these and liked these better than the ginger ones. But, yes, they had a similar effect on me. I won't be buying these again, shame to say.

So, I came to the conclusion that I can't eat too much wholegrain foods as they upset my digestive system. This includes other stuff such as dates, walnuts and houmous. I have seen a dietician. My next post will be about this and how I am getting on with my low fibre diet.

A food intolerance pub review

Last Saturday week (14th) I was due to go to a workshop at a pub called The Theodore Bullfrog in Charing Cross. I have been there before, but not when I have had so many food intolerances, and when I have eaten gluten and wheat before. When I ordered the food, I was told by the workshop organiser that I would have to phone the pub myself to check out about food intolerances as that was what others in the same situation had done. So I did. I wanted chicken wings and fries. I was told that there wasn't a guarantee that the chips would come in contact with flour because they use their fryer for other foods, and the chicken wings had flour in, too. I said, fine, OK, I shall take my own lunch then. I didn't go in the end because I had had a bad night and was too tired to travel and concentrate.

So, I shall now give my marks out of 5 for travel accessibility and for catering for food intolerances.

Travel = 2. I could have got a bus to Catford then a train to Charing Cross.
Catering for food intolerances = 0. There wasn't anything else on the menu that I could eat, so I had to take my own lunch if I had. But I shall give them 2 for telling me over the phone what allergens there were in the foods. Something that all food eateries have to do now.

There you have it. One pub I won't be eating in again, and if I do, it will be my own food that I know I can eat without fuss and harm.

An oaty tale

Since I found I can't eat gluten, I have tried to find another porridge to eat as well as millet. I thought I'd found it in gluten-free oats. The first bag I bought was Sainsbury's free from oats. They didn't bind with my rice dream and it was a v runny porridge. So, I decided to find another one. I found Nairn's gf wholegrain oats. Only, after a few breakfasts it proved to be too much wholegrain for me. They were 100% wholegrain. Too much because it had a bad effect on me that involved a small room. I had to give those up.

But I have found I can eat less than 100% wholegrain oats. I can eat gf wholegrain crackers which are 86% and can eat gf oatcakes that are a similar amount of wholegrain.

So, there you have it. I can't eat 100 wholegrain foods, esp oats, but can eat less than that.

Celebrating Free From style

It was my mum's birthday yesterday. Because we are both intolerant to various foods and she has coeliac, too, we can't eat normal cakes, but thankfully there are some yummy alternatives out there, which we have found. We bought Genius lemon cupcakes on Wednesday out shopping and ate them on the Thursday I think it was.

It was delicious. Light and fluffy like a sponge should be, and the lemon icing was gorgeous, too.

Yesterday we had the Free From choc muffin cake with Alpro (soya) custard. V filling and v nice as well. I am intolerant to soya and it did affect me the whole day by making me slightly stuffy. It was worth it though. Today we had the rest of the muffin cake with ice cream and frozen yoghurt. Mum had goat's milk ice cream and I had the frozen yoghurt.

All three foods come from Sainsbury's. The cakes are in the Free From bread section, and the frozen yoghurt in the special ice cream freezer section.

Might try the choc cupcakes next for my birthday in November.

Gluten-free bread

Since I have found I'm intolerant to gluten, I have tried a few gluten-free breads that are out there in the supermarkets. I have found there is one particular bread that is my favourite. But here is my overall opinion of the ones I have had:

In third place is Tescos Free From bread. These were large slices and tasted really dry to eat.

Tesco slices are the bigger ones. One and a half of these would make a sandwich, as I found that 2 was too much to eat, esp as they were dry.

In second place comes Genius. They too are large slices but don't taste that dry, but they often have large cracks and holes in them (I'm not the only one to have found this). This would be my choice of bread when I can't get the Sainsbury's one.

In first place is Sainsbury's Free From white bread. The size of the slices are just right, don't taste dry and hardly come with holes in. So it gets top prize from me. I have also tried their brown seeded loaf and that's OK too.

I have also tried Warburton's white rolls, and like them now and then for a change from a sandwich. So, what gluten-free breads have you tried? Which one is your favourite in taste and size and content?

My local Chinese

A couple of weeks ago, before my mum had her major eye surgery, we went for a meal out our local Chinese 'The Eastern Queen' at Catford, SE London. We've been there a few times before

The walls are nicely decorated in Chinese pictures and symbols.

Every time we go there now, not often, the staff seem to change, but they are nice and friendly towards you. Even holding the door open for you when you leave.

My mum had her usual meal of chicken with ginger and spring onions, and I had chicken with seasonal veg with boiled rice (small bowl between us).

Mine is on the left, Mum's on the right. Be careful you don't eat a piece of ginger by mistake as it's hot!

Both our meals were really nice and dairy and gluten free. We declined the prawn crackers because they do have a form of dairy in. We don't have a dessert because the meal is enough for both of us. But we do take away the mint cream choc that we get given with the bill. It is only a small amount of dairy and doesn't affect me. I used to have the crackers before a meal, then have a pudding afterwards that might have had wheat (flour) on, and did have problems when I got home. Now I don't have any of that and I am fine.

So here is my score for it: service = 8/10; locality = 9/10 (get a bus there and back); food for intolerances = 8/10.

We might go there again but not sure as Mum said she wasn't sure if she would. We shall see. If we do, I shall have something different to try.