Coeliac Attack

The musings of a gluten & fructose free girl trying to eat like a normal person.

[nosleeptilgluten]

Pizza Farro

Pizza Farro was one of the first GF eateries I visited when I moved to the North and it was quick to become my go-to pizza restaurant. But soon enough, I didn’t have to travel far from home for a good GF pizza as several places opened up in Northcote and so, my visits to Pizza Farro stopped. 

When looking for a low fuss restaurant for my birthday dinner (low fuss as I was likely to be hung over and my two year old nephew was going to be coming along), I was delighted to see Pizza Farro come up in my search results. Not only do they offer a huge range of delicious GF pizza and pasta options, but there is also a number of GF dessert options. The dessert menu played a big part in my decision as I’ve recently attended a number of birthday lunches and dinners where I couldn’t eat the birthday cake. Everyone wants to be able to eat the cake! It also turned out that they had Wilde GF beer on the menu too and the restaurant is big enough to not bang chairs with your neighbouring tables. Winning on all counts.

Once we had all ordered our pizzas (prosciutto with fresh rocket for me), we watched our pizzas be prepared and put into the wood fire oven. It didn’t take long at all until the pizzas were on the table in front of us and we were tucking into them. My pizza had generous serves of fresh buffalo mozzarella on each of the eight pieces. These ended up being a bit over powering towards the end of the pizza combined with the uncooked prosciutto. The rocket was a nice cut through from all the saltiness. 

Much to my disappointment, I was actually too full to order any dessert (although I did have some gelato from Il Melograno earlier in the day, so it was probably a good thing). I saw the Nutella Calzone being prepared and it looked pretty amazing. I think I’m going to go back and just order that when I’m feeling decadent. 

It was great returning to my old friend, Pizza Farro. I have another dinner with friends planned for the coming weeks and am looking forward to trying a different pizza...perhaps I’ll share this time so I can fit in a dessert. 

Gluten free rating: 5/5 Fructose free rating: 4/5 (I’m fairly sure that there would have been some garlic and/or onion in the tomato sauce base, but I didn’t get a reaction from it)

Pizza Farro 608 High Street Thornbury 9484 2080 Wed - Mon 5:30pm to 9pm (9:30pm on Fri and Sat)

[nosleeptilgluten]

Il Melograno

Before we left for London our little strip of Westgarth shops had a few gems - the Westgarth Cinemas, Terra Madre and the crazy lady junk shop (which I hope to take over one day, just with more cats). Since returning, we can add one more gem to the crown in the form of Il Melograno. 

Probably best known for their AMAZING Sicilian gelato (which can now be served in a GF waffle cone), Il Melograno also offer up a delicious breakfast and lunch menu with weekly specials. This week they have a Buffalo Mozzarella & Chargrilled Peach Salad for lunch and have a Vanilla and Almond Chia Pudding for breaky. If you’re a coffee drinker, they roast their own beans every Friday and I have it on good authority that it’s very tasty coffee.

Not only is the food there delicious and so fresh, but a lot of it is GF and can be adjusted to be to FF. The best bit of all though is the Caffe Strada bread that they use as their GF bread. I have never eaten GF bread that is so similar to real bread. It’s soft, fluffy and so very, very tasty. 

On this particular visit, I couldn’t go past the Baked Sicilian Eggs. Chunks of GF bread are nestled in tomato sauce amongst crushed pork & fennel sausage and two baked eggs. Topped with shaved parmesan and served with two slices of GF bread, it is a phenomenal way to fill the hunger void! I could taste garlic in the tomato sauce and I’m sure there would be some in the sausage. I was more than happy to risk a reaction, but I could have very easily have ordered a FF meal if my tummy was feeling particular sensitive. 

I can’t recommend Il Melograno enough. The cafe itself is warm and inviting, with the option of indoor and outdoor seating (smoke free, I might add!). The staff are friendly and well informed, and you don’t have to wait for a table on the weekend. There is often a line for gelato on a hot day, but it moves quickly and the reward is worth the wait. 

I feel a bit like Molly Meldrum in saying it, but do yourself a favour and visit Il Melograno for a meal followed by their gelato. You won’t be disappointed.

Gluten free rating: 5/5 Fructose free rating: 2/5 (I think there is potentially garlic in the tomato sauce and the sausage)

Il Melograno 76 High Street Northcote 9482 2092 Tue - Sun 9am to 10:30pm

[nosleeptilgluten]

The Shaw Davey Slum

After a long hiatus, I feel up to writing my second blog post. I put a lot into these posts, hence the 58 week gap between the first and second review. 

Back in Melbourne and on the insatiable hunt for GF meals, I am taken on yet another surprise by the lovely Dan and end up at The Shaw Davey Slum. This corner pub used to be Pugg Mahones in my uni days and, I’m proud to say, I only came here a couple of times to sample their vodka raspberries. 

The Shaw Davey Slum is still very much aimed at the uni crowd and is owned by the outfit that run The Asian Beer Cafe and Father’s Office. The outside is plastered with brightly coloured posters promoting their cheap meals and drink specials. Inside they have covered each wall with a different loud wallpaper and installed some copper light fixtures to the walls and ceilings. We visited around 2:30pm on a Saturday during uni holidays so it was fairly quiet and we were able to find a table easily. I don’t like my chances of enjoying a quiet meal when uni is back and college students take over Carlton. They have a rooftop bar which I didn’t check out, but could be very nice to visit on the next sunny day. 

The menu had quite a few good GF options on it, all priced around $10-$15. These include grass-fed steak, stuffed field mushrooms, fish and chips, pulled pork board and crispy skin salmon. They also have Vegemite salt calamari listed as GF*, but Vegemite is not GF so not sure how seriously they take this allergy thing. All of the burgers can be made with a GF bun too.  I decided to go with the fish and chips. 

I was so hungry once my meal arrived that I almost forgot to take a photo of it. Just imagine, this blog post may never have been and you would’ve had to wait another few weeks for my second post. 

Overall, I was pretty impressed. The chips were cooked well and there were plenty of them. The fish was coated in a light, crunchy batter and the fish itself was tasty, but not overly fishy. It also wasn’t mushy which can sometimes happen with frozen fish (can’t imagine that these guys would serve freshly caught fish). The let down was the side salad which had far too much dressing on it. It would have been nice to have something green to eat so to break up the saltiness of the fish and the chips. 

At the end of the meal I felt pretty good and was talking about a return visit with Dan. 15 minutes later my tummy started seizing and 45 minutes later when we had arrived home, I was on the loo. Not sure if it was a gluten thing or a fructose thing, but it wasn’t nice. My beverage of choice had been a lemon squash diluted with soda water (actually, just with water as the barman didn’t understand my order) so there may have been some fructose in that which caused the reaction. 

I’m not so sure that The Shaw Davey Slum has a firm grasp of GF eating given that they list a meal with Vegemite in it as GF. I’m not a precious coeliac and will eat chips that have been cooked in the same oil as other gluten-full foods. Sometimes I get a reaction, sometimes I don’t. If you’re particularly sensitive to gluten, it might be worth asking if they cook the chips, fish, etc in seperate GF oil.

I’m sure that we will go back to The Shaw Davey Slum when we’re looking for a cheap, greasy pub meal or some cheap drinks. I might just skip the Lemon Squash next time and hope for the best!

*There is a small note on the menu to say that Vegemite contains traces of gluten. I think that as they’ve recognised that this mean contains gluten, it shouldn’t be marked as GF.

Gluten free rating: Unsure Fructose free rating: Unsure

The Shaw Davey Slum 171-175 Elgin Street Carlton 9825 8980 Mon - Sat 11am to 1am Sun 11am to 11:30pm

[nosleeptilgluten]

Carrots + Daikon

Since moving to London I have been struggling with the lack of good South East Asian cuisine available. We're really spoilt for choice in Melbourne - you don't have to look too hard or travel far to find good Vietnamese/Malaysian/Thai. 

Dan had mentioned that a Vietnamese restaurant was opening in Kentish Town a few weeks ago, but I didn't pay much attention so when he said that he had a surprise organised for the weekend I didn't put the two together.

We arrived at Carrots + Daikon and were welcomed with big smiles. The menu was written up on blackboard above the counter and I was pleased to see that they encouraged customers to let them know of any food allergies. I asked them about the gluten free offerings hoping they might have a gluten free roll so I could FINALLY have a banh mi, but it was just the usual GF fare - pho, rice paper rolls or bun (rice vermicelli salad).   

We both ordered the pho ga (chicken pho) (only served on Fridays and Saturdays) and while we waited for it to come out, I enjoyed some prawn rice paper rolls with chilli fish sauce for dipping. They were so fresh! My first bite released the aromas of the coriander and the subtle crunchiness of the lettuce leaves was perfect. 

Before our pho was served, we were asked if we wanted fresh chilli and sriricha sauce (which they make on the premises). Fresh chilli went straight in and we got the sriricha on the side, along with a fresh piece of lemon. Sriricha is the worst enemy for a fructose free belly, so I steered clear. While pho probably isn't the best thing for me to eat as I'm sure the stock has onion and garlic as a base, there wasn't any added onion in the garnish of the pho. Just some spring onions which I'm fine with. As the business develops, it would great to get a little plate of chilli, lemon, bean sprouts and vietnamese mint just like you do in Vietnam. 

The stock was fantastic, the rice noodles were perfectly cooked and there were some nice big bits of chicken. Dan and I agree that this is the best pho we've had since moving the the UK. Before this, it was the pho we had on a recent trip to Warsaw. 

Given that the rice paper rolls and pho were such a hit, I got a BBQ pork bun to take away for dinner. It's yet to be eaten but I have no doubt that it will be tasty. I'm so happy with Carrots + Daikon has opened in Kentish Town and will certainly be filling up my loyalty card quickly. 

Gluten free rating: 5/5 Fructose free rating: 2.5/5

Carrots + Daikon 10 Highgate Road (opposite the Forum) Kentish Town NW5 1NR 02079989859 Mon-Thu 11am-7pm Fri-Sat 11am-9pm (Pho days)