Gluten Free in London, England

I recently returned from a trip to London, England.  What a great place to tour around!  Though you may think following a gluten free diet would be difficult there, my partner and I found that there were plenty of options to eat well and still enjoy the trip.  Below are some of our tips we discovered, as well as a link to other Gluten Free Travel Tips:

• Remember to bring your own meal/snacks for the long overseas flight.  Typical airline meals are carb-heavy, and mostly from wheat sources (my airline was serving cheese tortellini or beef stroganoff, followed by a snack of cheese and crackers or a biscotti).  There were salads available for purchase on the flight, and the flight attendant might take pity and rustle up an apple for you, but don’t count on it.  Better to bring your own meal such as corn tortilla wraps, fruit, trail mix, or a gluten free snack bar.  Some airlines offer low-carb / diabetic meal selections when you book your ticket, but these are still not necessarily gluten free.

• Breakfasts are the toughest part of traveling, as most breakfast bars/cafes offer muffins, pastries, toast or cereal, but little else.  Our trick (which cuts down on meal costs too!) is to buy rice cakes, peanut butter, and fruit at the local grocery store, all of which are stable at room temperature and make for a satisfying first meal of the day.  We also get the fruit/nut bars and a dish of fruit at the local Starbucks occasionally too (after all, it’s something you can count on since Starbucks is everywhere now!)  Another popular store emerging in London is Sainsbury’s (reminiscent of Whole Foods in the states) and they have a line of gluten free packaged foods called “Free From”, which make good snacks to keep in your hotel room (such as the sunflower seed and hazelnut granola).  There is of course the traditional English Breakfast of eggs, ham/bacon, baked beans, and chips, but I wouldn’t recommend you fuel up on this daily as it is laden with fat and calories.

• British food:  True, the battered fish is covered in flour and the steak pies are out of the question.  But there are many other traditional British meals to be had.  Shepherd’s pie is gluten free (ground beef baked in a dish with a potato topping), as are the standard roast meat and potato dinners.  You can feel comfortable asking your waitstaff about wheat flour in foods (such as gravy) since gluten allergies are recognized as pretty common in Northern Europe, evidenced by their clear labeling of gluten ingredients on packages too.  Some restaurants even cater to this: S&M (which stands for “sausage & mash”) has six locations in London and serves the Gluten Free Glutton platter: lamb with mashed potatoes and gluten free gravy, quintessential British grub.  Also look for the “jacket potato” with your choice of toppings, such as chili con carne.

• Due to it’s international appeal, Indian curries, Ethiopian “injera” bread made with teff or rice flour, Spanish paella with seafood tapas, and Thai establishments with plenty of rice noodle choices abound all over London.  The British consider themselves connoisseurs of Indian curry, so take your pick!

• The Pub:  Our time in London was punctuated by joining the locals at the corner pub, and there were plenty of them.  But while all the Brits are drinking their gluten-containing beer, we enjoyed the draft cider….every establishment we went to had it, sometimes even on tap!  It comes in pints, just like a beer, and is very refreshing.  Our favorite was Strongbow.

• Dessert:  As I mentioned, gluten allergies are common in the UK and Northern Europe, which is to your benefit at the local grocery store.  We easily found gluten free cookies at Tesco grocery store (which has outlets all over London) and even spotted gluten free brownies at the hotel cafe and also at a baked goods stand at Borough Market.