Location: Brixton, London
Nearest tube station: Herne Hill (overground) and Brixton
Cuisine: fish & chips restaurant – gluten free available every Monday and Tuesday.
I cannot recommend Olley’s Fish Experience enough. I discovered this place a few years ago and have been going ever since. The food is amazing and I feel like something has changed in the last few months – it has suddenly become even tastier! If I’m honest, I used to love them mostly because they did gluten free (and the quality has always been great). What can I say, as coeliacs we can’t really afford to be picky at times! But the last few times I’ve eaten there, their gluten free fish & chips has officially shot up to the top of my best f&c ever list (which includes non-gf ones I’ve had in my pre-diagnosis past). To make it even better, they are very helpful and clued up on gluten and cross contamination so I always feel safe eating there.
With more and more restaurants jumping on the gluten free bandwagon in a bid to cash in on this popular diet, it can be hard for us (who avoid gluten due to a genuine medical condition) to know who to trust. While I appreciate how fast the gluten free scene is growing, upon further inspection, you find that many places don’t really know what they’re doing, unfortunately.
For example I was excited when I spotted ‘gluten free available’ in the window of a chip shop local to me, only to find out that they fry both non-gluten and gluten containing foods together. FAIL. Even more appalling is their refusal to accept that they’re doing it wrong when criticised by potential customers. They even said “we fry the food at very high temperatures so there is no gluten left.”… WHAT? There is a profound lack of understanding here that goes beyond cross contamination issues and I don’t know whether to laugh of cry! Gluten isn’t a bacteria killed by high temperatures. If only that was the case, our lives would be much easier! 😉 And sadly this scenario isn’t uncommon.
But back to the point, this means it’s always nice to find a gem like Olley’s Fish Experience. A place where you can not only enjoy foods that are difficult to find in the gluten free world (fish and chips!), but a place that you can also feel safe eating at.
P.S. the picture doesn’t do it justice. It makes the fish look smaller than it was. lol
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Chips with tartare sauce and an Estrella Daura gluten free beer (which they now sell too!). (Update 13.09.16)
Small gluten free fish, chips and peas deal which is available at lunch time. Considering it was meant to be small, the size was just perfect to be honest! Well worth £5! (Update 13.09.16)
