I stumbled on this place when looking for a place to satisfy a cake craving on Friday night and discovered a really big gluten free menu! Don’t you love when that happens? I still only had a cake (they had a flourless orange cake) and hot chocolate but this is a place to put on the list for a dinner. It’s also a bakery and they apparently bake gluten free bread on the weekends. Menu includes salads, pizzas (a few extra dollars for a gluten free base), pastas (yes there is a gluten free pasta option) and meat dishes. They also do breakfast with options for gluten free bread.

[rating: 3.5]

[mappress]

Rice ‘n Rolls is a Thai rice and noodle bar with 2 locations in Melbourne’s CBD – 33 Degraves St and 181 William St (CBW Building). I’ve only been to the William St one but every time I’ve been there has always been a massive queue, which is usually a sign that it’s pretty good! And it is pretty good food – they have a huge range of curry, noodle and rice dishes that can be made gluten free. You can select your level of chilli – if you’re a chilli coward like me make sure you ask for very mild as they are not shy with the spice! Casual setting – they mainly do take away but there are also a few tables and chairs if you want to eat in.

[rating: 4]

[mappress]

Crown Pizza is one of the original gluten free pizza places in Melbourne. You can select pretty much any pizza from their standard and gourmet pizza range (minus anything with ham, salami or BBQ sauce), just ask for it to be gluten free. Gluten free pizzas can only be made in a medium size and are an additional $4.50. Staff are very knowledgable, service is fast and friendly and the pizzas taste great…what more do you need? Click here for more information.

PS: there is also a Crown Pizza in Camberwell (which I thought was affiliated with Crown Pizza in Reservoir but turns out they’re not the same company!) who are also really good – 1357 Toorak Rd, Camberwell

Have a look at the Gluten Free Pizza page for more gluten free pizza places. Like the Fish & Chips page this list is ever growing so make sure you let me know if you have anything to add!

[rating: 4]

[mappress]

A Noodle Box has opened up near my place…finally…and although there are only 2 gluten free options, in my opinion they are the 2 best dishes on the menu anyway – Seafood Nasi Goreng and Chicken Pad Thai. Yum and yum! Quick, easy and good value for money, I’m a Noodle Box fan. For a list of locations go to their website

[rating: 4]

Snappas is a small take away fish and chippery in Werribee’s main street that have a great selection of gluten free fish and chips, and even gluten free potato cakes and crumbed pinapple fritters. They also have take home freezer packs of fish fillets, prawns, calamari rings, potato cakes and more. Everthing is cooked to order so is really fresh and good quality.

In honour of the unofficial start of summer with this hot weather I’ve started a page dedicated to gluten free fish and chips in Melbourne – check it out here – and please let me know if you have any more to add to this list!

[rating: 3.5]

[mappress]

This weekend my other half and I were lamenting how we never do brunch anymore…so we went to Eden Espresso on Sunday – the perfect place for a relaxed brunch. It’s a little cafe on Glenferrie Rd, a few doors down from Cerone’s, that looks like a converted house – nice big dining area at the front, middle has a smaller dining room and at the back there’s a really cute courtyard – perfect for a nice sunny weekend.

You get a really nice comfortable feeling at this place, like you’re hanging out at someone’s house. The waiters are very friendly and very helpful with gluten free requests (you need to ask them what is gluten free).

The menu (presented in really cute frames) is quite small but there’s a few gluten free options, including soup, salads and some breakfast meals. I had the Green Eggs – scrambled eggs with pesto, spinach and cheese, with gluten free toast – which was really really nice and very filling.

[rating: 4]

[mappress]

I’ve always wanted to check this place out…finally this weekend I did. It’s on the Windsor end of Chapel St, right next door to Pizza Piazza. It’s a small, rustic, romantic Polish retro cafe / restaurant / bar that has amazing, authentic food that is also really good value. A lot on their menu is gluten free (ask for a specific gluten free menu) like soups, meat dishes, salads. The staff are friendly and easy going. As the name suggests, they also serve vodka…over 100 varieties to be more precise so with this much choice you get a lot of interesting flavours, like sour cherry or vodka with flakes of gold in it (yes, actual gold). They do breakfast and lunch until 3pm. Highly recommended, I’m planning on going back to try their dinner menu and maybe another type of vodka…

[rating: 4]

[mappress]

If you have not tried Grill’d burgers yet you’re missing out…they are freshly made healthy burgers – a great alternative to fast food burgers, the chips are also nice and chunky. I have not yet tried a huge variety of burgers, every time I seem to choose the same burger because I love it so much – the Mustard & Pickled burger! And they now have gluten free buns!

Grill’d has a lot of locations around Melbourne, for a full list check out their website, www.grilld.com.au

The following Grill’d menu items ARE GLUTEN FREE* when prepared with Gluten Free* bun or NO bun (*although they may contain traces of Gluten due to cross contamination risk as all buns go through same toaster):

BEEF BURGERS
Simply Grill’d
Crispy Bacon & Cheese
Mighty Melbourne / Big QLDer / Almighty
Summer Sunset
Mustard & Pickled!
Hot Mama

CHICKEN BURGERS
Simon Says
Tuscan Delight
Grill’d Bird & Brie
Caesar’s Palace

LAMB BURGERS
Moroccan Lamb
Baa Baa’ Burger

VEGGIE BURGERS
Field of Dreams

SNACK / KID’S BURGERS
Mini Moo
Chicken Licken
Mini Me Pack

CHIPS AND DIPS
Chips
Herbed Mayo
Tomato Relish

SALADS
Mediterranean Salad with Lamb Skewers

Gluten IS PRESENT in the following menu items:
Kung Fu Fighter – Gluten in Satay Sauce
Sweet Chilli Chicken – Gluten in Sweet Chilli Mayonnaise
The Zen Hen – Gluten in Satay Sauce
Garden Goodness – Gluten in Vegetable Pattie
Bombay Bliss – Gluten in Vegetable Pattie
Sweet Chilli chip dip – Gluten in Sweet Chilli Mayonnaise
Chicken Caesar Salad – Gluten in Croutons
Pumpkin Cous Cous Salad with Lamb Skewers – Gluten in Cous Cous

[rating: 4.5]

I love almond shortbread (also known as Greek Shortbread, but most other European cultures also have a version of this recipe) but I’ve never tried making them gluten free. At the gluten free show there was a stand promoting Lupin Flour and they had some shortbread – it was divine so I’ll have to give it a go. Below is the recipe from Irwin Valley Lupin Flour and you can order the flour online, unfortunately it looks like there are not yet any stockists in Victoria.

Preparation Time

30 minutes

Cooking Time

10 – 15 minutes

Ingredients

• 250g unsalted butter, softened
• ½ cup pure icing sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• ¾ cup  blanched, slivered almonds
• 15mL ouzo  (plus extra for topping)
• Flour mix (240g plain flour & 60g Irwin Valley Lupin Flour)

Method

1. Toast almonds under griller until light golden brown. Allow to cool.
2. Preheat oven to 180°C (conventional heat).
3. Cream butter & sugar until white in colour.
4. Add egg yolks & mix well.
5. Stir in almonds & ouzo.
6. Fold in 2/3 of the flour mix. Continue to add flour only until mixture forms a slightly sticky dough.
7. Roll out dough on lightly floured benchtop into strips approx. 8cm wide.
8. Using a suitably sized glass or small bowl, cut strips into crescent-shaped pieces.
9. Place on a baking tray (lightly greased or use baking paper).
10. Bake until pale golden brown.
11. While still hot, sprinkle liberally with extra ouzo, then dust with icing sugar.
12. When cool, store in an airtight container, covering with extra icing sugar. Stays fresh for up to 4 weeks.

Notes & tips

• Sprinkle with rosewater in place of ouzo.

I have walked past this place hundreds of times, always meaning to drop in for a look – today finally I did. This cafe is a gluten free heaven for affordable lunches and snacks in the CBD. All foods are low GI, low fat and most are also organic and vegetarian. Everything in there is marked as to whether or not it’s gluten free – and 90% of the foods are. There is a huge range of smoothies and juices, freshly baked gluten free muffins, soups, salads, sandwiches (yes with gluten free bread options) and daily specials. It’s small so most of the traffic is office workers grabbing their take away lunch but there are a few chairs and tables too if you want to eat in. It’s open Mon – Fri for breakfast and lunch.

[rating: 4]

[mappress]