Searching For A Genius Loaf
I generally have a soft brown, Genius loaf in the bread bin and today, I threw the remains of the last one out, as all I had left was the wrapping and two rather battered crusts.
So as I wanted to get a paper, I thought I’d get a new one at the littleWaitrose at Highbury Corner. But they only had the soft white bread, which would not be my first choice.
I know I can usually get the desired bread at Sainsburys at the Angel, but that would have meant coming back from there in the scrum of the rush hour. so I took the Overground to Dalston Junction, to try to buy the bread at the Co-Operative store at the station.
They did have a loaf, but the sell-by date was not very far away and the loaf felt, as though it was not that fresh.
So I took the bus home.
It’ll teach me not to do all my shopping at a bigger Waitrose like Canary Wharf or Bloomsbury. I don’t think I’ll bother with buying food at that Co-operative again.
Nairn’s Gluten-Free Porridge
I used to like my porridge as a child, but I found this gluten-free instant one from Nairn’s in Waitrose.
It wasn’t too bad and certainly it was a lot better than the Ready Brek instant porridge, I sometimes had as a child.
I sweetened it with honey.
Incidentally, although it is made in Edinburgh, it uses oats from Wyoming.
Lunch At The Assiette Anglaise
I got caught in the rain this lunchtime, so retreated to a restaurant, that I’d been meaning to try for some time; the Assiette Anglaise in the Liverpool Road.
Lunch At The Assiette Anglaise
The picture doesn’t do the confit of duck justice.
It is a restaurant certainly worth a repeat visit. And they knew their gluten-free too!
The meal was reasonably priced too!
The restaurant is also ideally placed for the Emirates Stadium and as it opens from nine in the morning on Saturdays, it is an ideal venue for a pre-match meal. And this can be gluten free if needed.
Every venue needs a nearby restaurant like this!
A Pre-Match Meal In Ipswich
Yesterday, it was football at Ipswich at 19:45 due to SKY, so it was an early train to avoid the rush hour and a pre-match meal in Pizza Express on the waterfront.
PX is the only really coeliac-friendly restaurant in the town centre. I’ve yet to find a good Indian one, close to the football ground.
PX was heaving, so it does appear that the demand might be coming up in the town, which in my view and those of some of my friends is a restaurant graveyard. I always wondered if East Suffolk people go to bed early, ever since my father and I used to walk home from his club in Felixstowe at about 21:30 and see all the houses cmpletely dark.
But getting to and from the quay and PX in the dark is a walker’s nightmare, with uneven pavements and all sorts of barriers everywhere. How many drunks will tip into the dock?
However there did seem to be a lot of good development going on at the waterfront, but knowing Ipswich as I do, I doubt that it will be complete for upwards of five to ten years.
The quay might end up as a good place to go, but it’s not that close to the town centre, the railway station and the other attractions in the town, like Christchurch Mansion, the Wolsey Theatre and the football ground.
If ever a town was crying out for a free circular bus-route that ran around the town centre like Manchester’s Metroshuttle, it is Ipswich!
At least though the meal was good and walking down the hill to the restaurant from the station was easy, even if I didn’t find the quickest route back to the football ground in the dark. In the light, I’d have had the liths to guide me!
I shall go again in the light!
Back Home Via Bolton
I didn’t go directly home, but broke the journey to see Ipswich play Bolton at the Reebok stadium, which is very close to Horwich Parkway station. This meant changes on both legs at Preston.
I would have preferred to come home via Manchester, but because Manchester United were playing Stoke City, I couldn’t get a train ticket at a reasonable price.
This resulted in having to rush my second change at Preston, as the London train had already arrived, when my local train came into Preston a few minutes late.
But the train was in London at the scheduled time of 20:15.
I’ve talked about the problems of getting gluten-free food on Virgin at weekends, so I didn’t really bother, as they had one gluten-free ham salad sandwich in the Marks and Spencer’s at Glasgow Central station.
And of course, it’s impossible to get any gluten free food in a football ground.
If I’d gone home by Manchester, I could have eaten in Carluccio’s in Piccadilly station. And probably a couple of other places too!
Wandering Glasgow In The Rain
I followed the map to the Tourist Office, but as the pictures show it was closed.
In fact, I found out later that it had been moved, but that the maps on the liths hadn’t been updated. Is this a problem with this type of city navigation system?
In the end, the liths got me out of trouble, as I knew that there was a Carluccio’s in West Nile Street, which the maps led me to. I was able to dry out and use the wi-fi to fid out where my hotel was located and have a much needed lunch.
Coeliac Or Just Gluten Free?
I was asked this question in Jamie’s Italian in Edinburgh.
How professional is that?
I had a very nice rabbit pasta.
East Coast Didn’t Impress
It had been a long time, since I travelled all the way up from London to Edinburgh in one go. Once a few years ago in the days of GNER, I did a trip from Peterborough to Edinburgh and back in a day. That must have been after I had been diagnosed as a coeliac, and I can remember discussing my meals with the on-board chef.
As it was I didn’t get any breakfast on the way up, as they had nothing that was gluten-free. So I might as well have saved money and travelled in Standard Class. Compare this with Virgin Trains, who now serve an excellent gluten-free breakfast.
I also had a seat with a table that rattled a lot and shook tea everywhere. I just think it needed the tightening of a couple of screws.
I think that next time, I go to Edinburgh, I’ll combine it with an intermediate stop like Liverpool or Newcastle or perhaps take the soft option and fly.
Mainly because I was getting distinctly hungry by the time I finished my journey.
I could have taken a packed lunch or bought sandwiches in Marks and Spencer in Kings Cross, but that really nullifies the advantage of First Class. Obviously with a shorter journey to say Leeds, York or Newcastle, this lack of food is less of a problem, as I can eat well at both ends of the trip.
As I Can in Edinburgh, but surely one of the reasons to take long distance trains, is to enjoy the travel and the views and hopefully some well-served food.
Off To Scotland
I’m off to Edinburgh today by train to see an old friend. Then it’s over to Glasgow and on Saturday down to Bolton to see Ipswich play.
I’ll be having a good breakfast at Leon in Kings Cross, as it would appear that gluten-free food on East Coast is a bit thin. I may be wrong, but we will see!
Memories Of Williams Brothers
Williams Brothers, was the grocery shop of choice of many in North London, in the 1960s. They had the odd supermarket, but most like the one I used to go to for my mother in Cockfosters were ones, where the assistant did the fetching and carrying.
What singled out Williams Brothers from other stores, was that for every pound you spent you got a token, which could be exchanged for money, when you got to a particular value.
Children loved all this and used the tokens, which were available in various denominations, in all sorts of games.
It does puzzle me, why this simple but probably expensive to run loyalty system, hasn’t made a comeback somewhere! After all, every coffee shop seems to have a loyalty scheme, for which you always misplace the card. Perhaps plastic tokens would be easier to collect.
In the end, Williams Brothers was taken over by Budgens.
The Anonymous Widower 