The Butley Oysterage
In life, evreything chnges, except at the Butley Oysterage in Orford.
The Butley Oysterage at Orford
The decor is still the same, the menu is just a development of what C and I probably had, when we first ate in the restaurant in the early 1970s. Even the staff are related to those who served in those far-off days.
One thing that has changed is that I am now a coeliac, but no problem as they can accomodate that! I had Dover Sole with new potatoes.
It was good to eat my first meal in a restaurant since the stroke and there was no better place.
La Colombe d’Or
La Colombe d’Or at St. Paul de Vence is one of the world’s great restaurants. Not in the sense of the food, which is very good, but in the whole ambience, as you sit surrounded by millions of euros worth of modern art.
The restaurant has hardly changed since we went there all of those years ago. There is some more art and you can stay in the attached hotel, but that is perhaps all. Even the menus are still the same.
The experience was just as good.
Rick Stein
Over the New Year, I went to Rick Stein‘s restaurant in Padstow.
It was expensive, but it was certainly worth it.
Their policy on gluten-free is very simple. They mark up the menu with what is gluten free.
Rick Stein's Gluten Free Menu
Note the detail. They have both normal and gluten-free soy sauce. So they are very prepared for trouble-makers like me.
Although we didn’t try any puddings, there was a good selection for coeliacs too.
The Puddings
Next time I’m in Padstow, I’ll go again. After all it costs a lot to get to Cornwall, so why shouldn’t you indulge.
Are We Tourism Friendly?
I am going to see Ipswich play at Shrewsbury tonight. Let’s hope it’s better than Sunday.
So I thought I’d leave about lunchtime, go to the Ironbridge Gorge Museum and then have a meal in a decent restaurant before the match. Or have a decent lunch, then go to the Museum.
But!
The Ironbridge Gorge Museum shuts at five! In other words you arrive after lunch and have probably about two hours to explore. Surely, if we want to encourage people to stay at home, then museums should be open much later in the summer. Especially, as with Britain’s variable weather, we need to try just that bit harder.
As to restaurants, there is nothing in the area in the Good Food Guide. Not necessarily definitive, but it’s always a good pointer as to the eating experience. No restaurants at all, usually means nobody tries.
Are Restaurants Getting Better?
On Sunday, I went up to London and had a very good meal, risotto followed by liver, in the Camden Brasserie. And yesterday, I went to the Bull and Bush in Hampstead. There it was a steak with a pint of Aspalls cyder.
The point about both these restaurants is that neither would claim to be particular allergy-friendly and don’t say as much on the web site, but they both know about allergies and checked my order with the chef.
Writing twenty-four hours later, I have had no reaction.
So I would recommend these places to everybody; coeliacs or not.
Maharajah Restaurant, Cambridge
Last night, I went to this pleasant little Indian restaurant just outside Cambridge city centre on Castle Hill.
The service was quick and the food was good. And of course it was gluten-free, as it is in most Indian restaurants.
Arbutus, 63-64 Frith Street, Soho, London
This is one of my favourite restaurants and it didn’t disappoint last night.
Arbutus Restaurant, Soho
The interesting thing about Arbutus is that the chef is a coeliac, so when you ask for gluten-free food you get gluten-free food without contamination.
I think this was my sixth visit. My late wife liked it too!
The Anonymous Widower 