Eating good quality gluten free food, mainly in Edinburgh

restaurant

Rollo Stockbridge

While some restaurants in Edinburgh (or anywhere, really) can be called a ‘gluten free restaurant’, there are others which are simply restaurants which also cater for gluten free eaters.  There is a difference and as we all know, the experiences vary between many of the latter kind.

stockbridge edinburgh gluten freeRollo is an excellent restaurant, serving delicious food with great, friendly service.  It definitely falls into the category of a ‘restaurant which also caters for gluten free eaters’, but you will still have a good experience and great gluten free food, so if you are eating there, you will be well looked after.

This was my first meal out since lockdown, so my excitement was palpable!  I dined with a group of gluten-eaters and there was a dairy-free-eater to my left, so we really experienced Rollo for dietary issues.

To start, they have a specific gluten free menu, with explanations of changes made to meals and likely tiny traces in certain foodstuffs.  This really helps with the ordering and made it super-straightforward, particularly as the main menu (which comes up on your phone) is not helpful with dietary.  Dairy free was the same, so it was easy to find what worked.

Admittedly, the choice of starters for GF was not huge as with an Asian twist to flavours, there stockbridge gluten freewas quite a bit of deep-fried starters (pakoras, spring rolls etc) and sadly, there was only one frier in the kitchen.  However, the Baba Ganoush was really good with the crudites (instead of bread, which I suppose is healthier …) and had spicy kick to it and was good for post-lockdown dining.

The mains had more choice, as you can see from the menu below.  If you are ok sharing friers with gluten food, you will be able to eat much of the menu, but we coeliacs are slightly more limited.  I had the tuna niçoise, which was beautifully pink and moist, though flaked nicely and came with tomatoes, beans, tapenade and ‘anchovy slick’ (I didn’t work out what this was!).  It was a terrific choice.  I should have loved a few chips on the side, or the excellent dauphinoise potatoes with gruyere (which were stringy and crispy and looked fantastic!), but they were both contaminated options.

The dairy free choices were good too and the dairy-free-eater to my left enjoyed some fish and chips, with little squares of fish in batter set out beautifully on a long plate.  You cannot fault the presentation at Rollo, it is superb and everything looks beautiful!   The gluten eaters gave the meal high scores, for both looks and taste as well and we enjoyed a delicious Merlot and a nice, zingy Albarino with the meal.  They serve all water with cucumber in it, which is a ‘love it, hate it’ thing, so I asked for mine without as I just don’t get it.

Where Rollo sadly lets itself down is on the puddings.  While the options for others are totally amazing (sticky toffee puddings and other delights), for the GF there was only an affogato (which I feel is served too often in too many places and is not really a choice I would ever make) and some (always wonderful) Mellis cheese.  However, in the time it takes to add to the GF menu the words ‘without crackers’, someone could have opened a cupboard and removed a pack of gluten free oatcakes and put them on a plate.  It really doesn’t take much effort to have a pack of oatcakes in the kitchen and most places do this easily.  Also, sadly, for the dairy-free-eater to my left, the choices were even poorer and all she could have was a raspberry sorbet.  While it was delicious and she enjoyed it, they could make a little more effort than just keep a couple of tubs of something in the freezer.

stockbridge restauarant gluten free rollo So my verdict:  this is a brilliant restaurant and we had a great dinner, enjoying everything I wanted – no complaints and I left smiling.  As I am not a great pudding eater, I didn’t mind the lack of choice, but don’t head off for your GF meal anticipating a great pudding!  So, 9 out of 10 for quality of food, service, ambience and lovely wine (and 11 out of 10 for the fantastic company of my fellow diners!), but come on, Rollo, try a bit harder with your puds and your fryer!

BOOK NOW

Rollo
108 Raeburn Pl, Stockbridge, Edinburgh EH4 1HH
Please mention Gluten Free Edinburgh when booking.