On my birthday, my husband, daughter number two and I headed into Mt Eden for lunch. We wanted to buy some tea and books (for those interested, check out Chapter. Whilst I love their tea (I buy decaffeinated Earl Grey and cinnamon tea there) and the books are excellent, their food options are extremely limited for someone who can’t eaten gluten or eggs. So we thought we’d go for a wander and see what we could find in the area. Mt Eden is a FANTASTIC place to eat with a pile of cafes around. Eventually, we settled on Frasers, partly because when we looked at the menu board, this is what we saw:
Yes, that’s a menu board with gluten-free options clearly indicated! This is the dinner menu which has FOUR gluten-free options (including fish and chips, so I’ll have to go back!). The lunch menu has two gluten-free options, and a number of other items which can be made gluten-free. I’m not a fan of beetroot especially, but I am a fan of falafels, so I opted for the Falafel Salad with haloumi and roasted beetroot. Here’s what came out:
The flavours were great, the beetroot surprisingly nice and I thoroughly enjoyed the meal. I followed this up (it was my birthday after all!) with a Mediterranean Orange Cake. Yum. There were also gluten-free friands for those who would like something a little smaller.
It was so good that I had started eating it before I remembered to take a photo!
The “normal” meals were also delicious and the HUGE range of sweet treats (cheesecake etc) met with approval from my dining companions.
In the interests of my readers (I was only thinking of you!), my husband and I returned on one of our grown-ups’ days off over the long holidays. This time, I had the smoked fish croquettes with the homemade crisps. On the menu, it was served with an apple-radish salad, and apples are on my forbidden list. The staff were perfectly happy to take out the apples and just give me a radish salad, which is always nice. Oh. My. Gosh. Delicate, rich, flavoursome. Delicious.
I may have dipped my finger into the remoulade before taking this photo…
I may have had the orange cake again. There were no excuses this time, I just liked it and it went very well with my Harney’s tea. With both an excellent menu and a variety of cabinet food, I would highly recommend Frasers for both the gluten-intolerant and those who can eat anything. On the three occasions I’ve been there, they’ve been madly busy, but always pleasant with no feel of rush or bustle and with warm, efficient service. I caught up with a friend there last week and had the falafels again. The waitress noticed I hadn’t eaten much of my beetroot, and said “next time you come, ask for it with no beetroot – we can substitute something else for you!” This was lovely, and very nice that it was noticed and mentioned.
Frasers can be found at 434 Mt Eden Road, on the corner of Stokes Road.
Note: this is not a sponsored post, I just happened to rock along to Frasers on my birthday. Also, as with any Eating Out post, I have not examined their kitchen for cross-contamination, so if you are coeliac or especially sensitive to gluten, you need to give them a call and ask what they do in their kitchen.
Being Gluten Free in NZ 