Brighton Eats July 2015

Last weekend we went down to Brighton for a long weekend break. Brighton for me is up there with Camden, I love both of them so much. Brighton is also amazing for every special diet. I have my favourite places to visit down in Brighton but this trip I decided to try and visit some new places that we'd never eaten at before. We were very successful. 

42 Juice fast became our breakfast stop off. It was right outside our hotel so each morning we stopped for a smoothie or juice. 

They sell a great selection of nut milks, juices and other healthy snacks. 

First morning I had an "I am Temptation" which is Cashew Milk, Raw Cacao, Banana, Dates, Walnut, Lucuma and Cacao Nibs. It was delicious. 

The next morning I picked up a Watermelon Juice which was lovely and refreshing with a nice touch of mint.

I also got a Cashew Milk. Cashews are one of my favourite nuts and it makes a change to see cashew milk rather than Almond milk or coconut milk which I can't tolerate. It was really tasty. There's something to be said for hand made milks.

We were in the lanes all morning browsing the shops so for lunch we stopped at Hen which is at the very top of the North Lanes. Really nice trendy restaurant that sells Chicken in various ways.

I had quarter grilled chicken with sweet potato fries. The chicken was lovely and juicy but the fries stole the show. They were amazing. Never thought of combining dill with sweet potato but it went so so well. All the sauces were gf and df too which was good. Very helpful friendly staff too. I'll definitely go again if we're in Brighton. If you are just gluten free they do gf waffles too. Unfortunately not dairy or egg free though.

I'm really loving loose leaf teas at the moment since being introduced to them in Alnwick earlier in the year. The Blue Bird Tea Co has a massive selection of tea combinations. The girl in the shop was really friendly and helped me pick out some great flavours. 

While there I also brought a cold brew tea bottle to make tea and store in the fridge so I can have iced tea whenever I want. I got some teas specifically because I thought they'd made good cold brew flavours but I also got a nice peppermint cream to have hot and a lavender sleepy tea. They sell online too. 

One place I have to visit each time I'm in Brighton is Boho Gelato. They always have a selection of vegan gelato and most are also gf. I was happy to see grape flavour in the cabinet. It was so nice. Yum! 

We met up with some friends for our evening meal. Knowing they love Japan we chose to book Moshimo which is a Japanese and sushi restaurant. It was right outside our hotel so didn't have to walk far. At night all the front is open with seating outside too. 

The waitress gave me a full allergen folder to help me make my choice. She also pointed out that things could be adapted, the tempura could be made with corn flour and the sushi selections could be made to suit my diet. I fancied trying a Sashimi selection which came with rice and miso soup. We also shared some edamame. The Moshimo mojito was lovely too. 

The following day I really wanted to visit a chip shop in Hove that I'd seen people raving about. It was a bit of a walk from where we were staying so we thought it would be fun to hire a bike and cycle along the seafront to Hove. 

Wolfies of Hove have gluten free batter every day which is also dairy and egg free. You don't need to preorder you can just turn up. Our fish & chips didn't take long to arrive and the servers were all really friendly. We jumped back on our bikes and took our fish & chips down to the seafront to eat. 

The fish was lovely and I enjoyed the batter. The chips were great too. They only use gluten free vinegar so you don't have to worry about that either. They have everything covered for a delicious safe fish & chips. Yum!! It was worth hiring the bikes for. (The ride up to Hove is really enjoyable too. We hired our bikes from the bike rental near Brighton pier).

Sunday evening we planned to get a pizza to take to the beach while the sun set. Another place i'd heard was great was Morelli Zorelli. They are based on Western Road but also do deliveries so we had our pizzas delivered to the hotel. 

They use Venice Bakery pizza bases which are the best in my option. I had the Wild Boar Pizza with wild boar prosciutto, smoked pancetta, roasted vine tomatoes and I had vegan mozzarella. It was really enjoyable and it's great that they cater really well for gluten free and Vegan diets. They have great menus showing all options on their website. http://www.morellizorelli.co.uk

Monday before we traveled back home we took the opportunity to eat at Fishy Fishy 

(Dermot O'leary co owns the restaurant) as the weekend crowds had died down. 

I only wanted a light lunch so I had the Lean Green Salad (minus Parmesan) with a balsamic dressing and added prawns. It was simple but I enjoyed it. I was tempted by the Rosemary Salted Chips as they were cooked separately but I resisted. 

Before leaving Brighton I wanted to call into Eat Naked as I'd been following their Instagram and loving all the creations. Eat Naked is owned by Stacie Stewart (Masterchef finalist & TV Baker). It was nice to chat to her in the shop about when she judged my baking at a local food festival. 

I picked a salad box with rice, greens, courgetti with a avocado mint sauce and grilled chicken. It was really tasty and really makes me want to make more clean meals. She also makes raw sweet treats and juices.

Another place I popped into before leaving was Infinity Foods supermarket. It is a free from heaven. I picked up a few bits. I love Ten Acre crisps, the cheese & onion and chicken flavours are amazing. I got a few drinks as I love the pomegranate & green tea but don't get it near me. My husband wanted the Raw Chocolate Company treats which he enjoyed. I had the Cleo's and Twilight bar which are both really good. Got some squirty cream for hot chocolates and finally a fresh baked Foccacia and White Chocolate Cranberry muffin which were both really nice. 

I've got to add that all of the restaurants I emailed or tweeted were all great and answered my questions which is always good. Thanks!

So we had an amazing weekend in Brighton and successfully tried lots of new places. I will always recommend Brighton to people, not only for its food options but it is a fantastic place with so much to see and do. Go visit!

Brighton Eats!

Brighton is one of my favourite places to visit in the UK. Not only is it a great seaside place but it is also fantastic for special diets. I doubt very much if anyone would go hungry in Brighton no matter what allergies or intolerance's you have. There is such a vast amount of restaurants, cafes and shops all with a huge array of different foods. I love picking up different treats to eat on the beach while watching the world go by.

Last weekend we got up early to make the 3.5 hour journey down there. We like to go at least once a year and if the weather is right it's like being abroad. Forecasts weren't great but our hotel was booked so there was no turning back. Luckily the thunder storms happened the night before so except for a little shower mid afternoon the weather was glorious.

I'd seen on twitter (@StreetDiner) that a small street food market takes place on a Friday & Saturday from 11am-3pm on Queens Road. I'd also noticed that some of the stalls catered for various diets. I decided to try Paella from Crocus (@CrocusPaella). Their sign stated that both the Veggie and Chicken Paellas were gluten free and the nice lady confirmed they were also dairy free. I had the small portion for £4 which was a generous size and filled me up. It was delicious. Really tasty and and chicken was very succulent. It was perfect and I really enjoyed it. 

Next stop was Infinity Foods. I visit the shop every time I go to Brighton as they have a great selection of free from foods. I like to get snacks from here to take to the beach. On this occasion I found the Ten Acre crisps (@10Acre) that people have been raving about, and for good reason. You don't often see dairy free cheese and onion crisps but this company has put an end to that. They are fantastic. Not only the flavour but also the type of crisp. I also picked up the chicken & hickory flavour. I also spotted a chocolate bar called Vego which is hazelnut chocolate with full hazelnuts. I am in love. I don't know how I've not tried one if these before. Amazing. Chunky, nutty, melt in the mouth Chocolate with crunchy hazelnuts mmmm. I popped a Seed & Bean Mint Choc bar in the basket too. I spotted their Smoked Garlic Vegan Mayonnaise on offer so I thought I'd try. I also had a snoop round the bakery and found a Raspberry & Almond GF DF muffin and GF DF Focaccia. Both were really nice. I did go back to the shop before leaving Brighton to get more crisps & Vego ;) 

After lunch and browsing round the shops we decided to pick up a bubble tea from Pearls and head down to the beach to relax. I've found my new flavour combo of Lychee fruit tea with Blueberry popping boba. I do love bubble tea :) We also stopped by a bar later on in the day for a nice Pimms & Lemonade. 

We planned to go to Pho Vietnamese restaurant (@PhoRestaurant) for our evening meal as it's one of my faves. Their menu has a huge amount of choice for Dairy, Egg & Gluten free. Their staff are always helpful and knowledgeable too. I normally have the Chicken Pho but I felt too warm to be eating a big bowl of steaming hot soup so I thought I'd try the Pho Xao wok fried rice noodles. I asked the server for them to be gluten free which wasn't a problem. We also ordered a side of the Cha gio crispy spring rolls which are made from rice paper. The server advised they'd be served with sweet chilli dip as the usual sauce wasn't gf. It showed that the server was thinking about ingredients. I loved the noodles but the vegetable spring rolls are still my ultimate favourite. Yum! I washed it all down with a lovely Phojito :) I wish I had a local Pho. 

As we'd gone to Pho pretty early we knew we could catch Boho Gelato (@bohogelato) before closing for some dessert. I love Boho Gelato and it's another place I always visit when in Brighton. They make amazing Dairy free Gelato. The server is always happy to point out which flavours are dairy free (they can vary day to day). I chose to have the Watermelon which was soooo nice. We also went the following day and I tried the cucumber & rose which was really really good. Nice and refreshing but creamy. Highly recommend if in the area. 

On our last day while visiting Infinity Foods (again) I picked up a few snacks to have for the journey home. I'd had a pretty good breakfast of grilled tomatoes, bacon and melon at the hotel so I didn't want a big lunch. I picked a falafel pack with a nice dressing and houmous which was tasty along with a nice elderflower green tea. We called at Cobham services on the way home where I found a pot of yummy Edamame to snack on from Cho Zen Noodle. 

All in all I had a fab weekend in Brighton and had some delicious food. I love Brighton lots and I hope that if you choose to visit you do too :)