Gluten Free London: A Complete Guide for Celiac Foodies

Our Favorite Gluten Free Restaurants & Bakeries in London

We’re going to organize this guide into four sections: dedicated gluten free restaurants, dedicated gluten free bakeries, restaurants with gluten free options (that I, Matt, the resident Celiac, feel comfortable eating at), and grocery stores where you can find gluten free options.

Over the years, we’ve realized that it’s important to us to prioritize supporting the businesses that support the Celiac community.

And that means doing our best to make it to every single dedicated gluten free restaurant and bakery in a city to include it in our guides. 

In this case, Matt did it (with one or two exceptions)! 

Generally speaking, I’m not someone who is going to wait until I show up to a restaurant to spring my questions on them and expect them to be able to serve me UNLESS it’s a place that gets great reviews from other people in the gluten free community. 

I use a combination of Google Maps, Instagram, and Findmeglutenfree to find restaurants that have been recommended by other Celiacs, and I go from there. 

A couple of rules for me: I don’t do pizza places or bakeries that are mixed, because I have recently gotten into baking bread and making pizza at home and flour ends up EVERYWHERE. 

It must be impossible to keep them separate in a normal kitchen unless you have a completely separate prep area and oven, which most places just don’t have. 

At the end of the guide, we’ll include a handy map of these gluten free restaurants and bakeries so that you can visualize how it all fits together and make plans for your specific trip. 

While there are certainly more options in London, depending on your risk tolerance, this is a collection of places that we feel offer the best shot at getting food that is both gluten free and delicious in London.

Putting my cards on the table here – I think that if you’re a Celiac in London, you should focus on either dedicated gluten free restaurants and bakeries as much as possible. 

For that reason, many of the restaurants you will find below are dedicated gluten free – that means no gluten in the kitchen, so the risk of cross-contact is low. 

Now, is this a perfect way to avoid cross-contact? Probably not perfect. It’s still up to you to communicate your needs to staff members and make sure they can meet your needs.

Is it an easy shortcut for finding places that are set up to serve Celiacs safely? I believe the answer is yes, which is why that’s how I’ve organized this guide and chosen the restaurants to include.

If you’re curious what our process for discovering and vetting gluten free spots looks like, you can read our gluten free FAQ. 

Below, you’ll find our picks for the best gluten free restaurants and bakeries where you can make all of your London food dreams come true, and other little details like grocery stores with gluten free options. 

BONUS: I’ve personally eaten at (almost) every single restaurant on this list! Over the last few years, I’ve been to London twice, with both trips lasting 10 days or more (one was 10 days, one was two weeks). I’ve covered a lot of (delicious) gluten free ground in London! 

The Best Things We Ate in London

If you’re wondering what to prioritize while you’re in London, the first answer is all of the amazing food markets.

In particular, Broadway Market and Borough Market stand out to us as GREAT for gluten free foodies, with multiple excellent options at each.

But if we’re talking specifics, here are our five favorite gluten free things we’ve eaten in London: 

• The dueling pad thai stands at the markets – Khanom Krok at Borough Market and Thai on the Fly at Broadway Market – that might just be the best pad thai we’ve ever had. EVER. Slight edge to Thai on the Fly, but it’s VERY close (and both are great). 
  
  
• The Wafflin’ Chicken at Utter Waffle, a delightful combination of savory and sweet fried chicken and waffles (plus, their hash browns!). 
  
  
• The Cereal doughnut (which was topped with corn flakes) from Borough 22 (it was a seasonal flavor at the time).
  
  
• The scone with strawberry jam and fresh whipped cream (and literally everything else they make) from Floris’ Bakery at Broadway Market (Saturdays and Sundays only!)
  
  
• The excellent fish and chips at Wicked Fish, who has a dedicated gluten free shop right next to Spitalfields Market. 

Honorable mentions go to all of the arepas we ate and the Indonesian curry from Makatcha at both Broadway and Camden Market. 

As you can see from that list, there’s a wide range of different cultures and cuisines represented in London, which is great!

Dedicated Gluten Free Restaurants in London

Here is the wide selection of dedicated gluten free restaurants in London. Some are stalls at a food market (if so, you’ll find which market in parentheses in the title), some are standalone restaurants.

Over our two recent trips, we have visited almost all of them (there are a couple of exceptions), and included some of our opinions on what to order and what stood out to us about each place.

Utter Waffle

My first experience with Utter Waffle was stumbling upon their stand on the south bank of the Thames at one of the holiday markets there.

I was excited about Utter Waffle, but it was a place that I might have ended up having to skip because it’s so far south (and not easy to get to).

Unfortunately, the thing I was most excited about was the savory waffles, and the holiday stand was only doing sweet variations.

Which is fine, but I’m generally much more excited about a sweet + salty flavor combination. 

They have two locations down south of the river – one in Herne Hill, one in Balham – and both require a bit of a journey to reach from the areas you’d be spending your time as a tourist. 

However, when my internet friend Sarah from Endless Distances (who you should follow on Instagram for gluten free content about London) suggested meeting at their Herne Hill location for lunch, I decided to make the journey all the way from Camden Market down south. 

And, after looking back on everything I ate over the 10 days I spent in London on this most recent trip, the waffle at Utter Waffle was in the top five (though there are too many things to fit every worthwhile bite of food into just five slots!). 

There were two waffles that stood out to me immediately – the James, Jules and the Giant Peach (which leans more sweet) and the Wafflin’ Chicken, which was exactly the sweet-and-salty flavor combination I was looking for, with a savory waffle, fried chicken, and hot honey on top. 

The other standout here was the hash brown bites, which are a side that’s worth ordering. 

Overall, a bit of a detour for tourists, but a worthy journey in my opinion if you have some extra time. 

Niche Gluten Free

Niche is the OG of dedicated gluten free restaurants in London. It’s the first restaurant accredited by Coeliac UK, and it remains 100% gluten free to this day. 

It’s a little out of the way of the main sights in London – it’s in Angel in North London, which is about 20 minutes away from Central London by Tube – but it’s well worth the effort to get there for the amazing, safe gluten free food.

We really enjoyed both the food and the ambiance, and it was a lovely night spent alternating between talking and stuffing our faces full of delicious food.

Note: I’ve now been here twice over my two recent trips to London, and it’s a great spot for a nice, gluten free meal. 

They’re open for dinner, and brunch on weekends. They also have a special Sunday menu, where you can experience a Sunday roast, but 100% gluten free. 

One other note: They have the naturally gluten free type of Green’s Beer. I discovered in Italy that most of the Green’s Beer in Europe is actually gluten-removed (made with barley, then an enzyme is added that “breaks down” the gluten) rather than being naturally gluten free, like it is here in the States. I double checked, awkwardly asking to see the bottle to confirm which type it was here, and sure enough, it’s the good kind! If you’re looking for a gluten free beer, they have you covered. 

Anyway, let’s talk about the food. 

On both trips, we decided to go with the shotgun approach and try a few starters, split a main, and get a dessert to share. 

The standouts on the menu were:

• The chickpea sweet potato pie: A delightfully spicy combination of sweet potatoes and chickpeas tucked away in an edible pie dish made of pastry dough. We were confused on what to do with the gravy on the side, so we asked and they told us “it’s like a Sunday roast, you just drench everything in it.”
  
  
• The parmesan cheddar donuts: When is fried cheese NOT a good idea? That’s essentially what these are.
  
  
• The Angel pâté: No geese were harmed in the making of this dish – it’s an herby bean spread served alongside toasted sourdough and herbed butter. It was probably the single best thing we ate that night. 

They also have fried chicken, which was good, but not particularly unique. I’d order it again, but it definitely isn’t the most exciting thing on the menu in our opinion. 

It’s worth making a reservation in advance if you want to eat here – we didn’t and showed up at opening on a weeknight to snag a table. By the time we left, it was packed. 

Pabellón (Southbank Centre Market)

All I need to really tell you to convince you to try Pabellón is that, over the course of two weeks in London, we went back here not once, not twice, but THREE times. It’s that good. 

Then, on my latest trip, I returned another two times. 

It’s great, and I look forward to returning on my next foray into London’s gluten free food scene. 

Pabellón is a stand at the Southbank Centre Market (which takes place here on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) that serves three things: arepas with various fillings, bowls, and fried tempura sweet potatoes. All of it is gluten free. 

They got their start in 2017, when two young Venezuelans decided it would be cool to share their cuisine with Londoners.

Fast forward a bunch of years and they’ve won the British Street Food awards and have a long line at their stand of people waiting to get their hands on what we think is the best arepa in London. 

They have two main menu items – the “Pabellón,” a bowl with rice, beans, meat, and plantains (among other things), and the arepa, which is a corn cake sandwich with fillings like chicken or beef, beans, avocado, cheese, and the best part, fried plantains. 

We’re huge arepa fans, so we got arepas every time we were here. We tried the chicken, the beef, and the veggie (black beans and cheese), and the beef was our pick for the best version (though the veggie is fantastic too). 

Now, I’m going to give you the best tip you’re going to find in this guide. On the first time at the stand, when I was asked if I wanted sweet potato fries, I made the tragic mistake of saying no.

Fast forward to our next visit, when Alysha ordered them, and I realized just how much of a mistake I’d made. 

These are not your usual sweet potato fries – they’re dipped in (gluten free) batter, fried until they’re crispy, and topped with a generous shaking of smoky paprika. DELICIOUS. 

Wicked Fish

As a precursor to this section, you should know that I’m generally skeptical of places where there’s a lot of regular flour floating around in a small space, like a pizza restaurant, a bakery, or a fish and chips shop. 

Even when they have dedicated fryers for gluten free fish and chips, in a mixed space, the risk feels a little too high for my liking.

However, I love fish and chips, and was ecstatic to find Wicked Fish, a dedicated gluten free fish and chips shop just outside Spitalfields Market. 

The only fish and chips that I can think of that are as good as these are the ones from Portland Fish Market a few miles from our house. 

The batter was extra flavorful and I’m pretty sure it was because they add fennel to the batter (at least that was what my brother and I guessed – I asked them and it turns out we were wrong). 

Crispy batter (and lots of batter!), crunchy fries, and excellent sauces. YUM. 

Important note: They have multiple locations around the city, and the Spitalfields location is the one that is dedicated gluten free where NO GLUTEN enters the facility. 

At other locations, they make hot dogs and sandwiches on bread that is NOT gluten free, but the Spitalfields location is safe (at the time of writing). 

Khanom Krok (Borough Market) 

A stand at Borough Market – which is the most popular of all the food markets in London and is an absolute zoo on Saturdays (the market is closed on Sundays) – Khanom Krok makes for a great lunch stop on a weekday. 

They make authentic Thai street food, and the menu has just a few, well-executed choices.

This was my first meal in London on my latest visit, and the pad thai is tangy and balanced (especially with peanuts, chili flakes, and a squeeze of fresh lime juice, like they recommend) and the mango sticky rice for dessert was also a pleasant surprise. 

While the pad thai – which is among the best I’ve ever had – was the standout for me, I returned a few days later to try their Massaman curry, which was also good (but the pad thai is firmly in the “great” category for me).

Stop by for lunch (on a weekday if you can swing it), get the pad thai, and end with the mango sticky rice for an excellent meal. 

At the time of writing, the staff confirmed (on two different occasions) that everything at the stand is gluten free. 

Thai on the Fly (Broadway Market)

Thai on the Fly basically does one thing, and they do it extremely well; pad thai (although they also make a few curries now). 

This is a stand at Broadway Market on Saturday and Sunday, and I went here three separate times on my latest visit to London. Which is, frankly, ridiculous, but I regret nothing about my decisions. 

The fact that I returned three times should tell you everything you need to know about what I think about the pad thai here. It’s EXCELLENT. 

As my brother and I were sitting recapping the “best of” on our trip, this was my first thought when “best bite of food” came up.

Again, super balanced with nice sweetness, spiciness, and tanginess, and once again make sure to get peanuts and lime wedges. 

They make it fresh to order, and you can watch as they toss everything together in a massive pan heated by fire.

This would make a great first stop on a mini gluten free food tour of Broadway Market, which would feature pad thai here, an Indonesian curry at Makatcha, and a pastry or seven from Floris’ Bakery (all of which you’ll find in this guide). 

Arepazo Bros (Camden Market)

At Camden Market, this is the place to go for arepas.

I walked up on a sunny weekday afternoon, and the stall was blasting Latin American pop music and the chef was dancing behind the counter as he whipped up arepas stuffed to the brim with all sorts of goodies. 

His enthusiasm was contagious, and I was not the only one whose mood was lifted by his attitude and general zeal for life – multiple other people started bopping along to the music, including people behind the counters of nearby stalls. 

They serve one thing, and one thing only: arepas. And they’re all gluten free, with vegan and vegetarian options available. 

I’m partial to basically any combination that includes fried sweet plantains, so I went with the shredded beef arepa.

It was messy, but it was pretty easily in the top two or three of the arepas we ate in London. 

We found ourselves at Camden Market multiple times (we were staying a few blocks away for part of our time in London), and there was a perpetual line of four to five groups here every single time we walked by. It’s a popular spot, and we can totally see why. 

Arepas & Cachapas (Brick Lane Food Market)

Hey, what do you know, another 100% gluten free spot for arepas!

This stand operates out of the food hall at the Sunday Upmarket (which, contrary to the name, takes place on both Saturday and Sunday) on Brick Lane. 

The Upmarket food hall is sensory overload, with smells and sounds coming from the hall lined with stalls serving food from every corner of the globe.

Arepas and Cachapas was the only gluten free option I found as far as food goes, and we actually ended up eating here twice over the course of a couple of weeks. 

Here’s how it works. First you decide what you want to eat – an arepa, a cachapa (like a sweet corn crepe filled with similar filings to the arepas), or a plate (rice, beans, and meat).

Then you choose from the variety of main filling options they have – spicy pork, orange pork, chicken, beef, or vegetarian – and choose a few toppings to add on top. 

Everything is gluten free, and I would highly recommend trying a cachapa if you have never had one before.

You can get arepas elsewhere in London, but this was the only place we found cachapas, which are one of our favorites. 

Tacos Padre (Borough Market)

We used to spend most of our time in California (and we have lived on the west coast our entire lives), which means we have a LOT of amazing tacos (particularly in southern California).

We’ve also been to Mexico City multiple times, where we’ve had the best tacos of our lives. 

One thing I’ve learned traveling over the past few years? There is such a thing as a bad taco, and the further you get from Mexico, in general, the worse they get. 

We’ve had some pretty mediocre tacos around the world, but I would put Tacos Padre somewhere near the top of the list of the best tacos I’ve ever had outside of the western United States and Mexico. 

They have a stand in Borough Market, and it’s very much a lunch destination (they’re only open for limited hours around lunchtime). 

Everything is gluten free, including the fish taco, which is battered and fried.

They have a variety of fillings available, and all three that I happened to have were excellent. In particular, the lamb barbacoa and the cochinita (a pork slow cooked with achiote) were outstanding. Those pickled onions!

Good F’ing Pizza

This was perhaps the single meal in London that I was looking forward to the most prior to my trip, and I will say that it definitely met those expectations. 

The crust is light and fluffy, the toppings are excellent (I think the pepperoni, the actual slices of meat, are the best I’ve ever eaten). 

I met up with another internet friend – this time Matt from Gluten Free Street Gang (follow him on Instagram for gluten free travel guides and London eats) for some gluten free pizza, and it was one of my favorite meals in London (as both he and Sarah said that it would be). 

The important thing to note here is that their pizza crust uses gluten free wheat starch, which is generally considered safe for Celiacs (it’s complicated, but as long as it’s labeled gluten free, I feel good about it, unlike gluten-reduced beer). 

However, IT IS ABSOLUTELY NOT SAFE IF YOU HAVE A WHEAT ALLERGY. 

It’s also worth noting that they don’t have their own restaurant at the moment, and they mostly operate as a pop up out of various spaces around London, so it’s a lot more complicated to find their pizza than other places on this list. 

The best way to find them is to keep an eye on their Instagram, which is where they post about their next pop ups. 

Paladar

Paladar is a nice Latin American restaurant south of the Thames that brings an interesting blend of Latin America’s diverse flavors to London. Their menu is 100% gluten free. 

The best thing we ate – by far, we might add – was the roasted aubergine with fried beans and Maya hummus, which we equated to a spicy, tangy black bean smoothie on a plate. It was fantastic.

The runner up was the blue corn churros, which were perfectly fried so that they were warm and crispy, but the real hero here is the dips.

They have a spicy chocolate and a coffee dulce de leche, and both combinations are a cut above the normal dipping sauces you might find. 

The sunny outdoor patio in the back is a lovely place to have lunch on a warm day, and they have a preset lunch menu where you can choose between two and three courses. 

They have an extensive wine menu too featuring wines from Latin America (mostly from Chile and Argentina). 

Makatcha (Broadway & Camden Markets)

Another great example of the diversity of gluten free food in London, I can honestly say that Indonesian food is not something that I’ve ever had before. 

However, the coconut chicken curry and the beef rendang at Makatcha were among the best things I ate on this latest trip, and I would not hesitate to go out of my way to seek them out on my next trip. 

They have a stand at both Camden Market (every day) and Broadway Market (weekends only), and I went to both. 

Whatever you order is served with rice, pickled vegetables, and hot sauce, and the accompaniments are also excellent. 

Everything they make is both gluten and dairy free. 

Tapioc Wraps

We completely stumbled across Tapioc Wraps, which is a few blocks away from Camden Market. It’s also 100% gluten free, and they serve tapioca crepes, which come from Brazil. 

The crepe part is made of tapioca flour that is sifted and then heated in a pan until it sticks together, forming a round crepe that is then filled with your choice of fillings before being closed up and served. 

We’ve had tapioca wraps in places like New York City and San Francisco, so when I found out about this place, we had to go. It’s a good breakfast and lunch spot if you find yourself up near Camden. 

Don’t miss the pão de queijo – a delicious Brazilian cheese bread that is made with tapioca flour and cheese, and might be one of our favorite foods in the world.

We make them at home all the time (it’s super easy, especially if you use a mix like Chebe). 

Other Dedicated Gluten Free Restaurants (That I Haven’t Made it to) 

Think of this as a section of places that showed up in my research, but I didn’t personally eat at while I was in London for whatever reason. 

Because London is a big city, there are way too many gluten free restaurants to visit in a single trip. Even two trips with a full three weeks between them!

So I’m going to use this section as a place to house other recommendations I’ve gotten (or found myself) for gluten free restaurants in London that I haven’t personally made it to yet, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t!

Plus, that will make it easy for me next time I’m in London, because I’ll have my “must-do” list in one place.

Los Mochis: A fancier restaurant than we were looking for on either of our recent trips, they make Japanese-Mexican cuisine and play with flavors and textures in a way that legitimately looks fun. Good for celebrating a special occasion, especially at their City of London location which features a nice terrace (they also have a location in Notting Hill). 

Juno Omakase: A tiny six seat bar INSIDE of Los Mochis in Notting Hill, this is another one that looks really fun (but comes with a steep price tag). It’s a 15 course dining experience that constantly changes, and the intimate setting means you get to watch as all the courses come together from start to finish.  

Indigo at Hotel Aldwych: A fancy option in Covent Garden (perhaps pre-show in the West End?) that has been on my radar for a while because it’s entirely gluten and dairy free, but it just hasn’t quite worked out yet. They’re open for lunch and dinner and have a pre-theatre menu, all featuring a contemporary take on some British classics. It looks really good, and is probably at the top of my list in terms of places to visit on my next trip to London. 

Dedicated Gluten Free Bakeries in London

When we were chatting after this most recent trip about the gluten free food scene in London, we were talking about weaknesses. 

In my mind, there is one glaring weakness, and that’s a truly elite gluten free bakery that does bread and/or pastries at a world class level. 

This is not meant as an offense to the places we’re about to talk about – most of them are really good – but the other contenders for the best cities for gluten free food all have at least one REALLY good bakery (Portland has many, like New Cascadia and Petunia’s, NYC has Modern Bread and Bagel who make THE BEST gluten free bagels in the world).   

The thing about the gluten free bakery scene in London that you need to know is that our two favorites use a slightly odd mail order setup, where you order in advance and either pick up or get it delivered. 

It can be a little hard to work into your London itinerary if you’re only in town for a few days, and as a result, you might miss out on the two best bakeries we’ve tried. 

With that little preamble out of the way, here is our take on the gluten free bakery scene in London. 

Libby’s

Libby’s is a gluten free bakery that had changed a little bit between my two most recent visits. When I first visited, they were a relatively new kid in town and had one location in Notting Hill. 

An important note here at the top: Similar to the pizza place mentioned above, they use a base flour blend that contains gluten free wheat starch, which is a somewhat complicated topic in the Celiac community. 

The gist is that it should be safe if you have Celiac Disease (they separate the protein – which is what we react to – from the starch and use just the starch), but it is NOT safe if you have a wheat allergy. 

The menu has two parts, a pastry part and a ready-to-eat part (think sandwiches, salads, and bowls). The pastries include croissants, pain au chocolat, cinnamon rolls, and more. 

The pastries here are good, but as I mentioned above, they don’t quite hit “elite” status when it comes to gluten free bakeries around the world (especially considering they’re using wheat starch, which should make it marginally easier).

The texture, in particular, leans a little more dense than I’d like. 

However, given the competition in London, this is probably the best bet if you’re looking for pastries like croissants without mail ordering them (which is complicated as a tourist). 

They have two locations in London now – the original in Notting Hill, and a newer location in Primrose Hill (a short walk from Camden Market). 

A heads up: The selection at both of their locations varies WILDLY by day, and I’m not really sure what the “best” time to visit would be, but be prepared for the selection to be lacking if you show up at an off time (which, again, I don’t know what time that would be). 

Borough 22

If you’ve read any of our other gluten free travel guides before, you probably know that we’re gluten free doughnut fiends.

Of all the pastries in the world, the old fashioned fried doughnut is my, Matt, favorite. 

And this, my friends, is probably the best place to get gluten free doughnuts in London. 

On my previous visit to London, they only had baked doughnuts available, which was kind of a bummer because baked doughnuts are sort of just cupcakes in a different form (which isn’t bad…it’s just not as good as the texture contrast you get in a fried doughnut). 

However, I’m ahppy to report that they now have fried doughnuts (in addition to the baked version)!

However, it’s a little bit more complicated than other places due to the fact that they only really do delivery – they don’t have a traditional store you can visit (which is in the process of changing as they work on a brick-and-mortar location). 

Your best bet is likely to stop by their location at Selfridges on Oxford Street (here on Google Maps), where they have a stand to buy their doughnuts. 

All of their doughnuts are gluten free and vegan, and their flavors rotate all the time with a few staples that remain in the lineup at all times. 

Though it is worth noting that they do use gluten free oats in their base mix (and also have a helpful way to ask for doughnuts made without oats, if, like me, that’s what you want).  

Floris’ Bakery (Broadway Market)

Broadway Market is our favorite of the many food markets in and around London, and on my latest trip, we actually came here three out of four possible days (it’s weekends only).

And on every single one of those trips, we stopped by Floris’ Bakery. 

First of all, Broadway Market in general is amazing. Both in terms of gluten free food, and it’s just a great place to wander around and people watch.

The gem of Broadway Market is the Saturday Market, which brings all sorts of food trucks and stalls to the street near London Fields, including Floris’ Bakery. Which was probably our favorite bakery of the bunch. 

When you walk up to the table, you’ll understand why. Sweet or savory, there are a TON of options waiting for you at the stand. 

There are donuts (some filled with custard or other rotating flavors), scones, a bunch of different savory options, and plenty more. The choices here are pretty staggering. 

We went for a couple of sweet items to eat immediately, and a couple of savory things to eat later. 

First, the sweet. The scone with strawberry jam and fresh whipped cream was nothing short of spectacular, if a little crumbly. In particular, the cream. It was perfect.

The donut filled with custard was a little less impressive, but we realized as we ate it that it was probably because neither of us really like custard all that much. Should have gotten the other flavor!

The savory items were great, and served as a nice breakfast the next morning. We got a savory veggie muffin (it was essentially like a big blueberry muffin, but replace the blueberries with spinach and broccoli – super unique!) and a spinach ricotta pastry concoction. 

Make sure to stop by Broadway Market on Saturday if you’re in the mood for a smorgasbord of gluten free baked goods!

Manna Dew

Manna Dew is another weird one, because they’re basically only open for a few hours a week at their retail location (which isn’t particularly convenient if you’re a tourist), and the vast majority of their business is mail order, delivered to an address in London. 

I ordered a selection of five pastries to enjoy for the first half of my trip, and had them delivered to the front desk of my aparthotel (I gave them a heads up to expect them). 

However, I will say that they were by far the best gluten free pastries I had in London, and it wasn’t particularly close. 

They’re pricey (which makes sense to me – it’s expensive to make good gluten free pastries!), and the biggest factor for whether or not you should order them (as a tourist) is whether or not you have access to an oven.

Because they make a huge deal about the fact that they are best when reheated in an oven for ~10 minutes. 

And I see why. After eating them straight out of the oven and after they had cooled a bit, there’s a HUGE difference. 

So, if you don’t have access to an oven, I would strongly recommend passing on them (or going to their bakery during their short opening hours). Especially given the price. 

However, if you happen to have an oven – either because you live in London or because you’re staying somewhere that has an oven – they’re worth a splurge. 

Keep in mind that it’s an extra few pounds for delivery, and you need to order them a couple of days prior to the day you want them delivered. 

Free From Bakehouse (Borough Market)

Free From Bakehouse is a wholesale bakery, which just means they don’t have a traditional storefront, but you can find them at Borough Market from Wednesday to Saturday. 

They are a dedicated gluten free bakery, and also have options that are vegan, soy free, and dairy free (though not all of their items are). 

We stopped by on a sunny weekday afternoon – our first day in London, in fact – and were overwhelmed by all the choices! Cakes, tarts, cupcakes, you name it!

We had a hard time deciding between the sour cherry chocolate torte and the pistachio rosewater cake, and eventually landed on the sour cherry cake because of how unique it was. It was so decadent! Plus, the sour cherry flavor really came through nicely.

We meant to stop by a second time, but time got away from us and we ended up missing out. 

They also carry a selection of breads from the Gluten Free Bakery, which you can buy at the stand (they are excellent). 

Polka Dot Bakery (Spitalfields Market)

Another gluten free bakery inside a market, this time the Old Spitalfields Market on Saturdays and Sundays.

Everything they – and by they, I mean Celia, the owner / baker who was manning the booth when we were there – make is both gluten free and vegan, and they specialize in brownies and cookies. 

There are a variety of brownies and cookies to choose from, and naturally I asked for recommendations and was immediately pointed towards the walnut brownie.

They also have “whoopie pies” – two cookies smushed together with cream in between – and the maple pecan flavor called to us. 

Both were great, but we particularly enjoyed the whoopie cookie, and wish we had picked up one of the giant chocolate chip cookies for a sweet treat later in the trip.

More Restaurants with Safe Gluten Free Options in London

This section is the restaurants that ARE NOT dedicated gluten free, but have processes in place to minimize cross-contact with gluten in the kitchen and should be able to serve you a safe meal.

I say “should” because, as always, eating out comes with an inherent risk. You need to clearly communicate your needs to staff everywhere, but it’s especially important here. Make sure to: 

• Always let the server know that you have Celiac Disease and need to eat gluten free.
• Ask them (very nicely) to help you figure out what is safe for you.
• Confirm with the server when the food arrives that your meal is in fact gluten free. 

Honest Burgers

Honest Burgers is an incredible option for Celiacs in London for two reasons. 

First, they have SO MANY locations. Basically, wherever you are in Central London, there’s probably going to be a location within walking distance. 

Second, the only thing that contains gluten are the buns. AND they have gluten free buns available at no extra cost, which is a welcome reprieve from paying an up charge for a gluten free bun, which I like to refer to as a “Celiac tax.”

You know what that means? Everything in the fryer is gluten free, which means their onion rings, which have a very unique flavor thanks to the fennel seeds (I think that’s what it is) in the batter, and their amazing rosemary fries are fair game! 

They have a nice variety of beef burgers, along with a couple of vegetarian options – one veggie burger and one vegan fried sweetcorn fritter – and a chicken burger if you’re not into beef. 

Seriously though, the rosemary fries are delicious, as are the onion rings. 

Pho

We loved Pho! They’re Coeliac UK accredited, and the only thing on the menu that contains gluten is the spring rolls. 

They have locations all over London, along with convenient locations in places like Cambridge if you’re thinking about a day trip, which makes it an excellent, reliable gluten free restaurant. 

At the bottom of their extensive menu, they have a disclaimer that calls out the items that ARE NOT gluten free (they are not clearly marked on the menu, which feels like something they should consider). 

Those items that are off-limits are: “Chả Giò (spring rolls), Nem Hải Sản, Hoisin sauce, and the beers.”

Again, make sure to tell your server about your needs, and you’ll want to make sure whatever dish you order doesn’t come with a side of spring rolls. 

We loved the Vietnamese spicy curry and, of course, the phở. Particularly the spicy phở, which my brother and I devoured on the day we arrived, almost without saying a word (we were that hungry and it was that delicious). 

Ceru

Ceru was among our favorite meals we ate in London on the first of our recent trips, and my brother and I actually returned twice on our latest trip because it was that good. 

They do tapas (which means you’re going to be ordering a bunch of small plates to share with the table) but in a style that features flavors that come from a region called Levant, which includes places like Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, and Israel.

Side note: This was a new word to me, and I’d recommend a read through the Wikipedia page for a brief history lesson!

Ceru is accredited by Coeliac UK, and you’ll notice that almost every single dish on the menu has a little “GF” next to it EXCEPT for the pita bread. 

They also have a dessert that uses filo pastry, which is also not gluten free but is prepared separately from other stuff on the menu. 

Make sure to let the server know you need to eat gluten free, and they’ll help you figure out what you can eat (although, the answer is “almost everything”). 

One important thing that I learned on my last visit: the shish taouk – usually our favorite dish on any menu featuring Lebanese influence – is cooked on the same surface as the pita, which makes it a candidate for cross-contact. BUMMER. 

Everything that goes into the fryer is gluten free, and you can order crudite (which is a really fancy way to say “sliced vegetables”) instead of pita bread to try their excellent dips (the hamara, which is made with red peppers and pomegranate molasses, was our favorite of the three). 

Out of all the dishes we tried on our first pass, the best thing we ate here was the side of parsnips. Which was funny to us.

However, that’s not to say the other stuff wasn’t good. By the time we were done, the plates in front of us had practically been licked clean. 

On my most recent visit with my brother, we fell in love with the slow-roasted lamb, which was PHENOMENAL. Top three bite of food on that trip to London for me!

They have a location in South Kensington near the Natural History Museum, which is a perfect pre or post museum meal. 

Leon

This was a fun little discovery because they have a TON of locations all over the city, and most of the menu is available gluten free. They’re essentially fast food, but a little bit healthier.

It’s also worth noting that many things here – like the chicken nuggets (more on those in a second) are baked, not fried, so you don’t have to worry as much about cross-contact in the fryers (though when I asked, the fryers were also gluten free).

I visited multiple locations of Leon around London for a quick snack, and got consistent information from the staff about dedicated fryers, baked chicken nuggets, and potential for cross-contact. 

Basically, you’ll want to avoid the sandwiches and burgers (which are not available gluten free), and stick to the chicken nuggets, fries, and rice boxes. 

The bread is basically the only thing that contains gluten on the menu (though they do have quite a few variations – wraps, sandwiches, flatbread, so cross-contact risk isn’t zero).

The gluten free chicken nuggets – specifically the hot honey variation – are the best things we ate from here (although the kimchi fries were also great). 

Importantly, they have an allergen menu on their website that you can double check yourself before you go (click on “foodie fact sheet” – it also has all of the ingredients for every dish on their menu). 

The menu is also clearly labeled, and you can order on one of the digital screens so you can take plenty of time to double check allergens. 

This is a good option for a quick grab-and-go breakfast, lunch, or snack, and I went here multiple times.

El Pollote (Camden Market)

El Pollote is another food stall that you can find at a couple of markets around London.

They serve “Latino fried chicken” (their words, not mine). The reason to go here is their guava glazed fried chicken, which are fried in a dedicated gluten free fryer, and are spicy, sweet, and delicious.

The menu is clearly marked with gluten free options (though I’d skip the arepa, which is cooked on the same surface as burger buns). 

They do serve items with gluten – like burger buns and mac & cheese – so I would strongly recommend getting just the wings if you have Celiac Disease to avoid any unintended cross-contact. 

I watched closely as they took my order and started making it alongside other orders with gluten items. The cook changed into fresh gloves and the wings went into the fryer, and while they were cooking he made up a couple of burger buns and plated them.

Next, he dumped my wings into a clean bowl, seasoned them (all without touching them with his hands), and used tongs to put them onto the plate before handing it to me. 

Despite all of the risks of having a mixed kitchen, I was actually pretty impressed with the way it was handled. Make sure to let them know you have Celiac Disease so they can take care of you.

Horn OK Please (Borough Market) 

If I recall correctly, Horn OK Please used to be completely gluten free, but they somewhat recently added a few gluten-containing items to the menu (like samosas).

Still, I asked them about their processes to keep things separated and watched them prepare multiple meals (we went here multiple times), and was happy with how they segregated the gluten-y items. 

They’re bringing flavors of southern Indian street food to London, and they’ve been doing it since 2011.

Everything is vegetarian, and the menu is clearly marked with what is gluten free (everything except the omelet and samosas). Make sure to tell them you have Celiac Disease and need to eat gluten free as you’re ordering!

The highlight here is the dosas, which come in two varieties – both are gluten free and cooked on a separate surface from the rest of the items on the menu that aren’t gluten free.

You should definitely add the shaved paneer, and get a cup of their excellent, cardamom-forward chai on the side.

We also tried the channa chaat as a side, and it was fantastic. They have a lunch deal where you can get a side, a main, and a non-alcoholic drink for a pretty reasonable price.

Calm Indian Cow (Broadway Market)

This is another spot that we just happened to stumble upon as we wandered around Broadway Market on a cold weekend morning.

On Saturday mornings, Broadway Market is our favorite market in the city. It’s part farmers market, with farm-fresh produce, meats, and cheeses, and part street food market, with tons of different food stalls setting up to sell their food to passersby. 

Calm Indian Cow caught my attention because we love dosa, but it isn’t always safe for Celiacs due to cross-contact during preparation, or, in some cases, adding wheat flour to the batter (which is blasphemy, as I understand it). 

This place only has a few things on the menu that contain gluten (the samosas), and we walked by it once before stopping by and actually ordering on our second pass. 

We split a dosa and a “chai shot” – which is a small serving of chai, similar to the way you would drink it in India (I know, it’s hugely surprising that they don’t drink 16oz Venti chai in India).

The dosa was excellent. When he asked if we wanted it spicy, we emphatically said yes, and it certainly delivered on the promise.

Perhaps the best part of the interaction was talking to the owner about South Indian food and its prevalence in the UK and back home in the US. 

Grocery Stores with Gluten Free Options

I’m a nerd about grocery stores, mostly because I used to work in the food industry in the United States, and I am more than happy to spend an hour wandering around a grocery store or two to see what their gluten free section looks like. 

We noticed that, similar to other big cities, many of the grocery stores in Central London are closer to what we think of as a convenience store than a true grocery store.

They’re smaller and have a more limited selection, which often means that the gluten free selection is a little worse than the same chains outside the city center. 

Since perusing grocery stores on the hunt for gluten free goodies is basically my second favorite pastime (eating doughnuts being the first), we spent some time wandering around a few of the main grocery store chains around London. 

On this latest trip, over the course of 10 days we stopped in at M&S multiple times for quick grab-and-go lunches (like for our day trip to Oxford), and I tried a fairly wide variety of their gluten free products, which live under the “Made Without Wheat” brand. 

M&S was BY FAR my favorite of the major grocery stores (Tesco and Sainsburys being the other two). They have sandwiches, wraps, and a wide variety of frozen gluten free meals and pre-packaged sweet stuff. 

You’ll want to look at the “Made Without Wheat” brand, which you’ll find mixed in with the grab-and-go sandwiches, the refrigerated section (where you’ll find the pies and sausage rolls, among other things), and then in a separate gluten free section (which is where you’ll find the breads and sweets). 

I tried both of their pies (the chicken, ham, and leek was the best), sausage rolls, sourdough bread (the best bread I came across, though not exactly amazing), and multiple sandwiches (New York cheese and the chicken fajita wrap were my picks). 

Tesco is another chain that has mostly their own brand of products, and their stores in the center of London are all “Express” stores, which means the selection of gluten free products is nearly nonexistent.

At least at the few we stopped at. They have bigger stores around the UK with nice selections of gluten free products, but you’re going to be hard-pressed to find them at the tiny stores in London.

Sainsbury’s is the last big chain, and while the selection at their smaller “Sainsbury’s Local” stores isn’t great, they have a few full size supermarkets in the city with a really great selection of free from products.

They have an online catalog that you can see here with all of their gluten free items.

You can find the larger version of their stores in Cambridge Heath (just east of Shoreditch), Islington (north London), and Chelsea (west London), among others.  

Gluten Free London Eats, Mapped

As promised, here is a handy map of all the restaurants and bakeries (including a few locations of the bigger M&S grocery stores) mentioned in this guide to help you visualize the layout of the city and plan your time.

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