As a very small town in the midst of Wales I was dubious as to the gluten free options that I was going to have whilst staying there. Known for its near 28 book shops and related book festivals, the food in Hay on wye is not famous or very much talked about.
Despite this predetermined hesitation, I went in with an open mind and was pleasantly surprised to see so many more gluten free options that what I expected to fuel all the book shopping!
Lots of research went into choosing the dinner menu for the first night of our stay as whilst we had my gluten intolerance and pescatarian preferences to consider we were determined to find somewhere that my whole family would enjoy (Including pleasing some big meat and gluten lovers). We finally chose a place and went to try it...
The old black lion
This pub was super close to the town house we stayed in with lots of different gf options in both the starters, mains and desserts. The menu is also clearly sign posted with gf, df, vegan and vegetarian signs to. The staff was really understanding and acommdating being happy to change dishes to suit my dietary preferences. They had loads of delicious sounding gf options including having the option of a selection of breads, grilled chicken ceaser salad, soup of the day and smoked duck breast to start. The mains include chargrilled ribeye steak, roast lamb rump, and roast pork loin. To end the meal some possible desserts include Dark chocolate mousse, cheese and biscuits and a selection of ice creams and sorbets.
On the night that we went I decided to go for the seared sea bass fillet which was served with new potato and pancetta salad and a pepper salsa. As I am pescatarian I asked for the pancetta to be taken out which they did super easily without issue. I also ordered the roasted carrots and broccoli to go along with fish.The fish had a wonderfully crisp skin with some soft flavourful flesh, served with a salsa full of soft cooked peppers full of flavour topped with new potatoes. I was initially dubious about the potato as I usually don't like new potatoes nut these ones where soft and fluffy with a slightly crisp skin. The dish was drizzled with a olive oil and balsamic glaze which was the perfect dip to the dish.
The side of carrots and broccoli where really good too. The broccoli was quite a plain tender stem broccoli however the carrots where roasted perfectly with a slight char of the outside with a soft tender middle and were full of a well seasoned flavour. Overall the food was really lovely here perfect space for dinner. We did need to make a reservation as they were busy so if your eager to try them definitely call up before hand!
We weren't sure where to go for are second night dinner as we had loads of possible options open to use places like the swan and the three tuns or returning to the old black lion but in the end we decided to go to...
Tomatitos tapas bar
This tapas bar was super busy so whilst we did have to wait for a table it was defiantly worth it. The menu was clearly sign posted with gf, vegan and vegetarian signs and changes regularly. I tried loads of the different dishes:
1. Mushrooms in sherry
These mushrooms where one of my favourite things that I tried, soft and full of flavour with a wonderful garlic hint to them as the sauce was full garlic pieces.
2. Aubergine fries drizzled in honey
These where AMAZING! You definitely need to try these if your in this bar in hay on wye, they where gloriously crisp on the outside and soft in the middle with an amazing sweet and salty flavour from the crisp salty batter soaked in a lovely sweet honey.
3. Patas Bravas
These potatoes are little pockets of crispy heaven, they're light and crispy full of fluffy potato in the middle with a crispy exterior, they definitely gave me a great impression of paths braves trying it here for the first time.
4. Calamari
This bar was also my first time trying calamari. The harder texture of the squid took a while to get used to but it went amazingly with the crispy coating on the outside which made it really surprising to be gluten free.
5. Méditerranéen vegetables
This was a dish of roasted vegetables such as onion, pepper and tomatoes topped with a feta cheese crumble. This one had a strong vegetable flavour with soft vegetables in a well seasoned sauce.
6. Mixed dressed leaves
These leaves where a welcome accompaniment to the other cooked dishes that had more of a sauce or flavour the leaves added bursts of freshness into the dish.
This tapas bar is definitely a spot to try, they had loads of other gf options like beef stuffed peppers, fried fish and salsa verde and green beans with squash, hazelnut and parmesan.
Wedding
Whilst I was in Wales I also attended a wedding where I had this tofu burger full of hummus, spinach and tomato. With a bun that tasted not like cardboard and that didn't fall apart I suprinsigly enjoyed it. The tofu was grilled and thick with a lovely fresh accent from the spinach and tomato with a creaminess from the hummus. While this was a simple one it was defiantly enjoyed and has inspired me to start experimenting with these ingredients and different burger fillings.
Thank you so much for reading and if you have visited hay on wye and have any other recommendations please let me know over on my Instagram @rubysgfkitchen!
Thank you for reading,
Ruby X
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