If you've already read the post on "Walking with Wheelchairs - Grasmere Lake from Rydal car park" you will know that our half way point stop off in Grasmere village once again involved FOOD... this time at a place called "Greens".
However, first stop was to the Gingerbread shop.... which is obviously "off limits" for those with food intolerance's, due to the shed load of butter and flour! I can say from past experience though that it is VERY yummy and a definite must for those who don't have the misfortune of cutting gliadin and caesine from their diet!
You can't miss the shop...its super tiny and a squeeze to get in if there is a big queue. The shop assistants dress in old fashioned costumes like Sarah Nielson (the inventor of the top secret recipe) would have dressed in to add some more interest to the experience.
The tiny shop sits next to the church yard in which William Wordsworth is buried. We made a quick obligatory stop off there so the "newbie- first time" visitors to the lakes could take a look at the English romantic poets burial site. (There is also Dove cottage a small walk away, where he used to live)
We initially had planned to eat somewhere else, but as we walked by the lovely alfresco eating area in front of the building.....Greens cafe and Bistro looked a better place to stop. We decided to go inside and investigate if there was anything interesting on the menu that we could have and were very pleasantly surprised to find that there was a good selection to choose from. The chef was very helpful and recommended some changes and additions to the set meals and adapted a few dishes to our needs. She even came out a number of times to make sure all the orders were fine and that we had everything that we needed.... even though it was a very busy time of day with quite a lot of other customers needing attention. After the previous days disappointment at Chesters, we were more than happy with the helpfulness and service that we were shown at Greens.
We sat outside seeing as the sun had decided to make an appearance and Heni enjoyed a cuddle with daddy and a stretch out of her chair.
She even had a lovely lunch time nap lying down over a few chairs (under the blanket) while we all ate our food.
One of the non "intolerance" dishes below!
....and another one!
Here are some of the dishes that were gluten/dairy free etc
A lovely chicken salad...
I asked for a yummy butternut squash soup and they put some protein on the side for me instead of the Gluten free bread (which had egg in).
As always the "hungry boy" probably made the best choice... of sausage and mash and veg... a good hearty meal all made with no butter or milk in the mash and no gluten containing flour in the sausage or gravy.
They even had some brownie that we could have for afters....but unfortunately the ice cream was made from soya.... so as would be expected the hungry boy happily claimed mine as well as his own! Perhaps this is the one thing that I would suggest they find an alternative for!
We had a very pleasant meal sitting outside and were grateful to have eaten something tasty and "legal" that met our needs.
Greens certainly understand that ‘eating out’ can be restrictive for those with specific needs and offered us multiple options... AND we found that if you can't find what you want on the menu they are willing an happy to change things around for you.
They bake their our own cakes on-site and can advise you on the specific ingredients they contain. We also found out that they are amongst the selection of Cafés and Restaurants recommended by the ‘National Coeliac Society’
We think we made a great choice in changing our lunchtime venue to Greens of Grasmere and have added them on to our "food for future trip" list.
If you ever get the chance to visit "the loveliest spot that man hath ever found" (as Wordsworth described Grasmere).... you might want to pay them a visit.
Jx
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