On a date night, we popped in for some small plates to share with a glass of fizz. I've never been a fan of the hipster-themed dining experience but that's just personal preference. The place was very quiet for a Friday afternoon/evening and for some reason we were seated as far away from the door as was possible, right next to the window (lovely for people-watching on the Hayes) but also right next to the blinds' drawstring, and at some point a server came to pull the blinds down - we protested - and had to lean over my partner to reach. Anyway, apart from that the table was nice, service was quick.
My partner has food intolerances and is a careful eater. We asked the server about their food and he wasn't certain, and had to go to the kitchen several times to check. Even when we thought he had it straight he kept coming back to check and recheck he understood our requirements, which is surely diligent but was bordering on fussy, and it became quite awkward for us, to the point we just said not to worry. We then had a manager come across to check again, and eventually managed to find three dishes from the gluten free menu which had neither soya or dairy in them. The food was decent, but the experience was uncomfortable. I can't fault the servers for triple-checking they had the info correct. I do wish it had taken maybe two or three trips to the kitchen fewer to establish the facts! Still, nice quiet meal, lovely view (when the blinds were up), a nice place to be for a couple of hours.
I had lunch today at the Waterloo Tea, I am Gluten and Wheat free, and the staff really looked after me, explaining the menu and options and assuring me gluton free was no problem, the poached eggs I had on toast were loverly, and I even tried there organic cola which was nice as well. Looking forward to taking my wife there for something to eat,please thank the staff who were on today for there helpful and caring ways.
This place used to be a literal heaven for gluten free people. I went last week and the menu has changed. The only "gluten sensitive" options are on the Vegan menu, and it's all very confusing!
Our choices are limited to the Sundaes and the Waffle. No sauces for the waffle are marked as GF (or GS) so I had a very sad crumbly waffle with just ice cream on top!
Definitely not going again!
It wasn’t super busy when we came in. The coffee was great and they also had gluten free and vegan option. I almost tripped on the way in because I didn’t see the step. And toilet was a little confusing to me. I’ve never seen a handle that’s a lock at the same time. So it took me about a minute to figure out that it’s not broken but used to lock the door 😂 funky toilet paper that you can also buy in store.
Celiac friendly
