Anna Eastick

Review of Erpingham House Bar and Brasse...

This weekend was my first visit to Erpingham House...

This weekend was my first visit to Erpingham House, and sadly there was a shocking mix up with my gluten-free order. Having visited with a friend, I ordered a gluten-free version of the all-day brunch. To be fair to the waitress who served us, she was very lovely and diligent at repeating back the order and confirming gluten-free. As soon as the food was brought over (by a different waitress) I noticed the bread looked suspiciously gluten-filled! So I asked the waitress to confirm it was in-fact gluten-free. She confirmed that is was (without asking the kitchen) so I happily began to eat away. I was four bites into the bread, before the original waitress came back to reveal there had been a mix up in the kitchen and I was in-fact eating bread with gluten in it.

I have been gluten-free for 5 years now, and in all my years of being gluten free, this has never happened to me. I was shocked, especially as I considered Erpingham House to be the kind of place that would take dietary requirements seriously. I am only gluten-intolerant, so I could not help but think how much worse this would have been had I been allergic or coeliac. I hate to leave bad reviews, as the food was quite tasty, once I received the correct bread! Plus the waitress who originally took our order seemed very careful and apologetic. It's just a shame the other staff were not. The restaurant wasn't even that busy too, so it's surprising something like this was overlooked.

We were also only offered a free hot drink for the mistake. While I appreciate the gesture, I would expect a mix-up that big to have warranted taking my meal off the bill at the very least.

While it pains me to leave negative feedback, I thought that this is the kind of thing that if I was gluten-free, I would want to know before visiting. I would certainly advise caution to all with dietary requirements who wish to eat there in future.