Hyde Park

Hyde Park

I can't tell you how awesome lobster mashed potatoes are, you'll have to try them your self at Hyde Park.  Although the steaks are way too overpriced, they were cooked perfect and very delicious.  But this place no only has great steaks, it has unique sides.  Unfortunately, the prices were $$$$ to match the main course.

I thought $18 was too much for a side, but I really wanted to try the lobster mashed potatoes.  I'm so glad I did.  They were wonderful!  I could eat them as a meal.  They were creamy, and salty, and buttery, and had a few whole lobster claws sitting on top.  These were amazing.

For my main course, I ordered the filet with lobster, Bearnaise sauce, asparagus, and mushrooms.  It was cooked to perfection and topped with a multitude of flavors that made my taste buds happy. It was filling, too.

They had a lot of cuts of meat to choose from, but I love the filet.  They also had cute Pittsburgh names for the preparations of some of the steaks.  These were a bit more pricey than a plain ones, but if you're celebrating something special, then why not splurge?

The onion straws, as you may know by now, are not gluten free.

247 North Shore Dr
Pittsburgh, PA 15212

Paris 66

Paris 66

6018 Penn Circle South
Pittsburgh, PA 15206
 

Paris 66 is a family owned French restaurant in East Liberty.  It’s dinning room is decorated with French posters and pictures.  The space is cute.

The menu has plenty of gluten free items.  Just ask.  Most of the items can be modified to be gluten free, just ask the knowledgeable waiter.  He told me only things with puff pastries, pastas, and the frog legs were not gluten free.  I was slightly disappointed about the frog legs, but there were plenty of other things to eat.

First they bring out some sort of Brussels sprout cream to clear your pallet.  It was different.  Then they bring out buckwheat crepes with butter.  They were alright, if you like buckwheat or are really hungry.

I ordered the cauliflower soup.  It was pretty good.  I felt it needed a bit of salt added, which when I added it really brought the cauliflower flavor out.  It was creamy and white.  It was just a puree without any chunks of cauliflower in it, which I would have preferred, but didn’t mind.

Then I ordered the raspberry duck with the potato gratin.

The potato gratin was a square layered with potatoes and cheese.  It was moderately warm and probably premade and reheated when I ordered it.  It was ok, but not spectacular. They substituted the tomatoes for me for mixed vegetables.  That was nice.  They had a seasoning on them that I'm not entirely sure I liked, but they were crisp and fresh, and that's what matters.

What was spectacular, was the duck.  It was tender, juicy, and crispy on the outside just like it should be.  The sauce wasn’t overly sweet. It was delicious. There are a few more things I’d like to try on this menu, so I guess I’ll just have to come back.

Eddie Merlots

Eddie Merlot's

444 Liberty Ave
Pittsburgh, PA 15222


Eddie Merlot's has a very nice atmosphere.  The service was very attentive from the door to the end of your meal.  The waiter was very knowledgeable about the gluten content of the items on the menu. 

The steaks are why you come here.  Sure, there's seafood and poultry on the menu, but why would you even spend time looking at those things when this place is known for the steaks?  What kind of steak do you want?  Some of the meats are aged.  They have bison or cow in all the best cuts. 

Everything is al a carte.  You can add sauces or toppings to the steak. The waiter said almost all of the steaks come gluten free as they are listed on the menu and we would check on the sauces when we come to that bridge.  I didn't need a sauce to cover the taste of my steak.  I wanted to taste the steak.  I ordered the 7 oz bison filet medium rare. 

It was the beefiest filet I had ever tasted.  It was cooked perfect.  It was the only thing on the plate, except three green leaves of... something.  Maybe it was spinach. I don't know what the garnish was.  The bison looked lonely on the plate. 

The sides came in big bowls.  They were big enough to share.  I was excited about the Brussels sprouts with bacon, but was quickly disappointed by them.  The bacon was undercooked & tasteless. The Brussels sprouts were al dante, nicely cooked but bland.  I didn't try the potatoes because they scared me.  Something about they said not gluten free.  I heard I wasn't missing anything.

I was also disappointed to learn that the sides were already prepared before I ordered them, so there was no modifications that could be made to them.  The pre preparation was apparent in the quality.  I almost expected this from a chain restaurant because they are trying to keep all of the sides uniform throughout their locations.  I had higher hopes for this place.  But like I said before, you don't come here for the sides, you come here for the steaks.

The steaks, no matter which one you order, will not disappoint you!

The onion straws are not gluten free. You can just order the steaks that come with them without onion straws.  This is the beef rib eye.

The steaks are amazing and worth it!

Legume

Legume

Legume is a nice little fine dining restaurant on North Craig street in Oakland, PA.  Its menu changes quite frequently, which I find endearing.  The menu is small, but covers a lot of options.  The space is nice and the atmosphere is quaint.  The service was attentive and the waiter was helpful.

I ordered the duck leg confit.  It came with rice, but I substituted it with crispy golden potatoes.  There were collard greens on the plate and it was garnished with a cherry sauce.  It was salty, crispy, sweet and delicious.  The rich flavors complimented each other perfectly. 

The menu was a la carte, so if you want a side or salad, you have to order them separately.  I actuality don't mind this style of restaurant because I decide how hungry I am, not the chef.  I thought this meal was the perfect size without ordering any extras.  I didn't even have any room for dessert.

I really loved this place.  I can't wait to come back to try something else.

This was the lamb shank.  Because of the gravy like sauce on this dish, I don't think it was gluten free, but they said they could make several things on the menu gluten free, just ask.  My non-gluten free friend said this was delicious. 

http://www.legumebistro.com/
214 N Craig St, Pittsburgh, PA 15213

Gandy Dancer at the Grand Concourse

Gandy Dancer at the Grand Concourse

I sat at one of the bars in the Gandy Dancer.  They gave me both a happy hour menu and a menu for the Grand Concourse.  I liked the options on the the grand concourse menu, but was considering some of the happy hour specials.  When I asked about the pecan crusted shrimp, the server checked with the kitchen to see if they could do it gluten free.  Upon return, it was a no and I was given the gluten free menu.

The gluten free menu was plain.  Most of the preparations I was looking forward to were eliminated from the menu.  It was plain grilled fish, shrimp, chicken and steak.  I was a little disappointed.

I ordered the grilled shrimp on rice with steamed broccoli.  The broccoli was just steamed, no seasoning and came as one whole piece. It was good for being so plain.  It was crisp, not mushy.

The rice was cooked well.  The shrimp were a bit small for a feature, but tasted good.  They weren't over done or fishy.  The beurre blanc sauce was mild, but pulled the dish out of totally bland and pulled it together.

The peel and eat shrimp were twelve tiny shrimp with a side of lemon and cocktail sauce.  I think they should either give you more shrimp or buy bigger ones.

A few weeks ago, I went to a bridal shower at the Grand Concourse.  They had a set menu for the guests, but when I told them I had to be gluten free, they did take care of me.  Instead of Chicken Romano or crab cakes, I got grilled salmon.  It was cooked to a very nice medium with a nice crisp on the outside.  The salad dressing was double checked by the kitchen for ingredients with gluten.  And when they brought cake for dessert for the guests, they offered me mango sorbet.  The sorbet was the best part of the meal! It was an amazing finishing touch.


100 W Station Square Dr, Pittsburgh, PA 15219
http://www.muer.com/grand-concourse/

Roman Bistro 33

Roman Bistro 33

Roman bistro has a gluten free menu; just inquire. They have a few appetizers, salads, and entrees that are gluten free. I wasn't expecting to see crab cakes on the gluten free menu and that peaked my interest.  It's not every day you can order gluten free crab cakes at a restaurant.

The menu said to pre order the crab cakes, so I asked the waitress how far in advance I needed to order them.  Did I have to order them before I arrived? Could I order them now? She checked with the kitchen and told me I cold order them now and they would be ready with the rest of the table's entrees.  Great! I knew what I wanted.

The lemon risotto was amazing.  It was just the right consistency, have the perfect amount of tangy lemon, and the cheese complimented the rice so well.  The broccoli was steamed and still crisp. The crab cakes, however, were hard and had the texture of a kaiser roll.  It's not what I prefer in a crab cake.  It was more like a crabby cheddar puff.  Sure there was real crab in the middle and it was gluten free, which I appreciate, but it had too much filler. I think I'll pick something else the next time I come here.

I would actually recommend this place for a gluten free diner.  They are careful & the food is fresh.  They even have a gluten free menu.  I'm sure they can modify something that is not on the gluten free menu as well.

In case you wanted to see the Salmon, here it is. It's not gluten free, though.  But they can make a salmon variation that is gluten free.

2104 Ardmore Blvd, Pittsburgh, PA 15221
http://www.romanbistro.com/

Cork 1794

Cork 1794

This place looked like it had potential.  When I stopped in, one of the servers told me that there were a few items on the menu that could be made gluten free.  She pointed them out and I agreed they looked promising.  At least this place know what gluten free means.

The sign out front says they take reservations.  I made reservations.  When I showed up for the reservation, they didn't save any tables for the reservation and told me it would be about another 45 minutes.  That's irritating that they don't know how to handle reservations.  I guess maybe because it was during the wine festival, but don't take my reservation if you can't plan accordingly for them.

One of the the allure to this place is that it was an old bank and you can eat in the vault.  No one in my party wanted to eat in there.  There was only one table inside the vault.  I don't know, I thought the vault was pretty cool. 

The service was slow.  The waitress forgot our drinks. She was very ditzy, but they were very busy.  I ordered the chicken breast stuffed with spinach and ricotta cheese with a fresh mozzarella cream sauce.  Nothing about it was fresh.

The entree was obviously prepared, cooked, frozen, then reheated.  This is not what I expect from a restaurant.  If I wanted to eat a pre-made reheated meal, I'd reheat it myself.  The chicken texture was weird and not pleasant.  The cream sauce made my stomach upset, and the spinach was over cooked, wilted, and mushy.  It's hard to claim something is gluten free when you didn't make it fresh at the time it was ordered.  So although I don't think the chicken was floured or the cream sauce thickened with flour, I do think there was cross contamination in this meal that had me sick for days.

I would not recommend this place for a gluten free diner.  Although, there wasn't much in the area that could accommodate a gluten free diner.  Go here at your own risk.

Unfortunately, their frozen prepared food extended to the the ravioli.  Their pasta was a lumpy ball stuck together and hard, and the flank steak was over cooked, but probably the best thing I saw here.  So I don't even recommend the food here for a non gluten free diner either.  It's just frozen reheated pre made meals.




17 W Main St, North East, PA 16428
http://grapecountrymarketplace.org/cork-1794