When you’re on a dairy-free and gluten-free diet, treats can be few and far between, especially when you’re out and about. Watching friends and family treat themselves to an ice cream while we’re out can make me jealous, but what can I do about it?
When planning a recent “Mother & Daughter” trip to London, I searched for gluten-free and dairy-free places. After all, if you can’t find “free-from” treats in London, where can you find them? In my searching, I discovered Yorica! and I just knew I had to visit.
Yorica! is a shop selling “Fro-Yo” (frozen yoghurt), ice cream and milkshakes… But hang on, aren’t they all out of bounds for someone on a dairy-free diet? Normally, yes, but everything on Yorica!’s menu is free from wheat, gluten, dairy, eggs and nuts, and are all entirely vegan. The ingredients are also carefully chosen from sustainable sources and are certified and traced.
You have to wonder how the frozen yoghurt, ice cream and milkshakes can taste so good considering they are missing what would normally be considered the main ingredients to make them. All I can say is maybe it’s magic, but Yorica!’s goodies taste amazing!
On a cold and rainy Monday in March, it was surprising just how many people had decided to drop into Yorica! and treat themselves. I kept checking and re-reading the notice which stated that everything on the premises is dairy, egg, nut and gluten free. Living in Mid Wales means it’s so rare to find a place like this, so I just had to make sure I hadn’t misread and I wasn’t dreaming.
I went all out and chose a hot waffle with strawberry ice cream, raspberry coulis and marshmallows. It was so delicious! I savoured every mouthful. I was in “free-from” heaven! Mum (who has no known food allergies or intolerances) decided to have a small tub of the salted caramel ice cream, and again, that was so delicious too (I had to try a bit!). She said she’d have never known it was “free-from” ice cream. Another great thing is if you’re not sure which flavour to go for, the staff at Yorica! will let you sample different flavours.
My waffle and ice cream came to £7.95, so wasn’t cheap, but then “free-from” food rarely is and neither is London. However, I thought it was worth every penny (so much so I went back the next day for more!). Also, prices for ice cream start at £1.50 for an ice cream cone, which is actually very reasonable.
I wholeheartedly recommend a visit to Yorica! whether or not you have any food allergies or intolerances. There are plenty of flavours to choose from, as well as a variety of toppings. I promise you won’t be disappointed. They currently only have the one shop in London, but I’m hoping they decide to open more shops (hopefully around the country). After all, it’s a long way to go to London just for waffle and ice cream!
Find Yorica! at 130 Wardour Street, London, W1F 8ZN.
Mmm that looks delicious! I’m glad that you still manage to get some awesome treats, even if they can be a little tricky/expensive to get hold of!
Mmm – looks heavenly!
It must be so hard when you’re out and about finding something you can eat, especially treats which do tend to be dairy based. Your waffle and ice cream looks delicious.
Looks delicious! 🙂 I am very sad that dairy-free products are mostly quite expensive. :/ This alternative lifestyle can be really pricey. Even though I do eat dairy, I wouldn’t mind eating it a lot less. 🙂
Madara
http://lookforsmile.com
That looks heavenly! I wish I had a place like that around here, but much like your comment about living in mid-Wales, we don’t have places like that in south Arkansas, either. For me, it’s always worth the extra cost to enjoy the rare treat. I have made my own dairy-free ice cream at home, which was rather fun.
Hi Nikki,
I have a nephew who would love this place, as he eats ‘free from just about everything’ through choice and not because of any known allergies!
The rest of us are quite happy with the ‘everything added’ option, and have discovered “Kaspas” desserts restaurant, as recommended by my two nieces and I have just discovered that they are opening a branch just down the road from us in Bath very soon!
It’s a shame you had to travel so far to find ‘free from’ desserts which were that good, but as you say, there may be plans to expand countrywide soon 🙂
Yvonne
I love Yorica! In Feb I was up in London and planned to stop by for ice cream but every day something came up and we didn’t make it. On my final day I made sure that Yorica was at the top of the list and then when I finally got to the counter, one of those waffles went past and I immediately dumped my dream of ice cream and all I wanted in the world was a waffle! I had what they call a Fushion, which is a waffle, two flavours of fro-yo (I had chocolate and vanilla), a sauce (chocolate) and a topping (big juicy chunks of mango). That’s £6.95 I think, but it came in a huge tub and It Was Divine. The only thing I would change is going with a different flavour fro-yo than vanilla.
I try to stop by Yorica whenever I am in London, but now I have had a waffle I’m not sure I can ever go back to boring old ice cream! The first time I visited, Anthony Head stopped by right after me (I saw on Twitter) – kind of glad it wasn’t at the same time I was in there, because I don’t think I could handle that much excitement at once.
Glad you enjoyed the place. Shame you can’t pop to London too often.
Sounds lovely. I imagine is such a hassle to find treats that are gluten-free and dairy-free at the same time.
I’ve walked past the hippy dippy looking sign of Yorica a few times but never been inside. I will have to try it. Great that they are doing something proactive for people with allergies in a fun way.
Looks good! I can somehow relate since I’m lactose-intolerant and I have problems with wheat products in large dosage. It’s really nice to know that there are places or products offering food that we could eat without any nasty consequences 🙂