London Travel Answers

I googled Gorst Rd to locate it and although i have never been there London usually has many cafes where one can eat Bacon and eggs for breakfast which is normal here. (in the 80's i lived in Clapham and there were many, hopefully they are still there).However this may become quite expensive so why not make arrangements with your landlord to use his refrigerator and kitchen nto cook your own breakfast. Bacon and eggs are available at any corner store but would be cheaper at a supermarket. I see that International House is between the triangle of Tottenham Court Rd, Holborn and Covent Garden tube stations so i suggest that you by a travel pass for one month which will give you unlimited travel on tubes and buses. They are available for different travel zones so figure out where you like to go in your spare time and consult www.londontravelpass.com to see which suits you best. Hope this is helpful and enjoy your stay in London.

If you put 'gorst road london supermarket' into https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en you will see several nearby options, including an Asda (where you may well find specialised gluten-free products as well as all the eggs, bacon etc that you are looking for). There will also almost certainly be small corner shops which are not shown on googlemaps. Specialised gliuten-free products are also sold in health food stores and often in large branches of chemists such as Boots. I doubt you will have any problem at all getting food you can cook at home, although 'ribs for lunch' won't always be easy unless you cook them yourself! There is a great and growing awareness of gluten intolerance in the UK and you shouldn't have too many issues. Google 'gluten free eating london' and you'll find several helpful sites with restaurant etc listings.

Hello, Gorst Rd is not in Clapham. I was going to recommend places to go there as I used to live in Clapham. It's in Acton. As Leics said above googling your road does reveal supermarkets. I wouldn't worry about it, we sell eggs, bacon and ribs in the UK :-) I know quite a few people who are lactose and / or gluten intolerant and they manage with no problems. Is there are kitchen you can use? That way you can control what you eat.

Hang on a minute Are you staying at the International House or Gorst Road?

@David: Thats some good advice. Thanks a lot. I would have never thought of the refrigerator. Also, thanks for the links. @Leics: As here the gluten-free culture is pretty much nonexistent I wrongly surmised that it would be the same there. My bad. About the ribs, I was talking about a cheap restaurant not about cooking them, that would be as unfeasible as delicious! @North: I'm not staying at IH. I'm staying at Gorst Rd, which I'm totally sure that is in Clapham. Thanks anyway. About the kitchen, I still have to write to my landlord to verify that. As an addendum, I should have said that I have a limited budget. That's the wherefore for my extensive use of the word "cheap" :)

Actually Gorst road appears to be just next to Wandsworth Common and not too far from Clapham Common where i used to jog many years ago. Clapham Junction Station is a few minutes walk away where you can catch a train to Waterloo. You may find ribs in a restaurant to be quite expensive compared to Argentina. For gyms try this site www.totallyclapham.co.uk/fitness.html. Also this site is good for restaurants and other info regarding Clapham.

How did I find it in Acton?! (Sorry, that's a retorical question to myself) There's a Sainsbury's at Clapham South station which do a range of their own called 'free from' which you may wish to check out. There's a larger Sainsbury's on Clapham High Street which would have a larger range. I was based in that area for 3 years so know it well, if there's anything more specific you want to know please ask. You're in a great area for lots of independant delis I always went swimming (off Clapham High St) rather than the gym so can't recommend one I'm afraid. If you find Sainsbury's too expensive there is a large Tesco in Brixton as well as a Lidl (or Aldi, I get the two mixed up) but their lactose / gluten free range will not be as varied as the larger suprtmarket chains (Sainsburys, Tesco, Asda). If you want somewhere cheap for fresh fruit and veg, meat & fish then I'd recommend Brixton market. Not far away at all on the bus, I'm assuming you're going to get an Oyster card for your travel? oyster.tfl.gov.uk/oyster/ent... I loved that area of London and could go on (such as the great Indian restaurants in Tooting)...... All the best.

@David: Thanks for all of that. @North: No problem whatsoever, I don't even know where I'm going, ha :-) Solid advice there, thanks. Yes, indeed, getting an Oyster. I'm writing everything down, but, of course, for whatever reason I see myself forgetting all of those places and just eating daily tuna salads at Pret A Manger :-). Thanks to everyone, again, I'm sure I'll get lost, but at least I know where to eat now.

Pret is very nice but if you are on a budget it's not really the best place to get your tuna salads etc. It's not cheap in any way (Marks and Spencers do excellent salads too, but they aren't cheap either0. There are cheaper places which do good food which costs less. :-)

Prets range of gluten free bread is quite expensive. For quick lunches there are a number of chinese takeaways (and Thai) or small restaurants dotted in that area - rice veggies and meat\chicken\fish would be a nourishing quick lunch meal and won't cause intolerance problems - also sushi seems to be available everywhere now and is a possibility. Indian places will sell dahl - lentil or chickpeas either as soup or the Turkish\middle eastern cuisine has hummus (with rice crackers) which are also high in protein and don't have gluten in them. You would need to check with the chef on other dishes as they may be thickened with flour rather than cornflour. I think you will find that the range and variety of prepared and semi-prepared foods will be far greater than you have been accustomed to. Enjoy and branch out with your food choices within your tolerance range.