Burger & Shake Night at Homemade Sheffield

Homemade is a café/deli in the Nether Edge area of Sheffield. They mainly open 10am - 3pm Tuesday – Saturdays, but about once or twice a month they hold special themed food nights. Recently there has been a Friday Bistro night and a Saturday tapas Sharing Plates night.

The week before my birthday I was browsing the interest in search of somewhere to go with A to celebrate my birthday. I was delighted to discover that on Wednesday 24^th April, my actually birthday, Homemade was holding a Burger & Shake night. Now you may think that a burger – meaty in a bun – wheaty, is not the best idea for a vegetarian coeliac, but that is until I tell you that they offer 3 handmade meaty burgers - all gluten free and 5 handmade veggie burgers, of which 4 are vegan and 2 are gluten free. Yippee!

Having a burger and shake is not something I have done since having to eat gluten free, over 2 ½ years now. The fun element, American slant and the fact it was a special event evening really appealed to me as a place to go for my birthday meal. That little bit different to the usual Italian or Indian food I often eat out. My boyfriend A loves burgers so I knew he would be more than happy with my choice.

 

Upon arrival we were seated at our reserved table and I was impressed that water was immediately brought to the table along with the menus. A ordered a strawberry milkshake while I chose a smoothie from their specials board of raspberry and blackberry. The drinks were obviously made fresh on site as A’s milkshake had little bits of strawberry floating in it and my smoothie was wonderfully thick and smooth.

 

My choice of two burgers was:

The Hot Chick - chickpeas, cumin, carrots, paprika, garam masala and fresh coriander. Served with sour cream.

Billie The Kid - mint, feta, oregano, red onions, chilli, chickpeas and garlic, topped with griddled halloumi or beetroot.

It was a tough decision but in the end I chose the Billie The Kid with beetroot, as I liked the idea of the mint, feta and chilli in the burger. A went for The Uncle Sam, a beef burger with coriander and spices topped with onion and tomato. We had a choice of homemade baked potato wedges or house made coleslaw and salad. We both went for wedges.

While we waited for the food I was enthralled by the wall we were sat next to. It was covered with pages from an old copy of woman’s weekly, or housewife magazine (I can’t remember which) and was full of top tips and recipes for the woman of the home. Things like sensational salads, how to cater for a dinner dance and adverts for Bovril. The front cover page said it was priced at 14½. I was really amused by the poem advert for cheese triangles, which it described as crustless cheese!

 

Our burgers arrived, with mine accompanied by a gluten free bun, which I was pleased about. The taste was lovely, quite subtle on the chili, but I loved the chunks of feta which had become all soft and melty. The texture was more like a potato cake than a dry mealy bean burger, which made a lovely change. I really enjoyed the baked potato wedges which were served skin on. The chef even came to our table to assure me she made all the food and it was gluten free.

 

I was delighted to be told that they had a gluten free dessert. And not your usual boring crème brulee or bought in chocolate brownie either. Instead I was offered a slice of house-made apricot and coconut tart. This sounded too good to pass up and I was presented with a simple enormous slice. It had a base of apricot halves with a desiccated coconut frangipane style top served in a gluten free pasty base. The filling was a little fragile and crumbly, but this is expected in gluten free baking, but it was deliciously flavoured and moist, that I happily devoured every crumb. It was the best gluten free dessert I’ve ever had out. I told the chef this at the end of the night as I think it’s important to encourage people to continue to care about and provide tasty gluten free food.

 

It was a lovely way to celebrate my birthday and we left full and happy. It was our first visit to Homemade, but I have no doubt we’ll be back!

Note: For their special food nights it is important to book a table.

They also only accept cash or cheques for payment.

Burger & Shake nights are currently every Wednesday, but for a limited time only.