Charlotte's Restaurant @ Landford Garden Centre (In-Excess)
Charlotte's Restaurant @ Landford Garden Centre (In-Excess), Salisbury
At a glance
A Charlotte's café-restaurant inside In-Excess Landford Garden Centre on the A36, about ten miles south-east of Salisbury on the New Forest fringe — a wider-radius option, with breakfast, lunch and afternoon-tea sittings.
Gluten-free options
Charlotte's here is part of the wider In-Excess group, and their Area Catering Manager confirmed directly that gluten-free options — cake, mains or light lunches — are available at every one of their four Charlotte's cafés, including this one. Each site keeps its own allergen folder covering all 14 major allergens, and every new dish added to the menu — including cooked breakfasts — is checked to make sure a gluten-free version exists alongside it.
Before you order
Group-wide, In-Excess trains all catering staff to level 2 food hygiene plus a dedicated level 2 allergen-awareness course, and uses colour-coded (purple) knives, boards and tongs for allergen-related prep, not just gluten-free. Some of the group's bigger restaurants run a dedicated gluten-free-only fryer for cooked breakfasts — worth asking whether that applies here specifically. A new menu is also in development group-wide, so double-check the gluten-free options are current when you visit.
Worth asking?
Does this site have a dedicated gluten-free-only fryer, or is that only at the bigger restaurants in the group? Are the cakes and scones made in-house or bought in, and is the new menu (in development) live yet?
What this means for coeliacs
Area Catering Manager Paul Hardiman confirmed by name and title: staff complete level 2 allergen-awareness training, allergen prep uses colour-coded (purple) equipment, and every new menu dish (including cooked breakfasts) is checked for a GF-capable version. This is a genuine cross-contact process, not just a menu claim, though the per-site fryer and bakery-sourcing detail is still unconfirmed for this specific café.
Last checked:
This information is researched but not guaranteed — menus and kitchen practices change. Always tell staff you are coeliac.