Recently I discovered one of the best food places I have ever been in my entire life: Yorica! Located on Wardour Street in London, Yorica is a sweet shop that serves ice cream, frozen yogurt, shakes, crepes, waffles. I’m sure that at this point you must be asking: But Holly, how can you possibly enjoy anything here when you have a severe nut allergy? Answer: it’s all nut free.
I repeat, italicized and bolded for maximum impact: it’s all nut free.
In fact, Yorica prides itself on being free from the top allergens, with the exception of soy. According to their website:
We’re a friendly, curious bunch. Always learning, growing and creating fab free-from treats for everyone. Free-from means freedom. Simple. So everyone’s invited to indulge without worry. All recipes and ingredients are free from wheat, gluten, dairy, eggs and nuts and all entirely vegan. Yorica! is where the love is. From process to product. Bye-bye allergens and intolerances! It’s our outta this world, earth-bound ingredients that makes Yorica! so divine. All free-from. All certified and traced, from crop to cone.
You can imagine my delight and astonishment when I walked into this place and realized that I could choose to eat anything they serve. I could probably count how many times I’ve had this foodie freedom in my entire life on one hand, maybe two. Eating out is always a fairly stressful experience for me, especially abroad. I can’t even remember the last time I was able to get ice cream at a shop that wasn’t plain vanilla soft serve, and I’ve never been able to casually order an ice cream sundae. I’ve always said that if I could get rid of my allergy for just a single day, the first thing I would do is march myself to an ice cream stand and order the largest sundae they have.
And yet here was Yorica, this miraculous place where I could suddenly choose whatever I wanted without having to worry about possible cross-contamination, effectively communicating the severity of my allergy to the server, or researching the menu ahead of time. When I walked up to the counter I could hardly believe my eyes. So many flavors to choose from! So many toppings! Dessert I could eat that wasn’t just fruit?! Unheard of!
On this particular day my mom and I decided to eat ice cream for lunch, so we went for something extravagant: ice cream AND waffles. I got a scoops of vanilla brownie and double chocolate with brownie bits and chocolate sauce on top. (Can you tell I like chocolate?) The waffles come in smaller pieces that are warm, fluffy, and perfect for fitting into your sundae cup. My finished product looked like this:
I’m not exaggerating when I say that this sundae was one of the best things I’ve ever eaten. This whole experience was such a foreign luxury to me that I savored every bite, so grateful that a place like this exists. There are countless things in life that are more challenging and painful to deal with than my nut allergy, but the truth is that allergies still really suck. Places like Yorica help make me feel normal, which doesn’t often happen in food-orientated settings. I always try to tell myself that countless things in life are more important than food, but it’s challenging to maintain that mindset when so many events and experiences often revolve around eating. I’m so appreciative of companies and organizations that go above and beyond to make allergy sufferers like me feel safe and comfortable. Yorica definitely deserves an A++ in that category! (And an A++ for DELICIOUS ice cream!!)
I’ve already been back to Yorica since that first time, and I’m really hoping to go at least once more before I head back to the States in about a month. If you’re vegan, have various food intolerances, or suffer from allergies, I HIGHLY recommend checking out Yorica. {And kudos to my mom for finding this place!}
Click here to check out other posts in my Holly Goes Abroad series!
Have you ever been to Yorica? Let me know in the comments section below!
Yours,
HOLLY
Nut Free Nerd 
*wipes drool off screen* Chocolate….😋
As a celiac sufferer, I understand your pain! Granted, my intolerance won’t kill me. But in the part of the States where I live, gluten free is hard to come by. I was in London a few years ago and was so pleased at the variety of gluten-free places to eat. If I’m ever back there, I’ll add Yorica to my list! I’ve had some ok GF frozen waffles, but I can’t remember the last time I had a hot, fresh waffle! So glad you were able to find a place that’s safe for you!
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Oh no, that’s awful! Gluten free must be especially hard because it seems like some restaurants treat it more like a preference/health choice than something that could make someone seriously ill. I would definitely check out Yorica if you’re ever in the area again! 🙂
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I’m so glad you found this place. I don’t have personal experience of allergies, but one of my close friends has a really severe gluten allergy and eating out is hard! I hope that more places follow this trend so you have more options going forward.
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I can’t even imagine how difficult a gluten allergy must be to deal with! I’d love to see a place like this pop up in the US… I’ll miss it when I go back home 🙂
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WOW! Holly! I’m so happy for you! You’ve found your little space of sanctuary!
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Thanks, Cam!! I can’t believe there’s actually a place like this here 🙂
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It sounds delicious and I’ll try to find it!
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Definitely! 🙂
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This is AMAZING! With so many younger folks these days having allergies and/or intolerances, you’re definitely right- eating out can be a SUPER stressful experience. It’s amazing that more places are popping up (especially for dessert) where those who can’t usually indulge can order!
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Definitely! I really hope a place like this pops up closer to home– I’m going to miss it so much when I go back to the US 🙂
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This is amazing! I’m so happy you found this place! (And wondering why there aren’t more around!)
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Right! I really wish there was one like this back in the States… I’m going to miss it so much when I go home! 🙂
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This is awesome!!! Working in hospitality for so long I know it’s hard to have a controlled allergy free kitchen but I do wish more places just put in the extra effort and did it, so glad you found this place it looks amazingly yum!
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Thanks!! I’m so appreciative whenever I find a restaurant or shop that does it… it makes life so much easier 🙂
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Oh I’m so, so happy you found this amazing place, Holly! I didn’t know it existed until just now, I’ll have to write it down so I can check it out whenever I can get to London again. That sundae looks AMAZING, it makes me hungry just looking at it hahaha. 🙂
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Now I drag all of my friends here whenever we venture into London… at least they get ice cream out of the deal! 🙂
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Ahhh it’s so great that you found this place! It’d be great if places like these pop up a little bit closer to your home so that you can enjoy ice cream like this more often 🙂
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That would be amazing! I’ll miss this place so much when I go home 🙂
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Hahaha I’m so happy for you! Ice cream is such a sad thing to be deprived of, and the pictures look amazing! I’m kind of drooling right now… 😂
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Haha I know, right?! Ice cream is one of my favorite foods, so when I learned that this place exists I was ECSTATIC 🙂
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Oh how wonderful this is for you! So happy that you found yourself a little piece of heaven. That ice cream looks fantastic! 😀
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Thank you!! 🙂
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that dessert looks so nice!!
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It IS so nice! ❤
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I went to England last year and it was an amazingly tasty experience! I am allergic to wheat and a number of other things and having the wheat free/gluten free option with no fuss was so nice. I want to go back. So glad you found a place that you can eat at without worry!
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So glad you had a great experience here! It seems like they’re really good with wheat allergies, but not so much with nuts. At least there’s ice cream, though 🙂
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