Eating out 'dairy free' in Durham - El Coto

We love tapas and always make sure we squeeze plenty in when we are in Spain. Generally English tapas are pretty rubbish, I'm not a fan of the typical chain Spanish restaurants like La Tasca, they're just so different from authentic Spanish food that I don't really see the point. That's why we love El Coto in Durham. It's Spanish owned and always have Spanish waiters too. Their food is so authentic and delicious, I've had much worse tapas in Spain which is always a good sign!

Since being dairy free I've found eating out really difficult. Labelling on menus is pretty rubbish and I don't like to cause a fuss at the table if we are eating out with other people. For a small restaurant, El Coto are brilliant for allergy labelling. Their actual menu in the restaurant indicates gluten free and items that contain eggs and they have this on their website:

Every single dish that is dairy free. So useful for people with allergies to have a look through before going. As you can see there's also loads of choice. I'm getting a bit sick of eating out where I only have one real option to choose from.

The other thing I love about El Coto is the fact that they have sensible high chairs. Everywhere we've been apart from Yo Sushi has those ridiculous wooden ones with no tray that are the wrong height for the table. Henry is no bother when we go out for dinner if we just give him loads to eat or play with...that's a massive issue when he doesn't have a tray on the highchair and doesn't reach the table properly!! This is what El Coto provide:

A lovely little booster seat with a tray. Couldn't be better. You can always rely on the Spanish to be baby friendly! Henry was an angel today, he tried so much of the tasty Spanish food and loved it. He had potatoes, beef casserole, bread, olives, tuna, peppers, carrots and tomatoes....not to mention the food that I'd also brought along for his lunch!! 

We decided to go for the set menu for 3 people (don't worry, we had my father in law with us, we weren't just being greedy!) which was £15.95 a head. It included bread, alioli, olives, Serrano ham, Manchego cheese, tomatoes, patatas bravas, fried chorizo, chicken in a creamy tomato sauce, garlic king prawns, meatballs, pork in a creamy blue cheese sauce, fish croquettes, dates wrapped in bacon and homemade beef stew. We had SO much food left we could easily have fed another adult, it was a shame to waste it because it was all so so good.

Here's my gorgeous boy tucking into some bread and beef stew.

Overall it was a great meal. It's not cheap, but worth every penny. We'll be back soon and if you're looking for somewhere tasty and baby friendly in Durham, I can thoroughly recommend it.