Gluten Free in Belgium/ Sans gluten en Belgique

I spent 4 days this week in Belgium, which was amazing! So here are the gf spots I discovered. Brugge Gluten Free beer at the bar 2be! It looks like a grocery store, but if you go past the store towards the back there is a bar with an amazing outdoor patio. Just ask for the gluten free beer. It is called Mongozo. 2be: Wollestraat 53 Restaurants: 't Grillkasteeltje: Gevangenisstraat 1 This restaurant offers meat options accompanied by fries and a salad. This restaurant was highly recommended on Tripadvisor. I am not sure if their fries are fried in dedicated fryers, as I am usually not too sensitive with that. So I would ask if this is an issue for you! The food, ambiance, and servers were great here. However, when you ask for your steak make sure to ask for exactly what you want. I asked for medium because in France often times the steaks are not cooked enough. But I found my steak exactly to be medium, which is in fact too cooked for me! They also unfortunately didn't offer any deserts here. I also found online that the Park Restaurant and the Gruthouse Hef can do gluten free. We wanted to eat at the Park Restaurant, but they were full. You must make reservations in advance. Ghent Ghent is a very beautiful city, but I really recommend Brugge if you are hesitately between the two. We only spent a couple hours in Ghent and I found it less touristic than Brugge. Brasserie Savarin: Vrijdagsmarkt 17 I had the waterzooi chicken here which was quite good and gluten free! I have heard that this dish is often gf, you just need to make sure they don't put flour in it. Brussels Gluten Free Beer! Bar delirium: Impasse de la Fidélité 4A. This place will please your gf and gluten drinking friends! They have over 2,000 varieties of beer! They serve the same gf beer here as in Brussels, Mongozo. Restaurants: Publico: Kartuizerstraat 32 I had a great risotto here that was gf! There were not a lot of options for me, as it was mostly a pasta place, but the food was amazing and the service outstanding. Just be aware that they don't take credit cards. Comics Cafe: Place du Grand Sablon 8 I had a hamburger with fries here (no bread). It was the best cheeseburger I've had in a while. Again not sure about the fries if they are friend in a dedicated fryer, but I didn't have any problems. Toscana 21: Rollebeekstraat 21 GREAT gf pasta here. They were very aware and gave me all my options for pasta and for dessert. Bed and Breakfast: 7 rue de L'eclipse I highly recommend this B&B! Owned by Italians, it was really new, clean, and had a great atmosphere. They have some gf options for breakfast, yogurt, cheese, hard boiled eggs, and then I brought my own bread. It is centrally located and cost 170 euros for two nights. You can find it on booking.com Other advice: I read that most of the street fries are gf and fried in dedicated fryers. I didn't try any but this is an option for some food on the go!

Helmut Newcake in Paris

Well I recently discovered the ULTIMATE gluten free find....FRESH gluten free pastries! Yup that's right, traditional French pastries, all of which are gluten free. I was in heaven. I had to go to Paris this last week for a doctor's appointment to complete my Canadian immigration papers and decided to make the most of it. I have a German friend living in Paris who happened to be not working that day, so we planned an outing together. And keep in mind an outing for me means looking for all the best gluten free restaurants or stores in the city. I don't care about the sightseeing or the history; just show me the gf treats! Before going to Paris I came across Helmut Newcake. Well actually I am lying...I heard of this place a while back and just never happened to be in the area around this place the last couple times I have visited Paris. So this time I made it my mission to go there! My friend and I found the restaurant easy enough and actually it is in a really nice area of Paris. We were greeted by friendly staff and decided to sit in their somewhat solarium seating area, which was tastefully decorated and very cozy feeling. Each day they have a couple of lunch specials, so we decided to not only sample their pastries but to order some lunch as well. We both decided on the quiche, which was very flavorful and accompanied with a green salad and the best vinaigrette I have had in France yet! I also had a cup of tea which was served in a cute little "china" cup and a matching tea pot. For dessert I could not decide on which pastry I wanted, so my friend and I decided to split three. We tried the chocolate éclair, a chocolate religieuse, and a tarte aux fruits rouge. All three were absolutely incredible and I was shocked at how moist they were (since we all know gf items can be very dry!). I then decided to take home a chocolate éclair and another tarte aux fruits rouge, both of which I promptly ate when I arrived home! This place is a must. The staff was incredibly friendly (which does not always happen in France) and the food was absolutely amazing. So if you are in Paris, DO NOT SKIP THIS PLACE!!

The best gluten free bread in Quebec/ le meilleur pain sans gluten au quebec!

I just happened to stumble across this bread the other day when I was having dinner at my aunt-in-law's house. It is by far the best gf breadd I have had to date. You can eat it without toasting it, which is a huge thing in my book. Plus it was the first time I have actually had a sandwich, that was un-toasted, that actually tasted like the sandwiches I had before I was diagnosed. It looks like you can't find it in too many locations, but if you happen to be in those areas, seek out this bread! You will not be disappointed. http://wheatlesswonder.ca/

Gluten Free travel in Malta, Norway, and Spain

Found this interesting document on celiac disease in different countries. There is also some travel info for Malta, Norway, and Spain. https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B-YcMX3HL0NNZzhEcDk4cGFnZDQ/edit?pli=1&fb_source=message

Gluten free in London

At the beginning of December we decided to take a quick trip to London since we are basically just across the English Channel from London! Here are some of my recommendations for restaurants.

Mermaid's Tail

Gluten free fish and chips here! However staff does not speak very good English. My husband and I both ordered fish and chips (one obviously GF) and when they delivered them to us, the server was unable to tell which one was gf. But thankfully the chef came out to show me. I am not sure if they fry it in a dedicated fryer, so I might be weary of cross contamination. I was just so excited to eat gf fish and chips that I was willing to risk a little cc. However, I didn't feel sick at all afterwards. And the fish and chips are DELICIOUS!

Muffinski
This place offers gf muffins, which I was so excited about. I don't think I have ever had a gf muffin that wasn't made either in my house or a friend’s house. However, the muffin was honestly disgusting. If it hadn't have had chocolate chips in it I probably would have thrown it away after taking the first bite. Yes it was that bad. Not sure if any of you have tried any of their other muffins or have different reviews, but this is my opinion. Also I am not sure how careful they are with cc. This is an unfortunate side effect of eating gf getting so trendy. Many places are able to boast that they serve gf meals, but you aren't exactly sure if they understand the dangers of cc for us with celiac disease, intolerances, or allergies. So my view, skip this one.

Chiquito(leicester square)
This is a tex mex place right on Leicester square. Honestly we were a bit weary that it might be a tourist trap, meaning high prices, bad food. But it was amazing! They had gluten free enchiladas on the meaning and the food was authentic Mexican in my opinion. It was such a nice change from the oh so French cuisine in France! Mostly we were impressed with actually getting to eat REAL sour cream! The staff was really friendly and he prices were affordable. I HIGHLY recommend this place.

Carluccio's
Great staff, great Italian food. This place has wonderful homemade good quality Italian food. The staff was incredibly friendly and very knowledgeable about gf. We stopped here for lunch and really enjoyed the atmosphere as well.

Masala Zone
Amazing gf Indian food here. Upon saying I needed to eat gf, the manager came right over and explained what dishes I could have, which was most of the menu. You get a great mix of dishes here and you get a lot of bang for your buck! I felt very comfortable eating here and the food was some of the best Indian I have had EVER!

Itsu
Japanese take away restaurant with gf options. I was given a list of items I could and couldn't eat. Not a whole lot of options. The sushi was sub-par, but the soup I had was incredible. I would go back again just for the soup, but stay away from the sushi.

Hotel:

We also stayed at an amazing hotel that had gf options. It is called the London Elizabeth hotel right in front of Hyde park and steps away from the metro. They were able to provide me with gf bread for breakfast. They also had a selection of boiled eggs, fruit, and yogurt. I didn't have the English breakfast, but I am sure they have gf options for that as well. It is a bit pricey, but we were able to get a great deal on lastminute.com.