I love eating out, heck who am I kidding I love eating
period!
So eating out is a super treat – no cooking for me hurrah.
I’m very lucky where I live in Killarney, County Kerry
because we are blessed with some awesome places to eat who happily accommodate
us gluten free/coeliac peeps. The Oak hotel on Muckross road have delish gluten
free options including burgers and a huge array of gluten free desserts.
However as I travel around the country with my business
consultancy, there have been some struggles I have come up against.
So here are some tips that just may help you out on your
gluten free journey:
Call then ahead of time
Sometimes, especially in off peak times (coming from a
tourism town) restaurants and eateries may not stock such a large variety of
foods, so there is no harm giving them a call ahead of arriving to see if they
can cater for your diet.
Tell your waitress/waiter
I used to get a few rolling eyes from chums when I would announce
to the server that I am gluten free. But now I tend to be the envy of the group
when dining out, as often there are additional yummy gluten free options not
listed on the menu but available on request. For example the Brehon Hotel have
a divine crème brulee for us Coeliacs and if I have business meetings there I
order a coffee and ask for gluten free bikkies and they nearly always have
them! If you don’t ask you don’t get.
Soups and Salad starters
I often find the starters have the least amount of options
for gluten free. But a soup or salad is usually a safe option as long as the
salad doesn’t have any croutons or gluten based salad dressings.
Chips galore
It’s an Irish thing we need loads of potatoes with our
dinner and always a few cheeky chips on the side. However some restaurants don’t
have the facility to offer gluten free chips (i.e. chips that haven’t been
cooked in the same oil as battered foods). So it’s time to bulk up on veggies
if so or ask for what other options they have.
Don’t hide away with your gluten free diet, but you have to
be prepared.
There’s never a day when I switch off, I constantly have to
check food labels, ask people what is in their food and if I am not organised
enough I often prefer to just have some fruit rather than suffer the pain of
eating gluten just because I wasn’t organised enough.
Let us know your favourite gluten free eateries so we can
spread the word with others.
Have an awesome gluten free day
Heidi and the Glutenzone Team x
