Our first family holiday with the twins was to Italy (of course!) and involved an overnight stay in Rome but sadly we didn’t have time to explore the latest gluten free restaurants in Rome on that trip. So I was thrilled when Meredith offered to write a guest post on her visit to Rome.
Many thanks to Meredith for this…and making me wish I could hop on a plane to eat at Barbara’s, pronto!
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Gluten free adventures in Rome: Where Meredith recommends Coeliacs eat gluten free food in Rome.
I won’t lie, as someone who had never been to Rome before, I was incredibly excited to go but as a coeliac, the land of pizza and pasta had me somewhat concerned. How wrong I was.
In Italy, coeliac testing is normal and mandatory. Coeliacs are also given a financial stipend to cover the increased costs of shopping for food and eating out, something I wish the British government would consider! As a result, gluten free food is frequently available even in small supermarkets, and a number of restaurants offer gluten free pizza and pasta, some even with separate kitchens for the gluten free food to be kept contamination free. Below are details of my four dining-out experiences.
Pantharei – 2 minutes walk from the Pantheon
Food: 4/5
I could have a potato pizza. Yep you heard right, potato and cheese on a pizza, I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy. There was lots of choice and the food I had was delicious.
Price: 2/5
Marked down as a result of a €2 surcharge for gluten free pizza bases, but even with that, three main courses and a carafe of wine was just €35.
Atmosphere: 3/5
A rustic, homely place with wooden benches, which other than the far-too-common TV was very pleasant for lunch.
Mama Eat – In the Travstevere district
Food: 4.5/5
There is a separate gluten free menu which gives confidence, and I had a lovely pizza. The non-coeliac contingent of my party also said it was their favourite pizza of the entire trip. Bonus points for having three types of cake available, all of which were gluten free, and just to be thorough for you I can with confidence say that the two I tasted were delicious!
Price: 4/5
Very reasonable, three main courses, water, a carafe of wine and two slices of cake came to €47.5.
Atmosphere: 2/5
The tables were tightly packed, and as with many of the restaurants a TV was distracting, as a caveat Mama Eat has a lovely outside area which the torrential rain prevented us from enjoying.
Voglia di Pizza – Near Piazza Navona and the Pantheon
Food: 5/5
The high mark is a result of not only delicious food, and a separate menu for gluten free food, but because I could have anything I wanted. Beer, starters, bruschetta, deep fried vegetables, they would make anything I wanted specially.
Price: 3/5
Three two-course meals with water and wine came to €57.
Atmosphere: 2/5
As with Mama Eat it felt a little more like a diner, and also had a TV, which as you may have noticed is not my favourite thing for a restaurant!
“Eat With” Barbara – In the Travstevere district
Eat With is a website, a little like couch surfer, which allows you to dine at a local resident’s house with others from all over the world. Barbara is one such host in Rome, where we spent a really wonderful evening, joined by an Israeli couple and an American couple on their honeymoon.
Food: 5/5
Incredible artichokes, risotto, polenta, the list of delicacies goes on and on.
Price: 5/5
The cost is £35 per person, this however includes countless courses of food, and as much alcohol as you want to drink, Prosecco, red wine, white wine and aperitifs were served though-out the evening. Ultimately, all-you-can-eat and all-you-can-drink in incredibly pleasant surroundings, I can’t recommend more highly.
Atmosphere: 5/5
I want to move in to her apartment, now.
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That’s so amazing that they give you an increased stipend for covering expensive gluten-free food!
Sounds like Italy is great for eating out for coeliacs.
Lizzy from Nomad Notebook
Italy is such an amazing place for Coeliacs to visit. Enerybody understands about gluten free dining and there’s so many options!
I remember being really surprised to find out that Italy was so good for coeliacs. We went before I knew I couldn’t eat gluten so I wasn’tr really aware of what was on offer at that time, but this post made me want to go back!