2015 started in a slightly unexpected place: Brussels. Mr D and I have had a deal going for the last 15 years (albeit not always together) that we’d spend New Year’s Eve away somewhere abroad. Previous exciting New Year destinations have included Sydney, New York, Rio, Moscow and that capital of craziness, Oslo along with a variety of other cold places. So when on 29th December we realised we were about to break the tradition, we had a mad scramble to find a destination with available flights (cheers, BA Air Miles!) and plenty of hotel availability.
Having booked our flights and arranged the hotel in Brussels, my thoughts turned to gluten free food. I’ve been to Brussels and other cities in Belgium plenty of times before so knew I should be fine with moules frites. There is a rumour that the cooking of frites in Belgium is protected by a law meaning they must be cooked in a segregated fryer, removing the risk of cross contamination for coeliacs. However, I’ve researched this and can’t find any evidence it is indeed correct.
But forgetting moules, frites and even chocolate, what I really wanted on this trip was a gluten free waffle. Having investigated, it appeared no one had found a safe, free from cross contamination, gluten free waffle in a restaurant in Brussels. Luckily I’m persistent and so whilst the search continues for restaurant gluten free waffles, I did find these three bad boys in a supermarket:
Where to eat & gluten free resources
The Coeliac Society of Belgium very kindly provided me with the following list of resources when planning a trip to Brussels / Belgium
Gluten free Brussels Facebook page There are lots of gluten free restaurants and bakeries recommended on this page. The page owner is also swift at responding to any questions.
Gluten Free Belgium
Travel Gluten Free
For gluten free pizza you could try:
Toscana 21
Fancy a gluten free beer? Try the Delirium Café
For lighter salads, try Exki which is a type of healthy Pret-style place we found all over the city
Where to supermarket shop
I found good availability of gluten free products in all of the supermarkets I visited, even the smallest. Of all the supermarkets I visited, the Louis Delhaize supermarket chain had the best gluten free range. I found the gluten free waffles in Louis Delhaize Belliard and this particular store had the widest gluten free product range and variety of chilled goods such as salads. If you’re staying in the area, it’s well worth checking out.
