Gluten Free Cornwall - Part 1 Polperro & The Eden Project

We enjoyed a very wet week in Cornwall in August, this was our first gluten free Cornish visit and we didn't have high hopes for finding good coeliac friendly (not to mention child coeliac friendly!) fayre, but thankfully our fears were unfounded!

Gluten Free Polperro

A quick google before we left led me to find the Treble Cafe, they don't seem to have a website, but you can see their facebook page HERE. Situated in Landaviddy Lane in Polperro, a quick walk from the harbour this cafe/restaurant is really coeliac friendly. They had quite a large pasta menu, all of which could be made with gluten free pasta. Any bread based items could be substituted with gluten free rolls and in the evenings gluten free pizza bases are available. They also cook their chips in a dedicated fryer so the chips are coeliac friendly too!

I had ham, egg and chips and Seb had their homemade bolognaise sauce with gluten free pasta, which he said was great!


Gluten Free Eden Project

We spent the wettest day of the holidays at the Eden Project, whilst I think the entry tickets are vastly overpriced, the food on offer at the Eden Project is conversely really reasonably priced and very coeliac friendly!

We ate in the bakery, in the link between the rainforest and mediterrenean biomes. They have homemade gluten free bread available if you ask for it and a few gluten free main menu items. I had a gorgeous gluten free fritatta, rosemary potatoes and salad and Seb has their homemade tomatoe and basil soup with gluten free white bread and butter. Main meals are only £6 which includes the main menu item and as much salad, potatoes and bread as you like.

Three of the desert items were amazingly gluten free (not just the usual fruit salad!) - a gorgeous chocolate orange cake (which we both plumped for), a lemon polenta cake and another chocolatey looking cake. A pretty good gluten free day!

Click for Part 2...Gluten free Cornish Fish and Chips - St Austell & Padstow!

Warburtons Gluten Free Bread - or Should I Say Bread CRUMBS!

Warburtons make a bold promise on their website:

"Our baking team has been researching into producing a gluten-free and wheat-free range for about five years. It is only now that we believe that we have got the right recipe and a range of products that are of the high quality that you would expect from us."

When you're spending around £2.50 on a miniature loaf of gluten free bread from a major manufacturer, i.e: a loaf of Warburtons Gluten Free sliced brown bread, you don't expect it to resemble bird food, especially not when you open a brand new loaf and the slices come out looking like this, for the second time:

It's a shame because the bread tastes great and the texture is great (for gluten free bread) and most importantly my son really likes it, but we won't be buying it again.

A Gluten Free Camp Bestival Festival!

Almost two weeks ago we set off for our second Camp Bestival experience at the beautiful Lulworth Castle in Dorset. The kids absolutely love the whole experience from the freedom of camping to queueing for the loo at 7am, playing with clay at Daemons and Doppelganger, riding the Ferris wheel, engaging with the Camp Bestival bluecoats, Silly Science, pimping our trolley, the English National Ballet and Mr Tumble, the music is not great but I don't think most families go for the music!

 For my eldest, Seb, though the highlight of Camp Bestival is alway the food - not just any old food but gluten free food and LOTS of it. Before we went last year I spent hours on the Camp Bestival forum and google looking for gluten free food information, I didn't manage to find out much other than "don't worry, you'll be fine". So I thought it might be useful for future visitors to hear about our gluten free Camp Bestival experience.

Paellaria
Top awards go to the fabulous Paellaria stand, close to the main (Castle) stage this food stall definitely wins our "best gluten free Camp Bestival food" award. Suitable for coeliacs they offer a chicken and chorizo paella and a vegetarian option. Friendly service, decent prices and really, really good food. This is always our first stop and so good we always eat there twice. You can check them out on facebook HERE.

Pasta Heaven
Another stop of choice! Found in between the upper and lower kid's garden, Pasta Heaven offer gluten free pasta and freshly made sauces. Just tell them you need gluten free pasta and they'll cook it fresh for you, it makes the wait a bit longer, but they're knowledgeable about cross contamination so you won't get gluttoned! You can check them out on facebook HERE.

Chunky Chips and Wicked Dips
This is a firm favourite with the kids! Reasonably priced (for a festival!) freshly cooked chunky chips with a choice of toppings - they only fry chips in their fryers so they are definitely gluten free and really tasty, I like mine with baked beans. Check out their website HERE.

Thali Cafe
Really tasty chicken and vegetarian curry and rice. All festivals need a good curry and the chicken one is particularly tasty and gluten free! Check out their website HERE.

Manna Kitchen
Seriously clued up and *definitely* the best gluten free chocolate brownie I've ever tasted! They sell gluten free lunch boxes for kids (with gluten free rolls) for only £4.50 too. Their stall was in the farmer's market marquee in the upper kid's garden. Check out their website HERE.

Buttercupcakes
Not so good this year compared to last, but they still had a stock of gluten free biscuits available to ice and decorate (and non gluten free cupcakes) and definitely the cheapest place to buy a kid's drink (50p for a cup of orange or blackcurrant squash). You can check out their facebook site HERE.

The WI Tent
This is definitely the secret jewel in the catering crown of Camp Bestival. Gorgeous fresh made sandwiches (£2.50) and baguettes (£3) and lots and lots and lots of homemade cake. They had quite a few different gluten free cakes available (not on display though because of cross contamination, you had to ask). We loved their gluten free rocky road (£1) and had two pieces each, they also had gluten free lemon drizzle cake  and gluten free chocolate beetroot cake (no I didn't fancy it either!) and all for a good cause too!

Wagamama
We didn't  eat at the Wagamama at Camp Bestival, so I can't confirm if they could  definitely offer gluten free, but they are usually pretty  good at adapting their food to be gluten free - see HERE - so I'd be surprised if they didn't offer something.

The Hurly Burly
Again, we didn't eat here (we meant to, just ran out of time!) but they had a delicious sounding homemade gluten free cornbread, butter and jam on their breakfast menu, so I'm guessing they're be pretty clued up at lunch and dinner too.  Maybe next year! Check out their website HERE.

Texas Corn Roast
Sweet, tasty roasted corn - simple and gluten free, a great snack or a light lunch in the lower kids garden. Check out their website HERE.

and lastly.........Not Camp Bestival - but nearby Weymouth:

The Old Harbour Fish Bar
After we pitched our tent on the Thursday morning we headed into nearby Weymouth for the afternoon. We parked in one of the 1hr free parking bays at the marina and headed to the Old Harbour fish bad for some gluten free fish and chips, cooked freshly to order. They were definitely the best gluten free cod and chips I've ever had (and I've had a lot!), made only better by eating them on the harbour wall! Check out their reviews HERE.

I'm sure there were more that we missed too! All I can add is if you are planning on going to Camp Bestival in 2013 and you are a coeliac or in need of a gluten free diet don't panic, you will definitely be more than catered for!