Gluten free supermarkets, Quebec Province

After travelling around Quebec Province for the past couple of weeks, here are some supermarkets I have found that stock a good selection of GF food:

1. Provigo Supermarket, Mont Royal, Montreal. Turn left out of Mont Royal station and walk up the hill slightly, and this supermarket is not too far up. It had a good selection of cereal, cookies and packet mixes if you have your own kitchen. It also had gluten free bread and waffles in the freezer section.

2. IGA supermarket, Riviere du Loup. There is a coop supermarket across the road that had nothing, but after asking an employee at the IGA, I was directed to an aisle of GF cookies, mixes and frozen goods (pizza, bread, bagels, waffles) and then oppostie was another aisle with more GF cereal in amongst other cereals.

Although this IGA had food, some of them don't and it really seems to be dependant on where you are. I will add the name of the IGA store I found with food when I can remember the name of the town it was in (when i find my map!). I also found that METRO supermarkets often have small packaged salads with a full list of ingredients and these did not make me sick in any way and were really tasty. I mainly bought cereal and cereal bars/cookies as snacks. All the hotels would provide me with a bowl and milk to put my cereal in at breakfast (and cookies are always nice as a snack when you are faced with salad and fruit most the time!)

Gite Mont Albert, Gaspesie National Park, Quebec

After travelling around Quebec province I have had various experiences of finding gluten free food (see next blog post for more information on supermarkets, etc). I have had postive results in most places where I have informed them of my coeliac disease, however Gite Mont Albert in the Gaspesie National Park definitely deserves a mention. Although I had planned a trip around Quebec province, I did not contact any of the hotels about my gluten intolerance before I turned up, as I didn't always know if I would be eating in the hotel restaurant. On arriving at Gite Mont Albert, I was offered a special rate on my dinner and breakfast, but as I had already learnt from previous hotels, the buffet breakfast is rarely worth paying for, and I would generally just pay for a separate bowl of fruit and take my own cereal. On informing them that I had a gluten intolerance, they seemed to understand straight away and agreed it would be cheaper for me to 'pay as I go' so to speak. At dinner the first evening, the waitress knew of my allergy, and I was bought a special basket of GF toast and crackers to go with my meal. I was also informed of what dishes were suitable and that any sauces that weren't gluten free could be adapted. I had an excellent main course of halibut with rice noodles, followed by fruit salad for dessert with GF cookies. At breakfast the next day, I was asked what I would like from the a-la carte menu, and I said I'd just like some fruit. I was then asked if I would like GF toast and homemade jam, which of course I accepted, and struggled to finish as i wa also presented with a massive plate of fruit!
Dinner the following night was just as good, and the sauce ingredients were checked with me beforehand and were all fine, and again I had bread and cookies. I would definitely recommend this as a place for coeliacs, as the walking is amazing and the food is excellent. They clearly have a good understanding of coeliac disease and were prepared for travelers with the condition without any advance warning.

Parador, Sos Del Catolico, Spain

I had been told Parador's in Spain do gluten free menu's but I hadn't been to one until now.
We hadn't booked a room, we just turned up so I didn't warn them in advance of my coeliac disease. On the dinner menu, there was a separate menu for coeliacs with a about 6-7 dishes. I had a salad with nuts and cheese to start, and then some eggs and potatoes, but there was fish, meat and other dishes to choose from. As I had ordered from the coeliac menu, I was then presented with a paper bag with a fresh from the oven GF baguette in it, all separately wrapped for me. It was delicious, and great to be able to eat something whilst other people were tucking into their standard bread rolls.
For dessert I had the option of fruit salad or pears with biscuits. I had the fruit as I was so full up from the large portion sizes of the other courses.
Breakfast is a buffet, but there is loads of fresh fruit, juice and coffee/tea etc. And to my surprise I found separate containers, three of which were labeled for coeliacs. These contained chocolate wafer biscuits, corn slices and rice cakes. The corn slices were really good with jam on top (the jam came in separate jars) and so were the chocolate biscuits! I didn't bother with the rice cakes as I'm not a massive fan and there was so much fruit I didn't need much else.
Would really recommend staying here. It's on top of the mountains and has great walks into the town and after a short drive. They also do special rates for 20-35 year olds and over 55's, so can be good value if you fit into either category!

Logis de France, Domaine du Pont l’Eyre (near Bordeaux), France

On arrival at this Logis de France hotel I checked in, then was asked if I was the ‘sans gluten’ (gluten free) guest. To this I replied yes, and then I was shown all the produce they had just bought on a trip to Bordeaux that morning. The owners had bought GF cookies, baguettes, sliced bread and pasta. I think because one of them is the main chef he was keen to please, and I was both pleased and slightly embarrassed at all the effort they had gone too (especially as although I had mentioned on the online booking form about my allergy, the hotel is in the middle of a small town, and therefore I expected to not be able to eat much at all!) I have also found it hard to by gluten free produce in a lot of French supermarkets in the past so maybe it is getting slightly better.
For dinner that evening, I had the 'surprise' 3 course set menu, of course reminding them about it being gluten free. Whilst making my food, the waitress came out a few times to ask if I was allowed cream, and parmesan cheese.
My starter consisted of half a lobster with salad. It was amazing. Then I had fillet steak with vegetables and a side of the gluten free pasta the chef had bought earlier. I had also been given 2 slices of GF bread to accompany my meal and by this time I was pretty full! But then dessert came out....it was lots of little desserts, all gluten free. I had a small raspberry mousse, a small creme brulee, a piece of dark chocolate mousse 'cake' and some sorbet with a GF cookie on top. It was all amazing but I've never eaten so much food in one place!
For breakfast the next morning I had a pack of 2 gluten free rolls sealed and laid out for me, a small portion of strawberries and a yogurt. I didn't need a lot of the food I've packed after all!
I really recommend staying here, I was really looked after and the rooms were also lovely and extremely comfortable. It's a great stop off for those travelling from the UK to Spain by car as I was.

Kyriad Hotel, Chartres, France

Although I had informed the hotel beforehand, there was no mention of anything gluten free on arrival. However, the restaurant served a few dishes that didn’t appear to need altering. On the first night I had salmon and plain rice which was straight off the menu (it would have been nice to have some vegetables with it but none of the main courses seemed to come with them). Then I had fruit salad for desert.
The next evening I had a lentil salad with sausages for a starter. Most French sausages are gluten free but it is always wise to check before ordering. I then had a lamb tagine with quinoa and chickpeas which was GF.
The only downside was breakfast. It was mainly bread, croissant and cereal. I managed to have some dried fruit and yogurt but I travel with supplies anyway, so I had my own GF bread with butter and jam (as the butter and jam both came individually wrapped so no fear of cross contamination). Overall I would recommend staying here, but bring breakfast supplies unless you just want yogurt and juice and tea/coffee.

Holiday Inn, Liverpool City Centre

Whilst speaking at a conference in Liverpool, held at the Holiday Inn, I informed the conference staff about my food allergies as lunch was included as part of the conference package.
They told the hotel restaurant manager at the Holiday Inn, and they arranged a special lunch for me. Whilst everyone else was helping themselves to buffet food, I was told my meal was being cooked and would be about 10 minutes. I half expected something bland and inedible but to my surprise I was presented with a stirfry and rice which was all gluten free. Not only was I given a meal, but something I would eat normally!
Even though this was in a conference situation, the food was supplied by the hotels restaurant so I'm sure anyone staying there could inform them of their food allergies prior to arriving and would be given the same treatment.

51, Southport UK

I had to speak at a conference in Liverpool lately which involved staying up the road i Southport for a couple of nights.
One night I walked to 51, The Promenade for dinner. It's an Italian restaurant and although they do pasta, they also do freshly cooked Italian food (think fresh fish, steak, chicken, etc)
I told the manager about my allergy and he knew straight away what coeliac disease was and pointed out everything on the menu I could eat (which turned out to be at least 90% of it). I had sea-bass with potatoes and vegetables and it was the most delicious thing I've tasted in a while. The food was so good I couldn't resist dessert and asked about the pavlova. The manager was honest and said that unfortunately they put it on a layer of flour so it comes off the board easily (other than that it would have been gluten free) so I had the lemon posset instead with raspberries. Again it was delicious!
A really great place to eat out in Southport, would definitely go again if I was ever in the area. Friendly service and reasonably priced, especially as they do offers in the week.