A question for coeliacs/gluten avoiders

[Boglin]

What options would you like to find in a café for breakfast and/or lunch? And what are you sick of seeing as the GF option/s?

I'd like a GF bacon or sausage sandwich or a full english breakfast.

For lunch a nice sandwich or jacket potato.

I would love if the sausages were gluten free, you hardly ever get them when eating out!

I would avoid gluten free chocolate brownies- these are the gf choice in loads of places

Gf posh burger

Ooooh yes a good burger.

My father has to be gf.
He just wants normal traditional British meals.
A lot of GF meals seen to be aimed at the health conscious crowd. (Lots of salads and stir-fries)
Or those with more interesting tastes. (Chillies, curries, spiced this or that)

He's just an old British man, who likes the hearty food of his childhood, and doesn't eat 'rabbit-food'.

Main meals are often ok. Meat, potatoes, veg.
But for lunch he really wants things like sandwiches, with bread (not wraps or pitta)

My DP is a coeliac and he would love to be able to have a decent pastry like a pain au raisin. Also pancakes, French toast

Lunch wise, a decent sandwich with good gf bread. And chips that aren't cooked in the same oil as something containing gluten. Or gluten free mac n cheese.

DP said he would also love a panini - on its own gf panini machine- cross contamination ruins many a meal for him unfortunately.

Seconding the cross contamination issue, things like chips are usually gf and then you spoil it by cooking it in the same oil

Cross contamination is a nightmare.

DS2 is thoroughly fed up with baked potato being the only/default GF option. He now hates them (after being offered them exclusively for school dinners for months). He particularly hates it when he can’t have chips and is offered a baked potato as a substitute.

He’s also often thwarted by the GF = health food assumption. He’s 9 and is not going to eat a salad (I’ve tried, but it’s not happening).

He’d love a restaurant selling SE Asian food that he can eat. There’s Wagamama, but for some reason their GF menu doesn’t seem to feature any rice (which is naturally GF). He loves rice.

Thank you for all your replies, DH and I will be opening a café next spring and obviously we want to provide options for as many people as possible but GF isn't something we have to consider for ourselves so this is really useful.

Oh one more thing!

Gluten free gravy! DP hates it when he can’t have gravy!

Yes I agree that so often the GF choices are less appealing. My Dd just wants GF versions of the food she used to enjoy out before being diagnosed. She's already sick of the dry brownies!

Croissant/pain au chocolat
Sausage sandwich
Full English and/or variations of eg scrambled egg on toast etc, dippy eggs
Muffins

And for lunches
Hot pasta dishes
Sandwiches and toasties - simple kid friendly fillings, nothing too trendy
Quiche
Jacket potato
Cottage pie etc
Macaroni cheese

I really recommend the gluten free cakes from The Handmade Cake company, I use them at work for gluten free customers and as someone who can eat gluten I’ll often eat their caramel shortbread as it’s just as nice as a “normal” one.

Please be careful with gluten free stuff. If the person asks for gluten free toast make sure every item on the plate is also gluten free. My brother has ended up in hospital several times because of contamination.

I agree that a good pastry would be amazing. I’d like a croissant. Toasted tea cake or fruit bread would be nice for breakfast as would a sausage barm!

Paninis would be nice for lunch or soups/stews/pasta.

Please...no more chocolate brownies. I’m sick of them as it’s often the only option you get EVERYWHERE you go.

My DD2 is intolerant - not full coeliac so contamination isn't a great issue for her, but she suffers with real pain if she eats wheat. Her main gripe is a lack of bread - sandwiches, paninis, naan bread - but she would also like to see a greater choice of cakes. Brownies and flapjacks don't cut it, and there are so many good substitutes available. I have converted the things I bake and I can do banana cake, ginger cake, proper US style cookies, pancakes, apple drizzle cake and apple pie. There's a site called Gluten Free on a Shoestring that has great recipes that work.

A gluten free option on the kids menu, I've found so many places only do gf for adult meals meaning we not only had to pay the adult price for a young child who wouldn't eat the whole meal but they also missed out on the pudding/drink/toy that often comes with the kids option. Also a gf option which is also dairy free would be great.

Just a point to say that offering a jacket potato is fine as a light lunch, but if I go for a steak or a burger having to have a jacket spud instead of chips with it is really soul destroying - I have had meals that just tastes of cardboard and stodge .
And watch for random stuff like salad dressing having gf.
If you have a poor food range but are fantastic on cross contamination and checking ingredients then I would happily come back anyway.
Also, don't forget that Gf sufferers may not feel any nasty side effects immediately and some people will get away with more than others. If there is a slip up somewhere along the line don't be arsey with them just because everything seemed fine during the meal!

Spring rolls! I love them I haven't been able to eat them in FIFTEEN YEARS but I've found a pork pie that I can eat suprised that I love it I wasn't mad keen on them when I was younger

We would only eat out if we were reassured that the café / restaurant had a good understanding of the cross-contamination risks for coeliacs, i.e the food is gluten free AND prepared separately to the gluten-based foods. Separate toasters / panini grills, fryers etc. Loads of places we've visited have had 'gluten-free' cakes displayed on a plate next to / beneath the crumbly gluten cakes, so almost certainly wouldn't be suitable for coeliacs.

My sister is coeliac and rolls her eyes at brownies. Also if you are doing it properly then be aware of cross contamination not just the obvious keeping knives separate but things like putting the none gluten cakes above the gluten ones in a cabinet would make my sister walk out.

Great minds @schooltripwoes

My OH is GF and soya intolerant. He says a proper decent burger would be fab. Also, all day breakfasts with GF sausage and proper GF bread toasted.

And also I'm tired with a 10 week old of course mean the gluten above the gluten free would make my sister leave an establishment.

Gluten AND dairy free options would be great too. Often the gf choice is a baked potato but the toppings are not gf or have dairy. Good gf bread and dairy free margarine for sandwiches with suitable fillings too! Same for cake - have at least one gf and df option and not the obligatory brownie please 😊

It's difficult being gf but even worse being gf and df!

Thank you all. Brownies were what I was thinking of when I wondered if there was stuff people were sick of, they always seem to be the default GF option! We will be making our own cakes so can have a play around between now and opening to try and find some alternatives! Our soups will be GF as standard and there will be various jacket potato options. Is there a sandwich filling equivalent of the ubiquitous brownie that I should avoid??

I will read up more on cross-contamination and see what is practical and feasible for us. I won't advertise something as GF until I'm satisfied it is truly GF. For this reason we won't be nut-free as we won't be able to guarantee it in our circumstances.