I eat gluten-free, not for fad reasons but because I get seriously ill if I don’t.
I only discovered this some four years ago and travel has been easier and harder ever since. Easier because I know to be more careful with food, and harder because I never know whether I’ll find something to eat.
I’m not really one who will look up restaurants and places to eat when travelling. I love food, I just don’t love it enough to search out trendy or not so trendy eateries. That said, these days I do look up places to eat, if only so that I can make sure that there is some place somewhere where I can eat something safely.
EATING GLUTEN-FREE IN COPENHAGEN
Last year I discovered that Copenhagen is a foodie’s dream. There’s gorgeous cafes and restaurants everywhere, and whilst not cheap, pretty much all the food we had was delicious. But the best thing was that in terms of gluten-free, Copenhagen was actually quite easy, especially if you come prepared with a few options of where to eat.
So here are 5 places that I tried and loved. And let’s just say that the bakery was my favourite by far! It’s not often that I get to go to a bakery these days so I went just a little overboard.
1. GRØD
Grød has made porridge popular again!
They now have four restaurants across Copenhagen but we only tried porridge at the breakfast bar at the indoor food market Torvehallerne KBH. The whole place looks beautiful and is a kind of porridge paradise. Perfect for a cold Copenhagen trip in March!
They serve both non-gluten-free and gluten-free porridge so make sure you order the right one. They’re pretty careful about cross-contamination and I had no issues but just have a chat with them if you’re concerned. Their gluten-free porridge is made from quinoa, and I had mine with blueberries, bananas and nuts. Definitely filling though a bit on the salty side.
They also serve lunch and dinner with a whole lot of gf-options, and that’s definitely on the menu for my next Copenhagen visit.
ADDRESS: Find them at Hal 2, Stade 8A, Linnésgade 17 (Israels Plads) or check their website for other locations.
2. 42RAW
42RAW is exactly what you think it is: Raw, vegan and also grain-free.
With four stores, it’s pretty easy to find one and indulge in some yummy vegan food. They even have one at the airport now.
I actually didn’t try much on their menu (we only had three days in Copenhagen and there are so many options!) but we did have afternoon tea here! I’m totally addicted to my German tradition of Kaffee & Kuchen, and ended up having a chai tea and a cacao & date muffin. I think it was delicious – or at least I can’t remember that it wasn’t. 🙂
We went to the restaurant in Pilestræde, and it was packed! You can’t book tables so just rock up, and hope for the best.
ADDRESS: Find them at Pilestræde 32 or at one of their other locations.
3. PALÆO
The paleo craze has probably ebbed away a bit now but my body still seems to function at its best if I mostly stick to meat, eggs, veg and fruit. And that’s what Palæo offers, including take-away!
And conveniently, they’re located right next to 42RAW so you can start at one and move onto the next eatery without too much exercise involved! Like the other places, they have quite a few stores now so if the restaurant in Pilestræde isn’t convenient, you’ve got a few more options.
The spaghetti bolognese came with zucchini and carrot pasta, yummy, and a perfect home-y sort of meal at the end of a cold day. I also ordered some green tea but that was entirely indigestible, I’m not sure what they did to that tea but I seriously couldn’t finish it. I had to wash it down with a berry mint smoothie.
My sister had a chicken wrap that used an egg omelette for the wrap, and she finished the whole thing so couldn’t have been too bad (especially for someone who used to be quite fussy as a child). 🙂
ADDRESS: Find them at Pilestræde 32 or at one of their other locations.
4. LANDBAGERIET
The Landbageriet (on the shopfront it says Naturbageriet so I’m not sure what their name is) offers both gluten-free and organic wheat products. Whilst they take care during baking, cross-contamination of flour particles or similar can occur since all products are kept together in the shop (though on separate shelves with the gf-products being on the top ones).
I bought several things and had no issues but sometimes I also think you just get lucky.
It’s a bit of a walk from the city centre but oh so worth it, their baked goods were delicious! They were so good that I made my sister go back with me the next day, and bought a whole heap of things for our flight home!
My favourite was definitely the æble-rissnegl! I can’t remember the last time I got to eat an apple scroll, and this one was gooey and apple-y and not overly sweet – yum yum yum. Their brownies and solbærsnitte, a kind of berry slice, were ridiculously yummy too.
ADDRESS: Find them at Frederiksborggade 29.
5. PAPIRØEN
Copenhagen has a vibrant street food scene these days, and I was super keen to have a look around Papirøen, or ‘Paper Island’. It’s a fabulous indoor food hall full of funky stalls that sell anything from Mexican, to Brazilian to Vietnamese food.
I had a delicious pulled pork egg wrap and a beetroot juice, tangy but refreshing. I used to hate beetroot, I don’t know why.
Sadly, I’ve just found out that Papirøen’s actually closing in a few days though the initiators are hoping to open again elsewhere in 2018. So ask Mr. Google, and maybe he’ll have some answers as to where to get gluten-free pulled pork wraps!
SUMMING UP
Gluten-free travel in Copenhagen is nowhere near as challenging as it is in other places.
There’s food everywhere, people have a fantastic command of English, gluten-free wasn’t a novel concept, and various cafes offer gf-options alongside their standard fare.
Because it was so cold, we spent a fair bit of time thawing ourselves in cafes with hot mugs of tea, and I never really felt like I missed out. There always seemed to be a gf-option on the menu (even if it was just cheese with gf-crackers).
If we’d have had more than three days, I’d probably also have discovered a ton of other options in other neighbourhoods!
PIN FOR LATER
No Comments