The Blue Mountains is a great spot for a holiday whether a long weekend or a full week like we just did before Christmas. This year I thought I would update an earlier blog I wrote about 5 Tips for Gluten Free Menus which was based on an earlier trip and I have updated my information about a few of my favourite dining spots. Unfortunately a couple have since closed including long term favourite Vesta’s at Blackheath. I am also including a few tips for dining with food intolerances to make travel a little easier.

1. Gluten Free Bread is nice but …think about the rest of the menu as well. We particularly enjoyed the gluten free high tea at the Hydro Majestic because we got to enjoy lots of delicious options which were all gluten free. They even toasted the bread which is essential when you are dealing with gluten free bread and had added a delicious herb focaccia with the vegetarian sandwich. Bonus points for this venue it has now added an excellent choice of gluten free scones providing both a plain and a date scone to the menu.  It also handled a request for a dairy free option particularly well and I was impressed that they could handle it over the phone on the day and didn’t require more notice.

2. Provide real gluten free options. At Anonymous Cafe at Blackheath the gluten free breakfast options included gluten free toast, spiced pumpkin loaf and a gluten free muesli. The spiced pumpkin loaf was served with marscopone and jam and was a delicious option. They have also opened a second cafe at Medlow Bath called Synonomous which we never got to but I am sure continues the tradition.

3. Multiple intolerances should be considered including dairy and egg so ideally include options which don’t double down on the intolerances. Adding more vegetable options is one way around it. Great breakfast options could include adding a vegetable hash with optional inclusions such as salmon, egg or bacon. The Conservation Hut at Wentworth Falls offered a smoked trout hash with a poached egg and was happy to leave it off when requested. The Annonymous cafe at Blackheath also offered a black rice and coconut pudding option for breakfast – a bit different and interesting but covered a range of intolerances.

4. Mark the menu with the gluten free and other options, such as vegetarian and vegan. This means when you search menu’s its easy to see if there are real gluten free options and quickly identify what they are. The Ori Cafe at Springwood and Papadino’s at Katoomba both have well marked menu’s with a good range of options. A recent find at Katoomba was the Palette Diner where v stood for vegan options making it easier to find options for my daughter who is dairy free as well. The Must Try is the gluten free crumbed chicken and ribs as well as the vegan cauliflower. Servings are generous so don’t make our mistake and over order.

5. Technology can be very useful – Trip Advisor is a great app for checking out whether local restaurants can accomodate special dietary needs, however I would still ring ahead and check if something isn’t marked. Leura Garage was good at listing gluten free options but seemed rattled when asked about dairy free and surprisingly had dairy in the roast lamb. Possibly it wasn’t a good day to check with the server but overall they didn’t handle a request particularly well and options were very limited.

Its 2019 and one in six children now have allergies or food intolerances so its increasingly important that restaurants and cafes manage intolerances as well as possible. Recently we were in Oberon and arrived after 230 so most places had shut. We ended up buying a picnic lunch at the local IGA as there wasn’t anywhere that could accomodate gluten free.

Let me know if you have any good tips for managing travel with allergies in the comments below.