The six best restaurants for celiacs in Barcelona

BarcelonaIt is well known that going to a restaurant is an odyssey for celiacs. In addition, they have to put up with statements like: "it's getting easier and easier" or "it's not like it was twenty years ago when there were no options." And that is certainly true, but it is also only half true, because celiac disease and gluten intolerance have a major drawback: beyond not eating wheat, oats and other cereals that contain gluten, traces are highly volatile and are found in the environment. It is useful to think of a cloud of flour shaken in the air, for example. This makes it practically impossible to eliminate them unless the food is prepared in a physically separate kitchen. Therefore, choosing a restaurant suitable for this public is not an easy task and establishments that take it seriously are highly valued by the celiac community.

This community moves very well in WhatsApp groups and on social networks, such as Facebook, where they are constantly asked for, as in an auction market, recommendations in this neighborhood of the city or in this tourist destination. However, in these groups, the recommendations tend to end up dying in the same establishments, rewarded by a public that suffers when, accidentally or through negligence, it is poisoned by a careless service or kitchen, causing stomach pain, bloating, vomiting and diarrhea. There is also the price factor: food suitable for celiacs is more expensive, and a good price policy pleases everyone. So this group has very clear, by repeating them, the establishments that are always designated as "the best".

In this area, pizza and pasta are winning options, since due to their high content of flour they are always dishes that are usually forbidden to this group. Likewise, the possibility of choosing between several options is very appreciated and appreciated, because normally these people are forced to accept the only option that is given to them even if it is a dish that they would never order.

The Pötstot restaurant is a unique tapas-based proposal in the Eixample where creative and allergen-free cuisine is the key. This restaurant has a particular history regarding the different allergies and preferences of its founders, since apart from being gluten-free, it also cooks lactose-free and is vegan (which may appeal more or less to a public that already has to give up numerous ingredients in its diet). With the wordplay of "jares (eat it all"), this establishment has as unmissable dishes the spicy sobrasada (the establishment's main attraction), the fermented cheese with cashew nuts, the croquettes of strains and black truffle and the Catalan spinach croquettes. fried almond milk dessert. The proposal has been so successful that They are about to open a second location in the Raval neighborhood, where L'Hortet used to be.

Messié is one of the establishments of reference for the celiac community due to the simplicity of a traditional offer for all audiences. It has two establishments in Barcelona (in Muntaner and in Torrent de l'Olla) and on its tables it serves options of salads, pasta, risotto and pizza, ideal for all age groups and gastronomic desires. During the week they have a set menu, but you can always eat à la carte. In these establishments you eat as if intolerance were not a problem and the à la carte portions are really generous. Messié is one of the basics consolidated in our house in a very natural way. The clientele of this establishment appreciates the tranquility of being able to go as a family and that everyone can eat without worries. In fact, the establishment is a good place to celebrate family gatherings and events such as birthdays. It is a parenthesis in the middle of celiac disease.

With a much healthier profile, the Teresa Carles group has in the Flax and Kale Passage a testing laboratory to see how far the seams of the most basic ingredients can go to convert them into imaginative gluten-free, vegan and vegetarian solutions. The establishment defines itself as a healthy and gluten-free restaurant, and its R&D-filled menu includes proposals such as kale chips, salmon tacos, a new vegetarian foie, pad thai, konjac risotto, all kinds of pizzas and desserts such as matcha tea cheesecake and strawberry cake. cookies. Here, customers highlight the wide variety of gluten-free dishes to choose from, which are traditional offerings with an additional contemporary touch. Some say that the dishes are elaborate, healthy and have surprising flavours. It is suitable for open-minded people.

The Grosso Napoletano pizzeria is a reference in the city and has its gluten-free version in a location on Calle de València, and also in The Style Outlets shopping centre in Viladecans. This restaurant serves very well-found pizzas that honour the authentic Neapolitan pizza. Itspizza makersThey make everything from the most emblematic and basic version of Margarita to the more sophisticated Diavola in a wood-fired oven that gives them the authentic pizza touch. The restaurant deserves a special mention, with an informal interior design with neon lights that aims to be fun and irreverent, far removed from the typical colorful Italian pizzeria. Customers highlight in their comments that the Neapolitan pizzas they offer are tasty, with a prominent cheese and tomato flavor. The service, however, has received a scolding from time to time.

In Barcelona's Eixample, Pizza Natura is a small restaurant dedicated to pizzas that aims to serve its healthiest version, although it also has dishes to share such as mini tacos, baked sweet potato sticks with barbecue sauce and chicken strips. As for the pizzas, there are all kinds: from the classic four cheeses to options with quail eggs, with burrata, one that is a hybrid with lasagna and one that innovates with torta del Casar. The dessert is a feast: cheesecake, brownie, tiramisu, and the sweet pizza with Naturella cocoa cream. This restaurant has good reviews from customers and they consider that the prices are reasonable enough. The space is not very large, but nevertheless the food is good.

With this challenging name, My Fucking Restaurant is a gluten-free restaurant, as all its recipes are gluten-free. This restaurant combines the Italian roots of its founders with Catalan cuisine, offering a selection well adapted to gluten-free gastronomy with a menu of tapas and dishes designed to share. Creative cuisine is the kite that guides its steps, so on its tables meats and croquettes coexist with award-winning vegetable dishes. This establishment proposes a fun concept that is committed to giving special prominence to vegetables. In addition, its chef designs short seasonal menus with a zero-waste philosophy: everything is reused. Customers emphasize that it maintains an interesting concept, but that it also needs to improve the quantity of the portions.