Amanda1992

I have celiac disease and recently got off the Valiant Lady. Here is my review and photos of the gluten free food I ate!

 

I overall thought Virgin had a wide array of tasty gluten free food. I was able to eat something at every venue and didn't have to pre-order which was nice. Virgin has much greater selection of gluten free desserts than other cruise lines. Most waiters were allergy conscious and knowledgeable about gluten or asked a Chef who was. I only had one waiter (in The Test Kitchen) who seemed to have no idea what gluten was. The only time I felt sick on board was after eating a breakfast toast in the gally, but my symptoms were minor and I may have just been hung over... 

 

The Galley: Breakfast

 

Gluten free breakfast options in the Galley included eggs, bacon, toasts, bagels, fruit, ramen etc. 

 

I mostly ate the made to order omelets which were delicious. The sandwich place can also do any toast/sandwich gluten free. The gluten free bread on board is actually pretty tasty and has an nutty taste/ texture. The breakfast hashbrowns are made in a shared fryer and aren't safe unfortunately.

 

The taco place is open for breakfast but the burritos are made from flour and are NOT gluten free. One day they had a bean breakfast taco that was gluten free and they opened a new grill to cook it for me to avoid cross contamination. 

 

I didn't inquire about whether the breakfast sausage was gluten free or if there were any gluten free pancakes etc available, but it's possible those might be options.

 

Made to order omelet with bacon.

Nutella Banana Toast

 

The Galley: Lunch 

 

I think every place in the galley can do a gluten free options, but this is what I ate.

 

 

Thai Curry Ramen - Excellent. All the broths are gluten free but you have ask them to substitute rice noodles.

Pork and Grilled Fish Tacos - Decent but not amazing. At lunch the taco place just does corn tortilla tacos which lowers the cross contamination risk.

 

The Galley Desserts

The dessert place in galley lists the allergens of each dish. There were the same five gluten free desserts each day. I don't remember their names but they were delicious. The pistachio macaron is the standout. 

 

Extra Virgin

 

The only gluten free pasta option was penne BUT they could make any of the sauces gluten free. The pasta was cooked in a separate pot of water. There were likely gluten free mains available but I opted to eat three half potions of pasta rather than a main! 

 

Caesar Salad with breadcrumbs removed - delicious

Carbona, Bolognaise, and Truffle Spinach pasta. All delicious but the Carbona was the standout. 

Charcuterie with gluten free bread - Tasty

  Chestnut - Castagnaccio - I didn't like this. The texture was weird and grainy.

 

Razzle Dazzle Brunch:

 

Gluten Free Banana Muffin - Surprisingly delicious 

Goat Cheese, Mushroom, and Potato Frittata - Incredible. One of the best things I ate on Board. 

Bacon - I don't know what they did to this bacon but it was incredible. 

 

Razzle Dazzle Dinner: 

 

Pork Belly and King Trumpet Carpaccio - both tasty

Short Rib Pastrami - Razzle Dazzle has no gluten free mains listed on the menu and the waiter told me this was the only thing that could be modified to be gluten free. I was initially disappointed to have no other options BUT this ended up being exceptional. The meat was incredibly tender and flavorful. The original side to the dish has gluten so they brought me this potato carrot plate which was uninspiring.

 

Creme Brule - Great

 

Pink Agave

Basically entire menu is naturally gluten free.

 

Guac, Street Corn, and some kind of mixed nuts - all great

Shrimp - Decent but the Dock House makes better shrimp

Chicken Enchiladas - Kinda dry and needed more flavor 

Pork - tasty

 

The Wake - Brunch

The eggs benedicts can be made on gluten free bread! 

 

 

The Wake - Dinner 

Basically all the mains are or can be gluten free. 

Wedge Salad - they had to remove something to make this gluten free but I can't remember what. This was delicious.

Polenta Main - Great

Salmon - Good but I regretted not getting a sauce on the side as it was a bit dry

Lemon Cheesecake - without the cookie crumble on top this is gluten free. This was one of my favorite desserts on the ship.

 

The Test Kitchen  

I hated the Test Kitchen. My waiter seemed confused between gluten and dairy and just didn't seen as aware as the waiters in the other restaurants. I also thought the food was mediocre and not the elevated dinning experience advertised. 

 

Mushroom - I actually liked this but received no gluten free bread to go with it.

Peas - This just tasted like peas and was bland.

Scallops - were tough

Beef - just ok

Potato - Tasty although my waiter brought me this, removed it, and then brought it back. I'm not sure why. I didn't feel sick after this meal though so I assume it was gluten free. 

I was initially brought this instead of the blue cheese because my waiter said the blue cheese had dairy. After reminding my waiter I could eat dairy I was brought the blue cheese dish.

Blue Cheese - Decent. Actually not that blue cheesy though.

This was the gluten free alternative dessert. I believe it was coconut based. It was just ok. 

 

The Dock House

I was obsessed with the dock house and thought it made some of the best food on the ship. They were able to modify everything I asked for to be gluten free. I think it was all basically gluten free to start with and just needed to have the bread removed. The shrimp and polenta were my favorite things on board. 

 

 

The Social Club:

 

The Social Club had lots of gluten free desserts including flavored marshmallows, fudge, and some kind of nut brittle. They also have popcorn. Unfortunately this is the only photo I took. 

 

The Pizza Place:

Gluten free pizza was available but was pretty terrible. I still ate an entire pizza drunk at 2:00a.m. though... and it was nice to have an option. Only the tomato sauce is gluten free, the white sauce is not. 

 

Stray Thoughts: 

- the coffee shop had gluten free muffins and chocolate chip cookies on a separate plate. I had a chocolate muffin one day and it was great

- the ice cream shop clearly lists allergens but had a limited number of gluten free options 

- most bars had gluten free Kettle One vodka soda cans

- the frozen drink mixed used in the bars is gluten free 

 

Bonus Tip:

If you have time while in Miami go to 'La Leggenda Pizzeria' in South Beach. They have truly the best gluten free pizza I've ever eaten. They also have a separate prep area for gluten free and cook pizza on a tray in the oven to avoid cross contamination.