Gluten-free options in Baltic ports

[cmph]

I have been researching gluten-free options in our ports and was wondering if anyone had any additional suggestions to add to my list below. We'd love to be able to enjoy local dining/snacks. Both my husband and son have celiac disease, so my list is limited to places I have found that seem to have good safety reviews (from a gf perspective) or are dedicated gf. Also, 1) they are either generally in walking distance to the tourist sites we're visiting - nothing out in suburbs areas or the like, and 2) I don't include much of the vegan/raw food/salads-only/health-focused types of places (my son is annoyed enough with the celiac diagnosis and isn't ready for further limitations!). 

 

Helsinki:

- Zetor https://www.raflaamo.fi/fi/ravintola/helsinki/zetor/menu/1031/ruokalista 

- Happy Waffle https://www.happywaffle.fi/en/menu/

- WaffDaddy, https://www.waffdaddy.fi/#menu

 

Kotka: no great options. 

 

Visby:

- Holy Kebab https://holykebab.se/gotland/ 

- Sankt Hans http://www.sthansvisby.se/

Tallinn:

- best option is closed on Mondays unfortunately, which is our port day (https://kivipaber.ee/).

- Kohvik Vaffel https://www.vaffel.ee/

 

Gdansk: only looked at snack options, limited time in port for us
- Lody Soprano ice cream
- Kawiarnia Retro https://www.facebook.com/RetroGdansk

 

Riga: 
- Better Bread https://www.betterbread.lv/

Warnemunde port: 
- Zum Feinspitz in Schwerin (have a tour booked in Schwerin) https://www.zum-feinspitz.de/speisekarte
- Warnemunde itself – really can’t find anything gf, would love any dinner ideas!

 
Lubeck (port is Kiel, but we're going to Lubeck - happy for suggestions in either location though):

- Kleines Nudelhaus https://www.facebook.com/kleinesnudelhaus/

 

Stockholm (longer list - embarking here, so we have a couple days pre-stay):

-Under Kastanjen https://underkastanjen.se/ 
- Bishops Arms https://www.bishopsarms.com/vara-pubar/stockholm/gamla-stan/
- Eggs Inc. https://eggsinc.se/our-menu/
- A la Crepe https://www.crepes.nu/
- Meatballs for the People http://meatball.se/sve-menyer/
- Vrak – Museum of Wrecks cafe

- there are multiple other gf bakeries I've come upon, such as Happy Atelier, but not really convenient to tourist sites on our list or where we're staying (Gamla Stan).

 

Klaipeda – not well-researched, as we have a long excursion booked and won't have time for anything else. This place sounds great though https://www.namaibegliuteno.lt/.

[dd57]

I use findmeglutenfree.com to research options.  They seem to have info for places all over the world.  Be sure to read the reviews for a place, especially if celiac is a concern.

[kitkat343]

I have absolutely no idea about this, but have you ever contacted the special needs department?  Would your cruise line be willing to make you "to go" food that accommodates your celiac needs if you are unable to find alternatives in port?

[cmph]

16 hours ago, dd57 said:

I use findmeglutenfree.com to research options.  They seem to have info for places all over the world.  Be sure to read the reviews for a place, especially if celiac is a concern.

Thanks, that's our usual source too! That was my starting point for this effort, so it was the basis for about 95% of the list above. I haven't had great luck finding additional sources though, and I was hoping others might have had some luck on their own in recent years.

[cmph]

13 hours ago, kitkat343 said:

I have absolutely no idea about this, but have you ever contacted the special needs department?  Would your cruise line be willing to make you "to go" food that accommodates your celiac needs if you are unable to find alternatives in port?

I have submitted special needs forms for them, but I was hoping we could find local spots. If we can't, we'll just time our touring around meals and bring sealed snacks. 

[kitkat343]

57 minutes ago, cmph said:

I have submitted special needs forms for them, but I was hoping we could find local spots. If we can't, we'll just time our touring around meals and bring sealed snacks. 

absolutely - it's a good idea to find local spots.  I just wanted you to have a backup plan, and had heard from someone that DCL did this for their child and thought it would be the easiest backup, rather than needing to bring a lot of sealed snacks with you.

[cmph]

12 minutes ago, kitkat343 said:

absolutely - it's a good idea to find local spots.  I just wanted you to have a backup plan, and had heard from someone that DCL did this for their child and thought it would be the easiest backup, rather than needing to bring a lot of sealed snacks with you.

We'll be on NCL for this, our first NCL... feels like a bit of an adventure in terms of food, both on and off ship! DCL doesn't go to all these ports. It's actually my kids' first non-DCL cruise (chosen by them, b/c of the ports). But my son is 14 and will definitely be able to get by with packaged snacks, moreso than a little kid, and we have no problem stopping in grocery stores for things on the fly. It would be a nice bonus to get some good meals in port during OYO time, but we aren't banking on it. 

[Scottishclover]

We did a Baltic cruise last year. My husband has coeliac disease and my two daughters are vegan. Eating out can be very challenging. Can’t help you with particular places to eat but I did note that Helsinki in particular was very gf and vegan friendly. Lots of options on most menus. Eating out in Scandinavia is so expensive though. Most of the time my husband snacked on fruit and cereal bars and had something when back on the ship. I appreciate you taking the time to research these places. 

[GeezerCouple]

On 4/6/2023 at 2:58 AM, kitkat343 said:

I have absolutely no idea about this, but have you ever contacted the special needs department?  Would your cruise line be willing to make you "to go" food that accommodates your celiac needs if you are unable to find alternatives in port?

 

Many ports/countries have strict regulations about what foods, if any, may be brought into the country.  This may not be a possibility regardless of whether a cruise line would be willing to help out.

GC

[kitkat343]

15 hours ago, GeezerCouple said:

 

Many ports/countries have strict regulations about what foods, if any, may be brought into the country.  This may not be a possibility regardless of whether a cruise line would be willing to help out.

GC

That's an excellent point, and a very good thing to ask the special needs department.  I knew someone who did this on a Disney cruise, but that doesn't necessarily mean they were following the local law (their child wasn't just allergic to gluten - the child's body literally could not process it and the child had once needed a surgery on their lower intestines after accidentally eating something with gluten so the parents were understandably very strict about his diet, and for years wouldn't travel any other way but on Disney cruises because they really trusted the safety protocols of their dining department).  

[Apel]

If the author of this article is to be trusted I don't think you need to worry about Sweden. 

 

https://www.self.com/story/im-a-foodie-with-celiac-disease

[cmph]

18 hours ago, Apel said:

If the author of this article is to be trusted I don't think you need to worry about Sweden. 

 

https://www.self.com/story/im-a-foodie-with-celiac-disease

Wow, that's fascinating! We're American, but my husband's ancestry is actually Swedish on his dad's side. Guess that makes quite a lot of sense, then. 

 

Thank you for sharing! 

[JHLH821]

We recently booked a Baltic cruise and have also been researching meal options, mostly for lunch but many establishments on this list also serve dinner. 

 

Goteborg

https://www.restauranghumm.se/
https://sjobaren.se/
https://happymekitchen.se/
https://smaka.se/
https://cyrano.se/Restaurant/Detail?Url=cyrano-vasa

 

Kiel
https://www.manufactur-kiel.de/
https://www.lueneburghaus.de/restaurant/
https://elmoevenschiss-schilksee.de/

 

Rostock/Warnemunde
https://www.ottos-restaurantschiff.de/
https://www.vapiano.de/de/standorte/rostock-neuer-markt
https://carlo615.de/
https://www.zuiis-restaurant.de/
https://www.borwin-hafenrestaurant.de/
https://www.rosmarino-rostock.de/en/

 

Ronne
https://www.casamia-bornholm.dk/
https://www.cafe-munter.dk/

 

Klaipeda

https://www.charliepizza.lt/lt/
https://www.cityport.lt/
https://www.katpedele.lt/
https://momogrill.lt/
https://www.restoranasmonai.lt/

Visby
http://www.bakfickanvisby.se/
https://www.ettrumforresandecafe.com/

Stockholm
https://underkastanjen.se/  Under the Chestnut
https://www.slingerbulten.com/
https://www.facebook.com/stockholmsgastabud

 

 

[winifred]

Thank you for all this interesting information, we  are on a Baltic cruise very soon and I need a gluten free diet. There are times on past cruises that  I just don’t eat when I am off the ship as eating out can be “tricky” but this has helped a lot!
With the high rates of coeliac in Sweden this confirms a suspicion that my family may have Viking ancestry! There are  high coeliac rates  in Italy too which means its great for eating out if you are gluten free,  but with my height and fair Celtic skin I doubt I’m in any way Italian! 
 

Anyway thanks again! 

Edited June 13, 2023 by winifred

[SimplyMarvie]

Hiya! We're living in Riga and my husband has a gluten allergy. There are a number of places in Riga that have gluten free options. Street Burger does a gluten free hamburger, Da Roberta at Aleksandra Caka Iela does Gluten Free pizza, Space Felafel on Antionijas does a Gluten Free menu, and a lot of places have gluten free options. (I've seen a couple of Indian restaurants listed on Gluten Free lists, but I'd avoid them... we have yet to find a god Gluten Free option.)

[ozscotart]

4 hours ago, SimplyMarvie said:

Hiya! We're living in Riga and my husband has a gluten allergy. There are a number of places in Riga that have gluten free options. Street Burger does a gluten free hamburger, Da Roberta at Aleksandra Caka Iela does Gluten Free pizza, Space Felafel on Antionijas does a Gluten Free menu, and a lot of places have gluten free options. (I've seen a couple of Indian restaurants listed on Gluten Free lists, but I'd avoid them... we have yet to find a god Gluten Free option.)

Thanks very much for this, very helpful 

[cmph]

We just returned from our trip, so I wanted to report back on successes or lack thereof. 🙂 Good news is: no one got "glutened" the whole 2 weeks!

 

Stockholm:

-Under Kastanjen https://underkastanjen.se/  - great!! We ate here twice (lunch the first day, dinner the next), wonderful Swedish meatballs that are naturally gf, great gf chocolate cake.
- Bishops Arms https://www.bishopsarms.com/vara-pubar/stockholm/gamla-stan/ - kind of a weird choice for Sweden, but it was convenient, and they had gf buns for burgers plus safe entrees. We seemed to be the only non-locals in there.
- Vrak – Museum of Wrecks cafe - this did not work out. They only had a food truck outside, instead of the indoor cafe, and the truck had enough bread for 1 sandwich and nothing else. We instead went to the Viking Museum next store, which also had a casual eatery. My husband got some traditional pickled herring dish that he enjoyed, and my son again got Swedish meatballs, which he liked, but not as much as Under Kastanjen's.

-new addition hotel breakfast (Hotel Gamla Stan) - amazing breakfast buffet included with stay. SO good. They had one side set up as all gf - bread, crackers, yogurt with toppings, mini-panna cottas, mini-chia seed puddings, 5 kinds of smoothies. And you could ask for made-to-order gf pancakes. The non-gf side had things that were also safe (just be forewarned about cross-contamination from other guests) - eggs, breakfast meats, etc. We all agreed this was the BEST hotel breakfast we have ever had, and the attention to variety for gf was a huge and pleasant surprise.

 

Helsinki:

Sadly, many things were closed for midsummer, so our day's plans were not what I had hoped for when i began planning months ago. We ended up at Cafe Carusel on the Eira hop-on/hop-off stop. The food situation was dicey, from a meal perspective, but they had an ice cream case near the register with 3 Friends, a Finnish brand of ice cream marked as gf. My son was so happy! He loved his first bar so much that we went back and bought him a second variety. He's very sad that this isn't sold elsewhere - much better than similar items we have in the US, he says.

 

Hamina, Finland:

new addition Konditoria Huovila Oy - we stopped at this tiny cafe in the center of town during OYO time on our tour. They had a gf chocolate cake in its own case, which the workers dished for you. Everything else was self-serve. I'm not sure if there were any meal options, and language would be an issue if you don't speak Finnish. We could easily mime for the piece of cake, and everything else (from cups for coffee to all the non-gf baked goods on the counter) was self-serve. This was an unexpected find, as we were only originally stopping in for drinks and to use the toilets.

 

Visby:

Holy Kebab - they had actual gf wraps for the kebabs. Huge! The guys were both very happy with their meals.

 

Tallinn:

new addition Kohvik Must Puudel - this was a good stop for a light lunch. They had safe gf fries and sweet potato fries as well as a number of salads. My son isn't one for salads, but he was fine with fries and the halloumi/watermelon dish. My husband and I had two different salads that were quite good and both gf, just not very large for a main meal (fine for a hot day though).

 

Gdansk:

- Lody Soprano ice cream - soft serve, I think they had 6 flavors available, and you could swirl two for certain flavors. I had blackcurrant, just to get something different from the US. I think my daughter had chocolate/vanilla, and i know my son had salted caramel swirled with vanilla. They do not have cups, but they have gf cones and were very careful in handling the cone.
- Kawiarnia Retro - second treat for my son here! (NCL had pretty sad gf dessert offerings on our cruise, tbh, not super interested in making things specially, oftentimes just bad ice cream with ice chunks in it, soft serve machine not always working and never had more than chocolate flavor. So we let him splurge on this port day with 2 treats.) He loved his salted caramel cheesecake brownie, which my husband snagged a bite of and reported was delicious. 

 

Riga:

Better Bread - great (tiny!) bakery. We turned this stop into lunch, as they had goat cheese filled pastries plus dessert items (we tried brownies, an apple dessert, cardamom bun, and chocolate bun). We were there on the late side for lunch, probably 1:30, 2, and I think we decimated half of their remaining items with our order. So I would recommend not waiting too long in the day. And be forewarned it is tiny and easy to miss. They had a few tables outside, so we were able to eat there, but in bad weather - there is nowhere to eat; it's just an ordering counter inside.

 

Warnemunde port day:

Zum Feinspitz in Schwerin - this was a slightly strange experience. We got there, and it was locked even though it was prime lunch time. We tried to find something else nearby, but Germany is just difficult for gf. After a couple of misses, my husband ducked back over to see if they'd reopened, and it had. It was just the owner working, and he was happy to make anything from scratch, but we were short on time. I told the guys just to get food there, and my daughter and I (who have no dietary restrictions) went elsewhere for the sake of time. They enjoyed their Austrian pancakes, and they were appropriately grateful to have anything gf in Schwerin. 

 

Klaipeda:

Soviet Nuclear Weapons Site (NCL) Excursion - this had an included meal, although there is no way you'd ever go that far out for a meal (nor would I recommend it). But if you happen to be reading this and booked the same excursion - it's somewhat complicated, as no one speaks anything other than Lithuanian, and it's very rushed. We had our guide ask about gluten, and he was very confused at first about what gluten was. The cold beet soup was naturally gf, and the "potato dumplings" were just meatball-ish things in halved potatoes. They sort of appeared to be fried, which made me nervous, but my son was starving and ate them; he wanted no part of the cold pink soup. My husband ate the soup and the meat part of the potato things. They had water on the tables and were handing out beer as the first choice, but you could ask for other drinks (one of them was a lightly alcoholic drink with "bread" in the name, but they also had coffee). We wished we had rushed through the food and taken more time to enjoy the grounds, which were gorgeous - ponds, sculptures, playground equipment, etc.

 

Hope this report is helpful to some folks, and please feel free to ask questions about anything!

[Hezu]

11 hours ago, cmph said:

We just returned from our trip, so I wanted to report back on successes or lack thereof. 🙂 Good news is: no one got "glutened" the whole 2 weeks!

 

Stockholm:

-Under Kastanjen https://underkastanjen.se/  - great!! We ate here twice (lunch the first day, dinner the next), wonderful Swedish meatballs that are naturally gf, great gf chocolate cake.

Actually, meatballs may not always be gluten free: many Nordic meatball recipes include bread crumbs and those obviously most often mean wheat (and thus gluten).

[cmph]

6 hours ago, Hezu said:

Actually, meatballs may not always be gluten free: many Nordic meatball recipes include bread crumbs and those obviously most often mean wheat (and thus gluten).

To clarify, I was only referring to Under Kastenjen's meatballs in the section you partially quoted from, which are gluten-free. They did not need to be special-ordered, as their recipe is gf.