Gluten-free Dining In Holland

[nate's mom]

My husband has invited my son and me to travel to Holland with him in August. I was diagnosed with celiac last year. My son has Type I diabetes, so I am very nervous about working out all the kinks between the two of us; however, I do not want it to hold us back from visiting. Does anyone have any good recommendations for dining out? What has been your experience with gluten-free dining in the Netherlands? Will I have any trouble taking some food with me (i.e., bread, breakfast bars, snacks)? I guess my main concern will be with dinner. Thanks for any help or special tips you can offer!

[Sweetfudge]

i personally don't know, but i'm sure you should be able to pack some shelf staples. i hope you have a good trip, and are able to get some good advice! i would love to know, for future reference

[Aussie Peg]

I spent one night in Amsterdam last year and had dinner at the hotel we stayed at. The guy at the hotel restaurant spoke english quite well so it was easier than it may be for you. I gave them my restaurant card full of info and that was very helpful, would you like me to send it to you? It's a mix of one I saw online and some of my own stuff which was translated from the dictionary/online.

Hope that helps a bit!

[astyanax]

i've been to holland twice, once in amsterdam and once in boxtel (near eindhoven). i had good luck both times.

in amsterdam, i stuck mostly to milk and fruit and dry food i brought with me from the states, but that's just cos i didn't want to spend the money on going out to eat! get a celiac card in dutch (they are online for free, search through google.com). in amsterdam i found most people spoke english very well but it's still easiest to have a card.

in boxtel, i stayed with a friend, and she had a ton of gluten free food waiting for me when i got there! (what a great friend!) it was mostly Schar brand and it was fantastic. she said it was easy to purchase at a local food store. i'm not sure if the same is true for food stores in major cities.

there's also a dutch coeliac society (that's how they spell it there) the webpage was in dutch but you can try emailing them for english translations of where restaurants are, etc. or you can kind of figure out what restaurants are at least on their webpage just by reading the restaurant name and location (even though any notes about the restaurant would be in dutch).

i hope this is helpful. have fun!