Harina de arroz (rice pasta)
Irene’s, Colonia
We spent one day and night in the pretty little town of Colonia de Sacramento in Western Uruguay and I’m pleased to say that we managed to find and eat at the only restaurant in the small town which has anything specifically labelled as suitable for coeliacs.
As I’d come prepared with gluten free sandwiches and empanadas, I wasn’t hungry when we began searching for somewhere to eat dinner. From experience I’ve learned that looking for somewhere with gluten free food when you’re already starving is a dreadful idea. I always get irritated and it’s not a fun experience. This time however, I’d had a couple of tasty empanadas de carne for lunch and feeling very satisfied, decided to take a walk into a few places in the hopes of finding somewhere safe to eat.
To be honest things weren’t looking hopeful as I asked in various restaurants around town. Most of them either said they had ‘nada’ for coeliacs or showed me the vegetarian section of their menu. We then asked at a restaurant which again had nothing suitable for coeliacs but gave us directions to a cafe, which they said was the only place in the town that did. With a smile on my face I headed to Irene’s…
Irene’s is a small restaurant on Flores (near the junction with Mendez), one of the main streets in Colonia, which does various pizzas, pastas and platters. They have just one item on their menu suitable for coeliacs but that was enough for me. Their rice pasta with choice of either bolognese, 3 cheese or cream sauce sounded great. The chef was very helpful and said they could also stir fry a bunch of vegetables to add to my pasta if I wanted. I went for the bolognese and it was very tasty with a glass of vino blanco 🙂
Rice pasta with Bolognese
