Beautiful Auckland
Who are you and where are you?
My name is Alice and I live in Auckland, New Zealand!
Tell me about your relationship with gluten..
My relationship with gluten is like.. having an ex boyfriend that you think you could still be friends with, but know that it’s not going to happen! I was diagnosed with coeliac  disease 6 years ago (back when nobody in NZ really knew what it was and just thought I was weird) and have been on a life mission to make it cool ever since.
Why should gluten free travellers visit your town?
Gluten Free travellers should visit Auckland because not only is it an awesome place to explore, relax on the beach and party in, it has a great food culture and plenty of fabulous eateries to try. The people here are very friendly, and restaurant staff want to do everything they can do accommodate you. Most places will be happy to alter or invent a meal that will meet your dietary requirements, if it’s not already on the menu. NZ has high food standards, and food labels must write in bold if they contain gluten. You can read more about gluten-free labelling laws in New Zealand here.
Tell me something fun about your town..
Auckland is surrounded by water, with the Pacific Ocean on one side and Tasman sea on the other. This means you can buy fresh seafood all year round. It also means that any day of the year you can go boating, swimming, kayaking or catch the ferry over to one of the many islands in the Hauraki Gulf and spend the day at a winery or exploring the island.
Where is your favourite place to eat out in your town and why?
Auckland is (now) a great place for gluten free eating. It would be hard to chose a favourite or to list all of them! Some cafes and restaurants have printed on their menu what is gluten free, otherwise just ask and then will either bring you a separate menu or let you know your options.
- Little Bird unbakery makes everything raw, dairy and gluten free.
- For a typical ‘kiwi’ meal, you must try a plate of fish and chips. The Chip Shop have a gluten free menu and they use a separate deep fryer, so there is no risk of contamination.
- For some great views of the city, it is worth going up the Sky Tower. The revolving restaurant that is up there as a great gluten free menu.
- Ripe Deli does great salads and baking to eat in or takeaway. Once at the deli the salads all have signs on them with what they contain.
- Mexico also has a lot of fresh, delicious, gluten free food.
Do you live in Auckland or have you travelled there? Where is your favourite place to eat gluten free?
Adina | Gluten Free Travelette
May 20th, 2013Oh I loved Auckland! Such a great place to be gluten free. Some of my favorites were the Gluten Free Grocer, Wok’n Noodle, and Groucho’s Cafe. During our stay there we frequented each of these multiple times. Great eats at all. Groucho’s was such a lovely place for breakfast and they have my all time favorite tea; Bay of Islands Breakfast.
hannah
May 20th, 2013I loved Auckland and had great luck eating GF there. There is also a delicious restaurant on Waiheke island on the bay that serves delicious GF pasta and pastries. !!
Laura
May 20th, 2013Adina, we just ate at Groucho’s Cafe a couple of days ago. Really great food and fantastic because the owner is celiac. New Zealand is so wonderful for gluten-free!! 🙂
Adina | Gluten Free Travelette
May 21st, 2013I’m so glad you went there Laura! Groucho’s is one of those places I feel like I’d be a frequent fixture at if I ever live in Auckland.
Matthew
May 23rd, 2013I’ll visit Auckland this summer. I’ve been dreaming of visiting for years now, and now I have the money not only the dream. 🙂 It’s nice to hear that I’m not going to starve there and will have brilliant meals, thanks a lot!
Agnes
May 25th, 2013This has nothing to do with this special post, but i just want to make you aware of the fact that soy (even though it’s made of wheat) does not contain any gluten! I’m swedish and our governments food agency did a biig research on almost every soya brand there is, and none of them contained any gluten (well below 20 ppm, which is the limit to be able to call your product gluten free).
The reason that i write this is that i read your post on Singapore, since I am going to study there next spring, and wanted a take on the gluten free options. But when I read your post I realized that the biggest trouble for you was to stay away from the soy. So good news, you don’t have to! That will just limit your life and your abilities to enjoy, especially asian, food!
Saying that I just want to be cautious is just ignoring the facts and the research, and making us other coeliacs look unserious. So why make your life harder than it has to be? Of course we have to be cautious about a lot of things, but soy is not one of them! 🙂
Otherwise, thanks for an amazing blog! Best regards Agnes
Laura Horvath
Sep 30th, 2013Thanks for the info. We are traveling with our two celiac children in December and will be staying in Auckland CBD. Was wondering if you had any grocery store recommendations in the area?
Thanks!
Laura
Sep 30th, 2013Hi Laura!
Gluten Free Grocer in the Mt. Eden area of the city is a 100% gluten-free grocery store and it’s really good. 🙂
http://glutenfreetraveller.com/topics-2/travel-adventures/gluten-free-new-zealand-north-island/