A Coeliac Christmas At Center Parcs.

Center Parcs, Whinfell has played a significant part in our festive holiday Christmas calendar countdown, (phew, that was a mouthfull)! for several years now. The majority of people are able to drop in to any cafe or restaurant ad-hoc, organise a children’s activity or visit Santa’s workshop etc. where snacks are given out without a second thought. However, when you have a young member of the family with coeliac disease or an allergy, the offering can become somewhat of an “orient-eat-ing” challenge as opposed to the fun outdoor activity.

Over the years that we have visited Centre Parcs, we have seen the number of gluten-free food options expand both in the ParcMarket, restaurants and cafes which is just brilliant. When asking my son, Will, age 6 where he had enjoyed visiting the most, he gave the following 3 places a big gluten-free thumbs up: The Pancake House, Cafe Rouge and the selection of gluten-free poolside snacks.

The Pancake house offered a substantial free-from menu with both traditional savoury and sweet Dutch style pancakes as well as making freshly cooked topping laden omelettes too. Will opted to try a traditional pancake served with lemon and sugar but it was refreshing to read other flavour combinations such as goat’s cheese, Spanish fiesta which was topped with chicken, paprika, potatoes, peppers and grated cheese. Those with a sweet tooth were well catered for too, the Dutch apple pancake we tried was topped with apple, sultanas, whipped cream, vanilla ice cream, toffee sauce and cinnamon sugar. We left full to the brim and glowing with gluten-free optimism that it had been a pleasurable experience.

Cafe Rouge exceeded our expectations too, the staff were switched on and knowledgeable about the free-from options. Our 3 little ones all opted for the 3 course children’s meal and it was a nice touch that gluten-free bread was served in place of the bread sticks without having to make a fuss. I have never seen Will eat a meal so quickly. The icing on the proverbial cake was the variety of gluten-free desserts and ice creams on offer. These had the flavour and appearance of a good old fashioned homemade ice cream and were topped with marshmallows.

I have to say that this year Will waved goodbye at the end of his stay with a huge grin on his face and we felt encouraged by the positive development of free-from options available in this ever developing market. Looking forward to seeing how things have moved on next time.