For those of us who are coeliacs or gluten intolerant, looking for gluten free restaurants is not a quirk. It is a way to enjoy food and time out with friends and family while staying healthy and alive in the long run. I have started this list to share the ones I have tried and loved.
Starting with Western Australia, I will be adding my new finds and favourites as I travel or discover more. Check from time to time for new entries or register for our newsletter to get notifications when there are new places added.
Gluten Free restaurants in Western Australia
In Western Australia, we are so lucky to have a large choice of gluten free options, even if many of the restaurants and cafes are not all gluten free. Here are my favs and the places I go to again and again.
Mattia Italian Vibes (now Mano Wraps)
There is food and there is Food. This one is worth the two and a half hours’ drive from Perth. We found this food stall a year ago during our New Year’s Day trip to the southernmost tip of Western Australia by pure chance.
Well, the name definitely did draw our attention – Mattia Italian Vibes. You won’t find anything traditionally Italian here tho. Except for maybe the classically refreshing, juicy and delicious ingredients that are used to make the wraps. The pancakes, as they also call them, are made of buckwheat. Yeah, yeah, I know… Not everyone’s cup of tea. But I have never tried a buckwheat anything that does taste that amazing and does not have that special metallic taste that many people don’t like. These wraps are crispy and their only role is to support all the other goodies – a great quality Prosciutto, avocado, green salad, tomatoes, and delicate sauce that makes all that work together.
It is a gigantesque wrap but one that fills you with pleasure while eating it and with joy later when you realise you don’t feel heavy at all.
An update:
Mattia Italian Vibes has now rebranded as @manowraps and they have opened a shop in Busselton. They now serve locally made gluten-free gelato in addition to the wraps. Can’t wait to try it! 🍨
Strange Grains Bakery
“When a gluten intolerant anthropologist starts thinking about bread, she approaches it differently to a baker.”
This is how the Who We Are page of Strange Grains starts. The story of the retired anthropologist Jenny Holten, who took things into her hands and created a gluten-free traditionally looking and tasting bread that can satisfy even any wheat-loving customer, is inspiring. At the age of sixty, she extensively researched and experimented with ancient grains and exotic seeds and roots and came up with a recipe for bread that gained very quickly popularity on the farmers’ market. Later, she opened her first gluten free bakery in Perth and now has moved to a large space in Shenton Park.
Although this is technically a bakery (you can find their products in shops around Perth), they do have two tables on the sidewalk outside the shop and do sell coffee too. The area is beautiful and a two-minute walk straight from the front door there is a beautifully-designed park with many benches.
Now about the food. Everything I have tried so far (mostly cookies and sweets) is delicious, soft, or crunchy, just as it is supposed to be. The peach tart was an absolute delight, like no other gluten free one that I have tried before. The Quinzacs (from Qunoa and Anzac cookies, I presume) are addictively scrumptious, especially dipped in tea.
Details:
You will find Strange Grains at 197 Onslow Rd, Shenton Park WA 6008. For more information about their products and where you can find stockists, look at their website.
To be continued… Meanwhile, read about High Tea at Chapels on Whatley.
