We’re taking a trip back in time today, because I wanted to share with you my tips for how to find gluten free food in Riga, Latvia. You know when you go on trips and you come back and get the overwhelm? Well that happened to me post-Riga when I visited way back in 2014. It was a fantastic trip but I just couldn’t begin to write about it at the time.
Riga old town
But as someone who knows how hard it is to travel gluten free, I wanted to put my tips out there just in case they can help someone else in the future. If you’re not interested in gluten free food, read on for plenty of pictures of Riga in general and amusing pictures of me with totally different hair in particular. You’re welcome.
Nativity of Christ cathedral
If you want to find out what being coeliac is all about, my page here might help.
Alright, on with the tips!
Tīra maize
This amazing bakery sells both sweet and savoury gluten free items, including bread, pizza, and all sorts of cakes.
You can dine in, but there are only a handful of tables. However, it wasn’t busy when we visited so you may stand a good chance of a seat.
We ate quite a few things from there and they were all delicious.
Specifically, this berry danish which we enjoyed in the Esplanāde, a park nearby.
I was so happy about this pastry. It was the good custardy kind.
Beware! They’re only open on Thursdays and Fridays so do plan accordingly. It says their products are also sold through other outlets (listed on their website) but I’m not sure they’d carry much of a range.
Oh hi sneaky pigeon.
Check on their website for the latest menu and order in advance to ensure availability.
Terra
This is a build your own salad bar, and is great for lunches.
You do need to watch out for cross contamination, as it is a buffet style and whilst the staff do it all, I’d worry about stray croutons after a busy spell.
Amazing salad from Terra – and yes I like my salads to be mostly cheese.
To counteract this, we went when it had just opened. Also because we are keen beans.
Street Burgers
This is your typical hipster burger joint with gluten free bun option. Because sometimes you just really want a burger, you know?
I thoroughly enjoyed my mega extra fatty burger.
Restaurant Armenia
As the name suggests, this is an Armenian restaurant.
The food was excellent and the staff seemed to understand my requirements, but I can’t vouch for 100% gluten free, no cross contamination.
I loved this happy ribbon tree! Nothing to do with the Armenian restaurant, because I didn’t take any pictures there.
General tips
Overall, gluten free food in Riga is thin on the ground and understanding of a gluten free diet is low. So the following tips will hopefully help your stay go a little more smoothly…
Stay in an AirBnB/apartment ¦¦ This is one place where you will probably need to cook your own food from time to time. The place we stayed in is no longer listed, but it was about halfway down Blaumaņa iela which was a good location. In general I’d recommend staying somewhere with air conditioning (we went in June and it was really warm), blackout curtains (the midnight sun gets pretty far south!) and double glazing/not street facing to avoid any post club noise. I’d also recommend staying in the ‘new’ town (actually not that new) as it’s a generally more chilled out vibe than the old town, which is a bit touristy. Everywhere is easily walkable.
Remember your menu cards ¦¦ See above…
‘New town’ buildings in Riga. Still pretty old.
Follow this Twitter account ¦¦ But have Google Translate at the ready.
Beware out of date information ¦¦ I found some great articles like this one, but when I did some further research a lot of the places listed were closed, or not where they said they’d be. Always have a backup plan, and carry lots of snacks with you.
Another new town building. This was directly opposite our AirBnB.
Supermarket selections are paltry at best ¦¦ So bring your own pasta, bread etc or stock up at Tīra Maize if your arrival time aligns. Also, the chocolate selection isn’t great so fellow chocoholics, bring your own. Especially if you like mint chocolate – that’s not a thing there.
And if all else fails, there’s always the liquid option.
If you’ve been reading for a while you may recognise this picture!
You’re welcome.
Have you ever been to Riga? Do you have a favourite gluten free travel destination?
-Rachel
Travel Tuesday
In case you didn’t see last week’s announcement, after years of hosting the #TravelTuesday link-up, Bonnie has decided to step away from her position as host. Please join us in thanking her for her contributions over the years and wishing her all the best in her endeavours!
With Bonnie’s departure, the current co-hosts of #TravelTuesday –Diana Rachel, and Katrina – have just one question for you…
Do YOU Want To Be The Next #TravelTuesday Host?!
We’re looking for the next travel crazy, social media savvy, bigger-than-life personality to become the new host and new face of the #TravelTuesday link-up! Nominations for yourself or others will be accepted today, May 3rd, through Sunday, May 15th. A shortlist of nominees will be announced on Tuesday, May 17th, and a vote will open for all to participate in selecting a new host!
Minimum #TravelTuesday Host Requirements:
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2. Be awesome (goes without saying, right?).
3. Able to commit to at least a year of being the anchor host. General responsibilities include: the generation of the link-up, promoting the link-up and participants on social media, and in all respects being the face and personality of the #TravelTuesday link-up.
4. Facilitate the nomination and rotation of co-hosts every three months as in the past.
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Please send your nominations along with a brief explanation as to why you would be a great #TravelTuesday anchor host to any of the three co-hosts listed below before Sunday, May 15th:
Diana: dianadegzz (at) gmail.com
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Katrina: thriftygypsytravels (at) gmail.com
Did you see this post from Dani last week for some of the best scenic lookouts and picnic spots in New South Wales? I’ve definitely added some locations to my wishlist for when I go back. And I just loved all the donut chat we had last week, thanks Carrie, Mandy and Felicia!
And now it’s your turn!
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look at all these wonderful tips! you break it down rather nicely. noted to self if i ever make it to latvia 🙂
xoxo cheshire kat
I hope you do! It’s very pretty. And great beaches, too. I just wish they had better chocolate!
That sucks that you ended up finding so much out of date information, but it sounds like you found some great places to try out anyways! I love that picture of you with your gluten free liquid!
P.S. I’m also really glad that I’m not the only one that sometimes gets overwhelmed post vacation and can’t write about my trip!
Yeah, I think we had a bit of bad luck in looking for shops that had closed or relocated. Also the opening hours of Tīra Maize are very restricted! Still, I had my gluten free liquid so nothing bothered me very much 🙂
And no, absolutely not. The overwhelm is real! It’s happened to me a number of times now!
Love the hair! 🙂 It’s always fun to be able to date your own pictures just based off your own hairstyle. By the way, I’m passing on all your gluten free Europe posts to my sister in law, who is a celiac. I’m trying to convince/encourage her that she can still see Europe and not starve the whole time!
P.S. Not sure if anyone else is having problems, but when I click on your post in the link-up, I get an error of page not found. Might just be me, though.
I had so much hair my goodness! Ooh yes do pass on to your sister. A lot of Europe is really great actually, specifically Italy, Spain and much of Scandinavia. And the UK’s pretty good too. I’d be happy to pass on recommendations if she’s got any destinations in mind…
P.S. Thanks for the heads up – not it wasn’t just you, I totally biffed the whole link adding thing. Well done me! At least I managed yours and Diana’s!
That ribbon tree is so pretty, and that berry danish looks delicious 🙂
It was so cool! We had a lot of fun chilling out by it. I have no idea why it was there but I’m very glad it was!
What a great guide! I love getting insider food tips on destinations! Even though I’m not technically gluten free, I do like to avoid it when possible, and all of these options look delish! 😀
Thanks Lauren! I agree, insider tips are the best. I really enjoyed my trip there, it’s such a cool and chilled out place. Apart from the stag dos in the old town of course…
Great to know you found tasty options in Riga. My husband works at a bakery and they do plenty of gluten free breads and pastries. I wish you were able to taste them.
Oh amazing! I’d love to visit! Shame we don’t live a bit closer to each other… But if I’m ever over your way I’ll be sure to let you know. I love pastry so much, it makes me sad I can’t eat them more often!
I’ve totally pinned this post for future fun!
Hoorah! Glad you found it useful. Yay for future fun!
I barely know what gluten free means but I love the pictures of Riga and your long hair was lovely.
I’m glad you liked the pictures! My hair may have looked nice from afar but was a nightmare to control unfortunately! Saying that, it’s not a great deal better now…
Yum! You make all of the food there look so good! How’d you know the Danish was gluten free? I’m not a foodie so I don’t know a whole lot about food, but I thought pastry = gluten? Either way, it looks delish! And that cheesy salad! mmm! 🙂 What’s the blue drink?
Is the tree from May Day? Do they celebrate that there?
Because I bought it from the gluten free bakery Tīra Maize! You’re right, normal danishes are totally off limits but luckily Tīra Maize is entirely gluten free, so I could eat anything 😮 it was amazing for me!
The blue drink was some sort of cocktail, I struggle to remember – but I’m sure blue curacao would have featured heavily. Maybe the tree was from May day, the ribbons look quite new don’t they?
Oh, yum. I avoid wheat so that pastry looks especially scrumptious. I’ve heard that Italy has the best gluten free options in Europe – would love to visit to see if it’s true. 😉
Speaking of travel blog linkups, I created a comprehensive list at http://www.aswesawit.com/travel-blog-link-up-2016/ and seem to have missed yours. I’d really like to include it though, so please message me (when you’re ready) and share the details.
Oh it was so good, trust me! I’ve only been to Italy once but was so impressed by their gluten free options. So many places produce amazing homemade gluten free pasta and pizza as a matter of course, I was in heaven! Speaking of which, I do need to go back one day… I also found Spain pretty good (although variable with tapas) and the Scandinavian countries are pretty safe too.
We are actually temporarily co-hosting what used to be Bonnie at A Compass Rose’s Travel Tuesday linkup, as Bonnie has had to relinquish her hosting duties. So we are looking for a new permanent host, and when we find one I will let you know so you can update the list! Perhaps you could link to us three in the mean time? Thank you!
Very happy to see these gluten free options in Riga. I spent quite a lot of time there in the 1990s and I’d love to go back and see how it’s changed. The gluten free bakery looks great!
Lucky you getting to spend time there in the 90s! It’s a lovely city, I really enjoyed my short trip. Did you make it out to the beach? So beautiful. And I was really impressed with the options I found! I thought I was going to be a goner for sure.
You definitely found some good places!
I did! My research paid off thankfully. It makes or breaks a trip for me!
It is so difficult to travel if you can’t eat everything. My daughter struggled in her year in Venezuela as a vegetarian. #TravelTuesday