5 yr old coeliac ds - weekend at centerparcs

[iceskate]

Does anyone have any experience of coping with a coeliac child at centreparcs. We are off for a weekend as treat for MIL and FIL soon and would like to eat out rather than cook. (Its my treat too!!!) Ds was only diagonsed this year so although we've been to centreparcs before have never had to worry about being gluten free before.

Any advice appreicated thanks

[texasrose]

HI, I have a 4yr old dd with severe wheat allergy / waiting to hear if she is coeliac. We recently went to Legoland for the day and we wanted to have a hot lunch there so we phoned the Customer Services people beforehand and asked what we could have that'd be okay. They were fantastic and gave us the name of the restaurant manager (who was also very helpful). One thing we found though was the amount of 'hidden dangers' in the food - eg. chips should be okay in theory but they are fried in the same oil as the chicken nuggets so that was out - the rice was mixed with a sauce including soya (which dd is also allergic to) - so it really is important to not just choose stuff off the menu that you think is okay, go and ask the chef / manager. I'd phone in advance if I were you. (We ended up having a jacket potato which was not the most exciting meal in the world but filled us up and dd loved it!)
HTH.

[tatt]

I don't have experience of Centre Parcs but with any food problem its better to phone and ask in advance. Then they have time to prepare before you get there. We have mixed experience of trying to eat out but there are some places that are brilliant and will make food specially.

[Gillian76]

We had a bad experience at Center Parcs with our dairy allergic DD I'm afraid.

We explained to the waiter and asked her to check with chef. They assured us that the sausages were OK but she later vomited them all over the table and carpet in the restaurant.

I would be wary. Perhaps phone ahead. Sometimes I think people don't take allergeis seriously enough.

[Saturn74]

Hi DS2 has wheat/dairy allergy. We've been to Center Parcs a few times, but not impressed with their approach to catering for allergies.

We go to Sherwood Forest, and now tend to go out for breakfast at Chez Pierre (DS2 has bacon, eggs and beans), then take food with us for other meals.

Huckleberry's offered to provide things like spare ribs without sauce, or plain chicken breast, but we tried that, and they were a bit dried up and unpleasant - and the chips had a wheat coating, which we only discovered when they arrived. We had previously been told they were fine!

They did do plain fish and boiled potatoes once, with butter-free veg and that was nice - but it is an expensive place to eat IMO.

The supermarket is expensive and does not provide any specific wheat products, so take your own.

It might be slightly easier for your family, as we have the added problem of DS2s dairy allergy too, so it is well worth emailing them and asking what they can provide.

It's about time they started providing food for all their guests - it's not much of a holiday for us Mums otherwise!

[Saturn74]

"The supermarket is expensive and does not provide any specific wheat FREE products, so take your own".

Doh!

[iceskate]

It doesn't sound promising for eating out. Still I appreciate all your comments. I sahll definately contact them in advance. Good to know about the wheat coating on the chips as that is always our fall back if all else fails. Thanks.

[texasrose]

Also just be careful about how things are cooked - if they are fried in the same oil as stuff with wheat in (eg chips fried with fish fingers). If CP is not too good, why not check out a couple of local restaurants nearby and phone them? They might be able to be a bit more flexible...

[minx69]

If you are going to the Elvedon one, there is a fab tesco just a couple of miles away in thetford that has a full range of gluten free stuff (was there on saturday) which includes sausages etc

Im very much a "take my own rather than risk it" girl altho if Im feeling lazy jacket spuds are always a safe option.