Gluten Free Menorca Guide

Dreaming of your next sunny holiday already? Tell me about it! We had a fab week on Menorca in early autumn and found it was no problem being gluten free or coeliac on the island. Every restaurant we ate knew how to cater effectively for gluten free and many restauranteurs reassured me that they often catered for coeliacs. Here is my guide to gluten free Menorca.

Gluten Free Menorca

I have broken the information by town/area, then at the end you will find a section on Menorca’s gluten free supermarket options and details on eating gluten free at Menorca airport.

Alaior

C’an Bernat Restaurant – Alaior was our local area, very conveniently placed 10 minutes’ drive from the airport but away from any flight paths. Rural, peaceful yet close to the main roads, I would recommend this part of Menorca if you enjoy exploring and want to make the most of your time on the island. While driving here and there we passed a little restaurant on a roundabout repeatedly. As it looked cute and was always bustling with people we eventually gave into our curiosity and headed there for dinner one evening. What a great decision! We ate local rice specialties, grilled meats and fresh vegetables.

Alcaufar

Piccolo Mundo – (open seasonally) a bustling restaurant that is fairly touristy and not particularly worth going out of your way for but perfectly good if you are in the area or fancy a lunch away from the beach. We ate gluten free paella and sizzling garlic chilli prawns.

Cala En Bosch

El Pato – (open seasonally) a recommendation I received from a number of people but didn’t get round to trying was El Pato in Cala En Bosch. Apparently they have a good array of gluten free dishes on offer (including gluten free pizza) and other coeliac travellers tell me they really rated it. The restaurant has a dedicated gluten free menu.

Cala Mitjana

One of the best beaches we found on the island. It is a bit of a walk from the car park, but the path leads down through forest so you don’t get frazzled by the sun en route.

Restaurant Cala Mitjana – a popular spot where 90% of menu is suitable for coeliacs.

Cala’n Porter

Brasserie & Bar Dos Pablos – (open seasonally) this restaurant has a decent array of gluten free choices on the menu. Reviewers here say staff are really helpful and accomodating.

Ciutadella

There are lots of gluten free choices in Ciutadella:

C’an Rafa – do an array of gluten free tapas and it was recommended to me as offering the best gluten free tapas on the island!

Cas Consol – the staff here can talk you through the various gluten free options available.

Fang i Aram – a vegetarian restaurant with plenty of gluten free options (including cheesecake when I last checked), all marked on the menu.

Rels Restaurant – for fancy fine dining with gluten free options. Book in advance as this restaurant is popular and then you can prewarn them about your dietary requirements.

S’Amarador – lots of gluten free options, staff can talk you through the menu choices.

Es Castell

Sa Barqueta – this restaurant has a number of gluten free options and is able to cater for coeliacs.

Es Mercadel

Can Pons – a bakery with a decent gluten free range. You can preorder large ensaimadas (see pic below for a smaller one from Lluis Febrer, they order these large ones from Lluis Febrer in fact), with chocolate or custard fillings. Looks AMAZING. Made in a special gluten free facility.

Ferreries

Patisseria Artisana Lluis Febrer – a FANTASTIC gluten free bakery find. This bakery caters extensively for coeliacs and they have strict measures in place to prevent cross-contamination, making the gluten free items in a dedicated facility. I loved being able to try some local specialty cakes. They have gluten free ensaimadas – a Menorcan bun/cake that I could happily eat every day. Ensaimadas have a wonderful texture, a cross between iced bun and chelsea bun dough, with lovely sweet icing sugar dusted on top.

Loar – a hotel restaurant, which has specially trained staff for gluten free and lactose free customer food orders. Accredited by the Catalunyan Coeliac Society. It seems as if you would be in very safe hands here. Gluten free options are clearly marked on the menu.

Fornells

Es Cranc – gluten free marked on the menu of this restaurant specialising in crab and lobster dishes, which is listed in the Michelin guide.

Sa Gelateria – the island-wide gelato chain that shows the various allergens in each ice-cream on a helpful wall chart. Of course there remains the risk of some cross-contamination from the scooping into cones. If you are super cautious like me (better safe than sorry) then they also have individuals tubs and other ice creams in the stand up freezer units.

Sa Taula – (open seasonally) we ate here for lunch and had a very good experience. Staff were very helpful with gluten free and demonstrated very good understanding of cross-contamination risks. They even have a dedicated gluten free fryer and they volunteered this info to me before I needed to ask, which was very reassuring.

Mahon

El Romero – a fully gluten free restaurant, specialising in seafood and accredited by the Spanish coeliac society. Sounds wonderful! They also have plenty of dairy free options, which are clearly marked on the menu. A must visit in Mahon.

Clorofil-la – a vegetarian restaurant that had a huuuuge range of gluten free dishes, all marked on the menu. They even had a melt-in-the-middle gluten free chocolate fondant dessert, mmmmm!

Birra-o-clock – a beer bar that had a couple of bottled gluten free beers when we went in.

Punta Prima

Sa Tramuntana – this restaurant is accredited by the Catalunyan Coeliac Society. Much of the menu is gluten free and the gluten free choices are marked clearly.

Saint Lluis

Bodegas Binifadet – Menorca’s major vineyard actually had a great selection of gluten free dishes if you plan on dining here one evening. The main menu was marked up to show choices. We popped in for some afternoon wine and non-alcoholic cocktails (for us drivers) and staff helpfully adapted some of the bar nibbles to make them gluten free.

Sant Joan De Binissaida – this restaurant can cater for coeliacs and most of menu can be easily adapted. Good reviews from other gluten free travellers.

Son Bou

Alessandros – (open seasonally) I spotted that they advertise gluten free pizza on their menu, so it might be worth checking out.

Las Dunas – this restaurant is next to Alessandros and has an absolutely huge range of gluten free choices. All options are marked up on the menu and they had a very wide gluten free tapas selection in particular. Quite a touristy spot, but nice to see such a good offering.

The little supermarket in Son Bou has a number of gluten free products on sale. I found gluten free bread (Schar), biscuits, cakes, crackers and beers. There is no dedicated section, instead you will find them scattered among the standard products.

Cala Galdana

Restaurant Meson Murciano – (open seasonally) recommended by Sallie Wilkins on Facebook, a seasoned Menorca coeliac visitor. Sallie told me “practically everything on the menu, pizzas, pancakes you name it, was all available gf as the chefs wife was coeliac”. Sounds like one to check out!

Supermarkets

If you are going on a self-catering holiday in Menorca, you will find that supermarkets have plenty of gluten free food on sale.

Mercadona – my number one supermarket recommendation is Mercadona. They had a massive range of gluten free products here, including fresh puff pastry, cheesecake, croquettas, calamari rings and cookie chocolate, as well as the usual gluten free products you would hope to find. There is no dedicated section, so keep your eyes peeled as you shop and look out for the crossed grain symbol.

Dia – a more limited selection of gluten free products here, but they do have a dedicated section and stock all the basics.

Dino – they also have a good selection of gluten free products. Look out for the yellow packaging.

Eroski – another supermarket with a strong gluten free range.

Airport

The gluten free Menorca airport options are limited. I only spotted gluten free cake and gluten free beer, hence I recommend taking some food with you. They do advertise gluten free sandwiches at Cafe Pans, but I was not convinced on the cross-contamination measures. I would advise coeliacs to steer clear.