Harbour Club Oost - The Gluten (S)care Rating

It's restaurant week, and we managed to select a few. The first one was Harbour Club Oost, not far away from where we live. We had passed by several times before and were always wondering how it would be inside. Well, there are soooo many restaurant review sites already, you're probably not waiting for yet another one. Every time when I go to a restaurant, I pay extra attention to possible gluten contamination. Over the years, I've become more and more 

intolerant, to the point that a product that 'may contain gluten' already sets me off. And every time when there is a scare, or, when the restaurant is taking extra good care of the gluten fearing customer, it makes impression on me. So why not sharing it so others be warned, or reassured. My scale is going to be named 'The  Gluten Care Rating', taking it from the positive side (not gluten SCARE rating....). 

During the booking process it was already possible to indicate special dietary requirements, so ofcourse I added 'one person gluten free'. In the confirmation mail it was recommended to mention the dietary requirements again to the host. So upon arrival I mentioned to our host that I had requested gluten free dishes. The host was very helpful and said she was going to mention it to the kitchen. She came back to us, telling us about the dishes containing gluten and the possible alternatives. It was a pre-set menu, it looked lovely, and I was completely happy with the alternatives offered.

Starter warning: the host mentioned there were gluten in the mushrooms (strange I thought, but it could have been the sauce on the mushrooms). My starter had mushrooms in it so I double checked before I ate any of it. Unfortunately the kitchen had given me a gluten containing starter. It didn't take long before I was served the gluten free version. Happy,  so far, can happen.

Main dish warning: a fish dish, but there was something on it that looked like a bitterbal/croquette with bread crumbs on the outside. The guy (not our host) apologised and it did not even come across his mind to take the whole plate away. I was a bit confused and I decided to just eat around the scary bitterbal, making sure not getting too close to the scary bitterbal. I had taken my anti-gluten medicines before just in case but looking back to it, I should have sent the whole plate back. Lovely main dish by the way. When our lady host checked upon us I mentioned to her that her kitchen is not very careful with the gluten request. I was absolutely sure she had done her job, making sure she got the message across to the kitchen, but it was not enough, apparently. 

Dessert: this was clear, it had gluten, so I got the cheese platter instead, with gluten free bread. Also very nice.

Tea/coffee alert: as hubby and I had a good time anyway (we both don't get upset very easily), despite all of this, we decided to have a mint tea to end our evening. You would think they learned their lesson by now. But no! My mint tea was accompanied by a pretty scary glutenous cookie!!!! I would have loved some chocolate instead, or, something else small and sweet, gluten free. Not so complicated, is it? Our bill came, plus a special iPad, and we had written down all our concerns, basically all I'm writing down right now, but the short version.

Unfortunately, despite our really friendly host, and the nice food, I give this restaurant a 'Gluten Care Rating' of: 

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