WHICH COUNTRY IS BEST FOR DAIRY-FREE ❌🐮🥛🧀?

It’s such a pain (pun intended haha) living with lactose intolerance, and we’ve noticed some countries have made it so much easier!

𝙃𝙚𝙧𝙚'𝙨 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩

🇯🇵🇰🇷🇹🇼🇳🇿🇦🇺🇮🇸🇬🇧🇭🇺🇫🇮

& I’m we’re thinking of doing individual country-specific recommendations :) Let us know if you’ll find that helpful! 🤗

𝘕𝘰𝘵𝘦: 𝘓𝘦𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦

🇫🇮 𝙁𝙄𝙉𝙇𝘼𝙉𝘿 - 5/5

𝘛𝘏𝘌 𝘈𝘉𝘚𝘖𝘓𝘜𝘛𝘌 𝘉𝘌𝘚𝘛

🍵 Cafes, restaurants all have vegan options (either it’s already vegan, or VFO is available, including fine dining establishments!)

🛒 Supermarkets have vegan labels

🔸 Almost everything has vegan / lactose-free / low-lactose options that are easily available in every single shop (including butter, cream & even cheese!)

🧀 There is a local specialty dessert in Saariselka called squeaky cheese that is paired with a caramel sauce and the whole thing is dairy free 🤯

🍄‍🟫 You can finally indulge in mushroom soup, creamy pastas, pizzas etc 😍 because all of them can come lactose-free!!

🇭🇺 𝙃𝙐𝙉𝙂𝘼𝙍𝙔 - 4.5/5

🖇️ The whole nation adopts the same allergen menu (Lactose is No.7) which makes it super easy to identify; menus are also usually bilingual 😌

🍵 Cafes, restaurants have vegan options available - including desserts!

🍰 Even Chimney Cakes come in a vegan option! (Only for original but you can pair with the df dark chocolate ice cream)

😁 Staff are very nice & willing to double check with the kitchen for you

🇬🇧 𝙇𝙊𝙉𝘿𝙊𝙉 - 4.5/5

🍵 Most places ask for any allergy / intolerances the moment they hand you the menu / take your order & vegan options are available!

🔸 You can get some replacements (e.g. changing brioche to sourdough) & the staff all know the menu components very well (e.g. potatoes may be fried with butter)

🍰 Vegan desserts at Italian Bear Chocolate (glorious df hot chocolate), Borough Yards (vegan chocolate ice cream), Where the Pancakes Are (pancakes haha), and Bill’s (pancakes)!

🙁 We had a much nicer experience in 2023, on our most recent trip there was a notable amount of discrimination and I’m not too sure why! But we definitely felt way more comfortable a year ago

🇮🇸 𝙄𝘾𝙀𝙇𝘼𝙉𝘿 - 4/5

👩🏻‍🍳 You will need to know how to cook, or at least have a friend who does - especially if taking road trips round the island!

🛒 Vegan options are available at the supermarket (sourdough, some chips etc but not as extensive a selection as Finland!)

🔸 It is pretty international in Iceland, so bigger towns like Reykjavik have a lot of non-dairy Asian options (e.g. Thai, Chinese, Japanese) available - but they’re not cheap hehe think $38 for a plate of Pad Thai

🍚 We brought along some Asian condiments, Bak Kut Teh packets and also had a Indomie party one night hahaha so as long as you’re prepared, the AirBNBs are pretty friendly to a group of visitors!

🇦🇺 𝘼𝙐𝙎𝙏𝙍𝘼𝙇𝙄𝘼 - 3/5

🔸 Melbourne has a LOT of Chinese immigrants - you’d be surprised how much it feels like home LOL so there’s an abundance of Asian food available, which also means non-dairy!

🔸 There are some oat / soy substitutions so you can still have that latte or hot chocolate if you really want to!

🍰 Some dark chocolate ice creams / hot chocolates are vegan! (Yarra Valley Chocolaterie & Koko Black)

🇳🇿 𝙉𝙀𝙒 𝙕𝙀𝘼𝙇𝘼𝙉𝘿 - 3/5

🍵 Not exactly a culinary paradise here let’s be honest

🔸 Food is not going to be easily available in the first place (esp in small towns - open late / close early if at all!), we learnt that the hard way on our road trips

👩🏻‍🍳 Might be a good idea to have someone who cooks because at least the AirBNBs are pretty equipped to handle some food!

🔸 Most establishments have a very limited menu and you can also only choose from the list what comes dairy free and there are no substitutions or alternatives

😁 Best to pack some instant noodles for your trip especially if staying in smaller towns or in a mountainous lodge cuz the food may not be compatible with our palette!

🇹🇼 𝙏𝘼𝙄𝙒𝘼𝙉 - 3/5

🍵 Home of soy products & loads of local foods are non-dairy (Taiwan sausages, beef cubes, Lu Rou Fan, Youtiao etc!)

🔸 As long as you have a good command of Mandarin you will have no problem with language barriers hehe

🍰 The famous peanut coriander ice cream roll in Jiufen is actually dairy free so don’t miss it!!

🇰🇷 𝙆𝙊𝙍𝙀𝘼 - 2/5

🍵 No substitutions / alternatives available so you have to order what you feel like has no dairy from the menu and pray for the best hehe

🔸 Language barrier makes it extra difficult to communicate the intolerance

🍰 Desserts are practically out of the question

😁 There is an abundance of yummy food that is non-dairy in nature (e.g. Chicken & Beer, Dumplings, KBBQ, Hotpot rice and so on! Check out our Korea reccos here

🇯🇵 𝙅𝘼𝙋𝘼𝙉 - 1/5

🍵 No substitutions / alternatives available

🔸 Unless you stick to the basics, there is definitely a chance of hidden milk ingredients inside most food products (e.g. buns can contain Hokkaido milk / butter, mochi may be made with or come with fillings with cream / butter, ramen broth or soups may contain cream / milk, shellfish can come with cheese or be cooked in butter etc!)

🔸 Language barrier makes it extra difficult to communicate the intolerance

🍰 Desserts are practically out of the question

😁 You can definitely just indulge in the freshest sashimi and opt for clear soup options e.g. shoyu ramen hehe otherwise, good luck bc toilets ain’t easy to find here! Hahaha. Check out or Japan reccos here

#dairyfree #travel #finland #vegan #lactosefree