Rocca Ristorante & Bar

Visited Rocca in Hamilton with my friend who has coeliac disease, and we were both so impressed by the variety of gluten-free options available. It’s not always easy to find places that cater so well to dietary needs, but Rocca really delivered. The food was absolutely amazing – full of flavour and beautifully done. We had such a great experience and will definitely be back. Highly recommend for anyone looking for delicious food with great gluten-free choices!

Contrary to the positive reviews I can see about this establishment I had a different experience. We went here after seeing positive gluten free reviews. We have a lot of anxiety around eating out due to coeliac disease but we hadn’t managed to get out for a meal in a long time so gave it a shot. The service from our actual waiter couldn’t be faulted however the attitude of the head waiter/manager should be looked at. After a bit of a delay we ordered 2 starters and main courses to all be gluten free. After a slight hiccup involving pizza my partner decided to order pasta. My partners dish arrived and up until this point everything was fine. A second pasta dish appeared at our table as a replacement for my partners dish. Of which caused panic and confusion due to coeliac disease. We were reassured on 4 separate occasions that both dishes were definitely gluten free but nobody could answer “why does it need to be swapped” so after a visible panic attack, the untouched replacement dish was taken and we were offered dessert. To which we declined to be met with visible attitude from the head waiter/manager. And not only that for him to start gossiping and moaning about us with his colleagues. So, with a panic attack, hunger and obvious embarrassment we’re now getting stared at. The head waiter/manager should be ashamed of themselves. The restaurant assured us this was all due to a new employees lack of experience but this is not true. It doesn’t explain why a second identical dish was made and sent to our table and it doesn’t explain why we were made to feel rotten by the head waiter/manager. We will not be back. Gluten free. In response to your reply. I’ve noticed you’re still passing your buck onto your young servers. The waiting staff you are referring to told us she was told to swap ours for a new one. The servers do what you tell them. Your manager was obnoxious when I politely declined a dessert. Huffing as he turned away. I’ve written this review to warn coeliac sufferers of a bad experience. It’s my opinion of events that happened to me.

Really wasn’t happy with my 1st experience here. We were out for our 1st date this year. We barely get any time off. We were also celebrating a new pregnancy. We didn’t wait long for our starters & we both found these were really nice but it all went downhill from here. I mentioned a couple of times that I have a gluten allergy. I actually have celiac disease but find most restaurants don’t know what this is. I did enquire about the gluten free pizzas. We got told they are prepared in a separate area of the kitchen but cooked in the same oven as the non gluten free pizzas which really defeats the purpose. They can’t be in the same oven because the flour from the gluten pizzas is just circulating the oven and going onto the gluten free pizzas. A chef should really know that flour can be airborne for a long time. I ended up ordering a gluten free pasta dish instead. I had already eaten quite a few bites of my pasta & a waitress comes over and says we have given you the wrong plate this is meant to be yours here. Holding another plate of pasta. She said no the one you are eating is gluten free but so is this one. We just need to swap. I was really confused & this just put me straight up into a panic. The manager came over & checked this out for us and said don’t worry they were both gluten free. This made myself & partner even more confused because nobody explained why they needed to swap the dishes if they were the same. I ended up taking a small panic attack at the table because my reaction to gluten is probably one of the worst. Not to mention I am newly pregnant & had no idea how this was going to effect my pregnancy or baby. I stopped eating my food. The second dish they served me also tasted different from the first & I found it rather bland. I think I could of made this at home. The restaurant started getting snarky because I wasn’t eating the second dish they gave me. I was taking a panic attack. We were about two metres from the desk where the manager & other staff were stood. It became quite apparent that we were moaning & speaking about us. Other staff, even other staff we didn’t know were looking quite awkward and looking back at us after hearing the manager speak. This was making me feel really uncomfortable and I was desperate to leave. We waited half an hour for our bill while this was going on. What a way to treat customers. This wasn’t our fault. Got made to feel like it was though & that we were an inconvenience. The manager came over looking quite annoyed at us & told us he removed the price of my food off the bill. It would of been appreciated if it didn’t look like it was grudged. We still don’t know why my meal was swapped. This was our first time here & we won’t be back. This has been the worst experience I have ever had in a restaurant. MY RESPONSE- Every single celiac I know asks about a separate oven because we react to it. Heat doesn’t burn off gluten. This is not how it works. I have had to make my entire house gluten free because using the same oven as everyone else was making me sick. You wouldn’t prepare a nut dish then put it in the same oven with a nut allergy. It has taken them a very long time to actually tell us why my dish was swapped. I’m not taking this excuse as having to tell people for training. Moaning about an issue & having everyone stare at us and make us feel uncomfortable is kind of an odd experience. I guess you will say anything to cover for yourselves though. I do know a pizza restaurant that had to buy a different oven for their gluten free pizzas for people reacting. Also loads of takeaways saying “not suitable for celiacs” because they use the same oven. Not everyone has the same reactions which is maybe something that should be researching instead of just judging it by their families. Even if a celiac doesn’t have a reaction it can still be damaging their insides. Not responding to this anymore. Their behaviour was unacceptable which they are never going to admit.