How often do you dine out at restaura... - Gluten Free Guerr...
How often do you dine out at restaurants with friends since diagnosis?
FionaGFGAdministrator83 VotersPlease select one:
Great to see so many votes already..but don't forget to add a brief comment. We'd love to know why you voted as you did as it adds extra context to your responses and enables us to consider areas to campaign on.
PS especially the 'other' 11% of you...we're intrigued!
we try to eat out once a week, but the variety of the menus are all the same gammon, or plain steak, the best part of a meal for me was always pudding but now fruit cocktail (if they can find any fruit)
big disapointment about time we had the same choice as vegitarians i always explain that our diet is a medical condition & not just a fad.
chrisash, have you tried some of the common chains? I can't remember the last time I settled for plain steak or fruit for dessert. I confess I don't have a sweet tooth so that maybe a blessing when it comes to living gf. Yet if you take yourself down to Zizzi they now do a 'allergy' menu. You can have gf Dove's farm pasta or risottos and the salads are great. You do of course at all places have to speak to the mgr, explain it's a medical condition and not a fad, ensure they cook in clean pans/ oils/ water (it's amazing how often the penny drops when I mention this!). Also it really pays to ask them to bring the jar of stock they use out to you or offer to check the labels yourself. Afterall you probably know more about what you are looking for than they do. I've caught many a chef out who was going to use stock with a wheat thickener called something exotic and they've apologised and cooked with gf bouillion stock instead. I'd also recommend phoning ahead when quiet so you are not surprised on the visit. Likewise Nandos do have a book on all their gf items (inc their GF desserts), Pizza Express Salads minus crutons, bread sticks and dressing are fine. I just ask for Olive oil and a chunk of lemon to squeeze over it. Leon is great as they label all their foods gf. Carluccios have recently updated their gf menu (inc GF desserts) and now there is more meat included (they seem to think we're all dairy free veggies for some reason). Plus seeking / asking in local places works well as you can support indy restaurants and cafes and ensure they make dishes gf.
I also am a pudding eater. If you are anywhere near Kingston there is a fantastic Italian restaurant, Bruschetta, at the bottom of Kingston Hill & all the deserts are gluten free & delicious. Tonight we are going to the Brookfield, Emsworth, Hants & they always have g/f deserts. Just keep asking. Ikea serve a delicious tart in their restaurant & most John Lewis have a g/f cake.
I have nearly eaten out in a resteraunt a few times but have always found an excuse. I have been made ill in cafe's by sloppy standards and now only use the squeaky clean tea/coffee chains like Costa's.
The reason I don't risk it is it is like being surrounded by so may risks at so many stages and I see resteraunts like eating in a poison factory and don't think I would enjoy the experience. So I guess my fear of being made ill puts me off and that thought makes me lose my appetite. I also hate explaining myself as that makes me self conscious and again that is a big obstacle.
I'm also a bit of a loner and use my diet as an excuse, one of the easiest relationships I have had was with a lady who was sociophobic and she liked how insular and independant I am.
So I am one of the 10% who haven't eaten out since diagnosis and feel this is a sad admission as I will have been diagnosed 16 years this October.
Don't be put off, we all need to eat out at times. Always check with the pub or restaurant before hand. If they know what you are talking about you should be fine. After all nobody wants to be sued or have their business given a bad name. Indian restaurants are pretty good on the whole as they don't use a lot of wheat.
Thanks for the frank comments Jerry - we all need loners - who would listen to all the chatterboxes?! Fear is such a big factor for coeliacs. Yet GF eating is often such a hassle for restaurants and no-one cares more about our health than we do so it is a fine balance.
I recently went into a trendy indy cafe in East London and asked for some GF cake with my latte. The girl went to use the same tongs so I firmly explained why she couldn't and grilled her to ensure the cake was truly gf. She went to wash the tongs and returned with said cake. I ate it and experienced no obvious side effects. Yet as I never did pre diagnosis I suddenly thought why am I bothering? Can I be sure she's understood? Did she really wash it with soap and water? Have I taken a stupid risk? It is a fine balance.
Would you be encouraged to eat out more in a group with other coeliacs or at a totally gf restaurant? Curious as we're often keen to encourage more awareness of CD by encouraging coeliacs to eat out. Yet maybe other coeliacs don't want to eat out? Maybe the way forward is GF bakeries/ cafes/ supermarkets? Are more GF entreprenurs needed?
The girl went to use the same tongs
You've hit the nail on the head with this comment Fiona because to a busy chef waitress etc these are the tools of their trade and they like all of us do, we do things automatically.
I regularly go in a cafe/coffee shop where the tea and coffee is served is free from contamination and they sell Mrs Crimbles chocolate macaroons seperately wrapped so I know they are safe and thats the key for me, 'knowing' what I am about to eat is safe.
So true Jerry. It's easy for people to think coeliacs / gluten sensitives are being fussy, paranoid or over thinking food. Yet the crux of the fear factor of eating out for coealiacs is really 'not knowing' what they do in the kitchen. Or that we know they don't know what they are doing. After all how many people would pay to eat out and be made ill for 6 weeks afterwards putting years of gf avoidance back a step. Not many I'm sure! Yet part of me can't help thinking that the more we ask, explain and thank mgrs, serving staff and companies that do take the time to ensure dishes are truly gf and prepared safely then it life will become easier and more social for us all. Especially as psychological health is as important as physical health. Wouldn't we all love to not have to ask a zillion questions every time we ate out and for gf menus to be as common as veggie? For staff to be trained in dietary requirements? For chefs to see creating a gf or df menu as an interesting challenge and move back to less processed, more sustainable food? Well that's my vision. The question is how can we make it happen?
In answer to one of your questions above, I am an environmental health officer in food safety and standards. One of the things we can cover is catering for those with dietary requirements. I therefore hope that me and my colleagues are all raising awareness on coeliac disease and the risk of cross-contamination. however, since being diagnosed I have only eaten at Carluccio's, as that has been the only place where I have felt confident in their understanding.
Thanks Codycat. I heard at a fancy restaurant in London last week (when I quizzed the chef in advance) that the new 2012 change in the law is making them have separate kitchen areas and many hoops to jump thru. Is this true? Whilst I would love to see more choice I don't want places to think it's too much hassle and refuse to cater to coeliacs. What's your take? BTW I'd highly recommend Zizzi's new GF menu (starters great and mains with Dove's farm pasta) and they have 2 for 1 with Taste card. To be honest I don't have faith anywhere. I gave that up years ago after many near misses - like a well known fast food chain where chips are meant to be Gf and fried in plain oil suddenly throwing their salad croutons in! So I err on the side of always asking to speak to the manager and `asking the same zillion and one boring questions inc. Pls can you check which dishes don't have gluten? Have you grilled any bread on that? What stock do you use? Do you use the chip fryer for anything else other than chips? Do you use fresh clean water & pan for the gf pasta? Is there any soy or Worcester sauce in any sauces or marinades? That seems to work a lot better than my newbie approach of telling everyone I couldn't eat 'wheat, rye, oats, barley, oats, spelt' which returned a lot of puzzled looks.
I was diagnosed in 1995 & have never been ill following a meal in a pub or restaurant in this country, the US or Europe. In New Orleans I asked about g/f in 2 different restaurants & on both occasions the chef came & sat at the table with us & discussed what I could eat. It was not an expensive one but excellent.
that's an interesting take on it. i guess if a caterer wants to use the term 'gluten free' or 'very low gluten' then they will have to implement even stricter controls, such as having a designated area, and how many places are going to have their meals tested to see if it meets the required ppm. i guess some of the chain restaurants that have GF meals as they are brought in frozen/chilled from large suppliers may be ok, but the average caterer just trying to offer more choice may struggle/fear use of the terms. I personally think that the new legislation may make the situation worse for us, and I am hoping that i'm going to be proved wrong.
i am going to bring up the changes again at our next team meeting and ensure all officers are handing out the food standards agency/coeliac uk guidance leaflet so that we can raise awareness again.
What a really useful web-site especially for people who are newly diagnosed. I remember standing in the supermarket in those first few months nearly in tears of frustration & desperation.
Thank you
Interesting comments on here. My daughter was given the wrong pasta at a well known chain and was violently ill for several hours and very poorly for over a week. The experience turned her from being confident and enjoying going out to eat, to practically us having to drag her out of the house. It was a horrible, horrible experience. She is now very fearful of eating out and now says, she will never order pasta in a restaurant again. I have had to completely re-think this and having read a few things on other sites, I do think she has a point. Perhaps it is safest to avoid foods like gf pasta where it's easier to make a mistake. If you stick to places where the majority of the menu is gluten free- like Wahaca in London or Nandos- then your chances of being poisoned are a lot less. I think the solution is really for restaurants to devise more of their menus to be naturally gluten free- so all of their stocks and sauces are gluten free, all of their main courses where possible are gluten free and a good selection of desserts are gluten free. This may sound hopelessly idealistic, but it is possible and it would make eating out a much less stressful experience.
In terms of hotel chain restaurants, I have found Novotel to be the best. They tend to cook fresh, waiting staff and chefs have a better understanding of gluten and whilst their menu is not spectacular, you can go "off piste" and order something bespoke.
From speaking to several maitre d's, being a French chain they tend to employ chefs rather than cooks and will also bring talent over from France. Funny thing is that they have a standard menu across all restaurants, which the chefs find a bit boring to cook so they tend to get excited if someone orders something different. I once ordered smoked salmon as a starter instead of their sea food platter and it turned up arranged as a "nest" with salad artistically arranged in the middle 
I dont eat out very often as where i live Exeter Devon there are very few places that cater for coeliacs, also you have to be careful about cross contamination as i am gluten & wheat coeliac which i have been for 6 yrs now.
Being wheat, gluten and fructose intolerant, it is very hard to find somewhere that caters for me. I go out every few months for special occasions but rarely have a full course. Last time a went out I couldn't even have a pudding. They didn't even have any suitable ice cream, it's not like you need to buy specific gluten free ones as there are many ordinary ice creams out there that don't contain gluten.
I've only been able to eat out a couple of times after researching which restaurants cater for my food intolerances (I have lots!). Only with friends who don't mind my food issues (very few of them) rather than the ones that roll their eyes every time it is mentioned (most of them). I've only known about my food intolerances for 15 months, I am intolerant to wheat, cow dairy, cruciferous vegetables, peppers & onions and I am also a pescatarian (a vegetarian who eats fish) so you can see why people have so much difficulty catering for me! (I don't have a problem catering for myself and neither does my partner who has no food intolerances).
For me, the idea of eating out is to enjoy myself. It´s hard to do that if I have the embarrassment of cross-examining the restaurant staff and the uneasiness of not knowing what has happened in the kitchen and how my food has really been prepared. A small error will leave me feeling ill for two or three days, a large error for a week or maybe two. Also, codex wheat starch makes me very ill, and I worry about a restaurant using gluten-free ingredients which contain this. Not relaxing! I´m feeling pretty fed-up about the whole issue.
My dream would be some sort of certification that a restaurant is properly-equiped to provide a safe gluten-free meal, although I know this would be a nightmare to set up and maintain. Coeliac UK does not check knowledge of cross-contamination etc in restaurants featured in their restaurant guide, it is just a question of the restaurant itself stating that it can provide gluten-free food, and this does not provide a good enough indication of safety for me.
I currently try to arrange social activities which do not involve eating, or ones where I can cook myself, or to go along when everyone else is eating and just have a glass of wine. My friends have just had to get used to the fact that I generally won´t eat out. I started out being too embarrassed to decline invitations to eat out, and so trying to navigate the stuation as best I could, but I often got ill despite my best efforts, and I´ve had enough.
I am guessing that in a scrape the safest thing to order would be an omlette in a clean pan- at this point I don´t care about taste, just safety!
Does anyone else have any ideas about what to order in a restaurant that couldn´t be contaminated easily?
i think the biggest problem with eating out is trusting the chef as regards contamination. I am really sensitive to any gluten no matter how small - even the odd breadcrumb. Trying to explain to the waitress that separate utensils are needed in the kitchen when handling my food can be difficult.
I know how you feel - and although staff really try they just don't get the whole cross contamination thing! I went to a Harvester recently, everything had the dreaded gluten in it so I had a baked potato - couldn't have the marie rose sauce with my prawns so just had prawns and some salad from the salad bar - after cross examining staff about people using the serving spoons for the wrong foods (pasta in the potato salad!) I feel like I'm being difficult - but they don't know how ill it makes me.
I only eat out when I find a restaurant that I think I can trust - which isn't that often!! I'm trying to develop a 'system' to help restaurants have more empathy with us coeliacs and other restricted diet folk - perhaps you would be willing to help and fill out my survey on the website at myownmenu.co.uk or this link (if I'm allowed to put this on here???) surveymonkey.com/s/RK7SQX8 Many Thanks for those that do - Carol
Cant give a definitive frequency of how much I eat out but definitely a lot more than before diagnosis because I was so ill for so long I didnt feel like going out and wasnt eating much anyway. Since diagnosis of both Coeliac and Addisons disease, I have had a renewed vigour and eagerness to go out and enjoy myself. Life is too short and I am lucky to still be here. Roll on the next meal out.
