Gluten Free Restaurants

[Tristy]

I have gone strictly gluten free and have been invited to a Pan Asian buffet restaurant. The restaurant have advised they do have dishes which are gluten-free but they can't guarantee 100% as there may be cross contamination. Can anyone advise if it should be ok to eat there please?

[Rmichelle]

Hi there i am celiac and i know eating out is a pain but if they have told you they cannot guarantee non- cross contamination, personally i would not eat there as i cant take that chance. Depends on you really and how sensitive you are but if you are celiac like me then ii would not take the chance. Sorry.☺

[Tristy in reply to Rmichelle]

Thanks Rmichelle. I'm not really sensitive to it but I think it maybe helping a lot towards making me feel better.

[Rmichelle in reply to Tristy]

Yes going gluten free does work but you do have to be 100% gluten free,i think its got to be your choice at the end of the day and whatever you choose it will be ok. Have a good time.😊

[Fruitandnutcase]

I have eaten at restaurants where they produce food in kitchens that also serve food containing gluten.

I’m not Coeliac though - I’ve been doing it to reduce my thyroid antibodies - I tend to go to places where they take their gluten free options seriously because I want to stay totally GF and to the best of my knowledge I have been.

On the odd occasion when I’ve had to go somewhere and I see on the menu that there could be possible kitchen cross contamination I would tell them I was GF and go for a plain steak and salad or grilled fish - I’d rather not eat somewhere I wasn’t sure about.

[Tristy in reply to Fruitandnutcase]

Yes, I'm really not sure about going there at the moment. Thanks for your advice.

[Fruitandnutcase in reply to Tristy]

Not sure it’s advice as much as it’s what I do.

I think you’ve got to know your restaurants and know which ones understand about GF and take it seriously if you are going to eat out. I always look up their web sites and see what’s on their menus, you can sort of see how seriously a company takes GF, if there’s not much then I wouldn’t go.

I remember going to a Nando’s early on, it wasn’t somewhere I’d ever been to in the past. I got their allergies book/ menu, chose what I wanted and my husband went off to order, as he isn’t GF one of the dishes he ordered wasn’t GF - the cook actually came over to our table to check that we knew we had ordered something non GF.

That happened twice at two different branches, so I feel quite confident eating there.

[Tristy in reply to Fruitandnutcase]

Yes, as you say, a lot of it depends on the restaurant. We went to an Indian restaurant a while back and they seemed quite vague on what dishes contained gluten so will probably avoid that one in future.

[Fruitandnutcase in reply to Tristy]

Ha, that was when I gave up on eating curries out. I wasn’t confident that they either understood or cared. Now I make my own at home.

[Angel_of_the_North]

Legally, for their insurance, I think they have to say that they can't guarantee there won't be cross-contamination if there isn't a completely separate kitchen, storage facility and staff for gluten-free. If you don't have crohns or coeliac, I would give it a go as a one-off and see if you have any problems.

[Tristy in reply to Angel_of_the_North]

Thanks Angel_of_the_North, that's really helpful. They seem to be quite clear on what dishes are gluten-free so I'll probably give it a go.

[Fruitandnutcase in reply to Tristy]

Sounds ok. I know I’d be ok but I just don’t want to eat gluten if I don’t have to.

I’ve got a Coeliac friend and I remember eating out with him and asking if it bothered him that folk like me who aren’t Coeliac do it for other reasons and he said that if it wasn’t for folk like me coeliacs would not have the amazing choice they have nowadays.

I know from comments I’ve read online that some coeliacs do resent non coeliacs demanding gluten free food but I think my friend is correct because now you can get GF food almost anywhere.