Eating out Question

noobman · Joined: 08 Dec 2005 Posts: 4

OK so I'm going to be at the Sheridan Hotel in Toronto for the next two days... basically two breakfast meals, two lunch meals, and two dinner meals.

Odds are that the group will eat fast food from the Eatons Centre a certain amount of times.

They may go Chinese once, although I'm probably going to try to convince them otherwise, since I hear most of their stuff will have gluten in it. We'll probably hit up East Side Marios for lunch one day as well.

So my question is this:

In terms of fast food, Chinese food, Greek food, and Italian food... what are good choices for a guy that's got to go GF? Are there any other styles of food you could recommend??

I was diagnosed with Celiac's disease in October, and this is my first real trip with the disease.

I'm heading out this Sunday... any advice would help. Thanks.

NickisDragon · Joined: 06 Oct 2005 Posts: 331 Location: S.E. Michigan

If I'm not mistaken, the issue with Chinese food is with the soy sause they use. You should be able to order steamed meat--beef or chicken--with chinese vegetables and white rice. It's certainly not as flavorful as the sauced up dishes but, with salt, it's certainly edible. (obviously no egg rolls or dinner rolls. I've had the egg drop soup with no problems as well.

Have you thought about Middle Eastern food? Their stuff is usually REALLY fresh. The salads are fabulous (not the fatoush or tabbouli--wheat!) The meat cooked on open fires and they usually have fresh juice bar. Just use common sense and you'll be fine. Have fun on your trip.
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The Love we withhold is the pain that we carry.
Nicki

B-Day: January 18
DX: October 2005

aklap · Joined: 02 Oct 2004 Posts: 8341 Location: WI, USA

Hi,

Nicki's right...you have to watch out for the soy sauce. The other thing is cross contamination. Asian places typically do not wash either woks (it destroys the seasoning), so even if you order something w/o soy sauce, you may get glutened. Most stay away from Asian places. Unless it's a PF Changs. They have dedicated woks and a GF menu.

MSG might be another problem. MSG made in the US is GF...but MSG from China (or other countries) may not be. Who knows where they get some of their ingredients from.

Does the hotel have a restaurant? If so, I would contact them about making GF items for you.

Here are some other options:

http://www.ryerson.ca/%7Ebcameron/gft/restaurant_guide.html
http://www.celiacchicks.com/2005/03/oh_canada.html
http://www.veg.ca/directory/to-maps.html

Have fun!! Let us know how it goes!!
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Al

“We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with great love.” Mother Teresa

Judy · Joined: 01 Aug 2005 Posts: 235 Location: Massachusetts

Al, my husband has a problem with MSG in the US! I leave it out of my recipes. In fact, I have a great recipe for marinated chicken wings with soy sauce, ginger, lemon juice, garlic powder and oil - I leave out the MSG and they taste just as good. He has dermatitis Herp. so I don't know if that makes him sensitive to the MSG, but I don't use it at all.
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Judy

aklap · Joined: 02 Oct 2004 Posts: 8341 Location: WI, USA

Hi Judy,

Sorry to hear that. Many have issues with MSG (aside from it having any gluten). It's a good one for causing migranes or headaches.

It's not a bad idea to stay away from it period!! GF or not Very Happy

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Al

“We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with great love.” Mother Teresa