Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Gluten Freedom’s Search for Thai Food



Thai food should be gluten free. Rice noodles, rice, spices, it should all be gluten free, right? (Just hold the soy sauce.) David and I love to make GF Thai food at home, but it’s always great to find a Thai place accommodates the GF customer. After a week in Atlanta, I figured why not try searching for my go to Thai place in Atlanta?

Last night we went to Amaryn’s Thai Bowl and Sushi in Decatur. While there was definitely some confusion as to what gluten was, I will say that the management and waiters at Amaryn’s were very nice and willing to work with me. They also knew that soy sauce has wheat in it. When I inquired about the menu, they told me I should be able to get any of their Thai Bowl combos, without soy sauce. Of course you need to have rice noodles, not egg noodles (they contain wheat in addition to the egg).

I ordered the chicken panang which they assured me had no soy sauce in it and they even checked the ingredients on the fish sauce for me. They thought rice had wheat in it but I assured them rice is fine.

When the waiter brought me my meal, there were two balls of fried something in my meal. I was pretty sure those were not gluten free. I explained to the waitress that I couldn’t eat it and that I needed a new meal entirely (they couldn’t just take off the fried dough balls). She very nicely agreed and brought me an entirely new meal. It was definitely an entirely new entrée, which I very much appreciated.

So was I nervous about eating the meal? Definitely…But, I was totally fine afterwards. No contamination! Always a victory when eating out at a new restaurant in a new city. I don’t know if I would give Amaryn’s my highest recommendation to the gluten free diner, but there should be plenty of options at Amaryn’s and other Thai places.

A couple of tips for dining out:
- I find it’s always good to call places ahead and try to speak with a manager. It’s even better to call at a time when you know they won’t be busy.

- There’s an IPhone App called “GF Card” where you can get explanations of Celiac Disease in about 50 different languages, from Bulgarian to Thai to Urdu. This App is great for travel and dining. Just show it to your waiter and they can even take it back to the chef (Of course I left my ITouch at home last night!)

Amaryn’s Thai Bowl & Sushi
265 Ponce De Leon Pl
Decatur, GA 30030-3259
(404) 373-2788‎

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