Aya N
[Since I was not able to go to the restaurant, this is not a review about the taste of the food or the atmosphere. I am posting this for information as there may be other people who may be disappointed in the precautions we take regarding allergies. ]
This restaurant appears at the top of the search results for things such as "We can accommodate wheat allergies in Tokyo" and "Gluten-free," but based on the results, if you can't eat wheat/barley due to a wheat allergy or celiac disease, It looks like you can't eat here.
When I made a reservation online, there was a field that said if you have any allergies, please enter them here, so I entered that I would like it to be gluten-free.
``One person has gluten, egg, and milk allergies.
Gluten = wheat is also included in seasonings.
Is it okay to use seasonings such as soy sauce, miso, and vinegar?
If seasonings cannot be used, we cannot accommodate your request.
We apologize for the inconvenience, but we would appreciate it if you could check and reply. ”
I received an email.
Of course, most regular soy sauce contains wheat, so if a restaurant claims to be ``gluten-free'' or caters to people with wheat allergies, they may sell soy sauce made only with wheat-free rice or soybeans. This means that we always have Irutamari soy sauce on hand.
Restaurants that can accommodate allergies will often tell you that it is possible to use regular soybean miso instead of barley miso, pure rice vinegar instead of grain vinegar that contains wheat, or only those customers can use citrus fruits in their dishes. I replied, ``Ordinary soybean miso is fine, rice vinegar is fine, and I'll bring soy sauce if needed.''
“We also offer gluten-free options at our store.
However, if the seasoning is not available, we will not be able to accommodate your request.
If you use seasonings containing wheat during the cooking process,
For example, if you use a different soy sauce or miso, the taste of the dish itself may be different, or the preparation itself may not be possible.
We are very sorry that you chose our store.
We would appreciate it if you could make a reservation or visit us on another occasion.
We apologize for not being able to respond to your request. ”
I received a very strange email back.
...If you can only cook with seasonings that contain wheat,
It is not possible to say, "We offer gluten-free options."
I think it would be a bad idea if they advertised that they were accommodating people with wheat allergies or gluten-free food, but they couldn't actually change anything at the cooking stage.
I contacted them after seeing reviews such as ``Vegan and gluten-free options are good for entertaining inbound guests'' and ``They accommodated my wheat allergy,'' but the front staff did not understand about ``gluten-free'' and ``allergies.'' It seemed like there wasn't enough.
It may be a good restaurant for people who can eat anything, but I don't recommend it if you have any dietary restrictions.
(In Japan, medical care is delayed and testing is not widespread, but wheat, which has been repeatedly bred, places a heavy burden on the human body, so cases of gluten intolerance and celiac disease are rapidly increasing around the world.) In developed countries such as Italy and Finland, restaurants are required to offer gluten-free options, but I hope that understanding will spread in Japan as well.
[This is not a review about the taste of the food or the atmosphere, as we were not able to visit the restaurant. I am posting this as FYI re: allergy, because there may be others who are disappointed about the allergy-related accomodations ].
This restaurant comes up in the top search results for "wheat allergy friendly in Tokyo" and "gluten-free", but it seems that if you cannot eat wheat/gluten due to wheat allergy or celiac disease, etc., you can't dine here.
When I made our reservation online, there was a box to mention any allergies, so I put in that one person needed to eat gluten-free.
I got an email in response, saying,
"You indicated that one of your guests is allergic to gluten, eggs, and milk.
Gluten = wheat is also found in seasonings.
Is it OK to use seasonings such as soy sauce, miso, vinegar, etc.?
If these seasonings are not allowed, we will not be able to accommodate your request."
In general, restaurants that do accommodate gluten-free diets stock gluten-free soy sauce. I responded, "Regular soybean miso is fine, and rice vinegar is no problem, and I will bring soy sauce if needed."
To which they responded (this was in Japanese, so it wasn't lack of language skills),
"I'm saying we do accommodate gluten-free diets.
However, if the seasonings are not allowed, we are not able to accept the reservation.
When we use seasonings that contain wheat in the cooking process, if you use a different soy sauce or miso, the taste of the dish itself may be different, or we may not be able to prepare the dish itself.
We are very sorry that you have chosen our restaurant.
We would appreciate it if you could make a reservation or visit us at another occasion. [= without the person with allergy.]
We are truly sorry for not being able to accommodate you."
...I mean, you can't say,
"We accommodate gluten-free diets" and "but we can't cook unless we use our regular soy sauce" in one breath.
I wouldn't have minded so much, if they had flat out said "We don't deal with food allergies." If you say in the PR phase that you are allergy-friendly, however, and actually nothing can be changed in the cooking phase, that would be false advertisement.
We contacted the restaurant based on word-of-mouth reviews, such as "vegan and gluten-free options are available, which is good for entertaining guests from overseas" and "they were able to accommodate our wheat allergy", but the front desk staff did not seem to understand "gluten-free" or "allergy".
If you can eat absolutely anything, this may be a good restaurant for you, but if you have any dietary restrictions, I wouldn't recommend this restaurant.
Accommodating Gluten-Free