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Some Gluten-Free Faves

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Part of my re-design includes now talking about gluten-free eating options in Japan.  It takes skills and smarts to weed out good places to eat on a GF diet, and I want to share my hard-learned information with others.  Whether you'll be a long-time resident or in for a quick visit, I hope my adventures can help you have an easier, minimally painful stay.  Check out my posts and my new "Gluten-Free Japan" page, where you'll find a map of GF friendly eateries!

This new line of posts is dedicated to current GF faves I find in Japan.  If you're also GF in Japan, or with someone who is, I'm always looking for new places to visit.  Send me info, I'll check it out, and it could make my list!

1. Sushi is a big GF fave of mine.  This photo is from our trip to Rokusen Sushi in Osaka.  They gave me lemon and ginger salt instead of soy sauce.  Pictured is some salmon and fatty salmon sushi.  It was amazing.  The chef really knew what he was doing, the sushi tasted so fresh, and it wasn't very expensive!


2. On our trip to Kobe, we found the Syaarii Bar.  Sandwiches and wraps made of mochi!


Read the labels: most of the sauces aren't GF.  If you ask nicely, they might make you a custom sandwich!

To the left: Matt demonstrates how to put together the mochi sandwich.  To the right: that's a mochi wrap!

3. The Natural Cafe.  Located in Gifu, this is a place we found our first month in town.  It has delicious food, great people who are willing to listen to your questions ad nauseam, and a friendly pet tortoise. 

Iwao-kun
4. Vending machine desserts.  I found I can eat a great mint chocolate chip ice cream bar from a "Seventeen Ice" by Glico.  It's delicious and so natural!  They get the green color through algae and flowers, not dyes!


5. Patisseries and Bakeries that understand the importance of creating food for people with allergies!

Pictured: Koigakubo Bakery in Kobe, where I bought rice bread, GF cookies, and ate GF cheesecake and lemon macaroons (that were like lemon cookie sandwiches).  No web address, but it's on the map.
Also in Kobe: Petit Pas cake shop, a fully GF facility.
In Gifu: Le Cerisier d'Amour and Chateraise Patisserie.

6. Really great Mexican.  You can't top Desperado's in Nagoya.  It's run by a Mexican man who speaks fluent Spanish and English, and his Japanese wife, who speaks Japanese and English.

7. Thai, Vietnamese, and Indian restaurants.  I've been to several (all mapped), and they're great.  Not everything will be GF, but the chefs are more willing than most to talk to you, and if they are actually Thai, Vietnamese, or Indian, they will laugh when you ask about wheat in their food.  Because why would they do that?  It just ruins a perfectly good dish.  
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  1. brizmusSeptember 13, 2011 at 2:15 AM

    whoa, whoda thunk it - Mexican food in Nagoya?!? I'm going to call and see if they can do something vegan! How awesome that would be! Maybe I'll go this weekend. :-)

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