Gluten Envy

If you have not been to a P.F. Chang’s then you likely have a Chinese food sized hole in your middle. Sporting a Gluten Free Menu, P.F. Chang’s features a gluten free soy sauce. (If you are new to this outing, soy sauce is normally boiled wheat.)

I’ll start with the bad because it is such a short list. They automatically bring out a condiment tray with regular soy sauce and a few other items. As always, you should be careful with items containing vinegar because vinegar can be cross contaminated with wheat during distillation. With this said be careful of the mustard. I always tell them to take the whole tray away. If I don’t then they lift off the wheat soy sauce and bring back a gluten free one and set it on the same tray.

At the end of the meal is the traditional cookie which is brought out without fail, even if the whole table ordered gluten free. It is cellophane wrapped but is still a wheat cookie. Only once have I been asked, “Do you want the cookie? It not gluten free you know.” I should have given this waiter a bigger tip. Normally I tell them to take the cookie back with them which is met with mock protest. I in turn tell them I don’t want to have to go wash my hands to get the cookie off of them before they come anywhere near my face.

What P.F. Chang’s does right? How about a different set of plates for allergy sufferers? This is a visual queue to all wait staff, and it is quite a good idea. The food is great and is consistent between the different locations. I’d recommend trying the Gluten Free Chicken Lettuce Wrap. It is an appetizer that could be eaten as a meal.

If the lettuce wrap isn’t enough then finish with a Chocolate Dome. If you like chocolate, you need to eat this. It is in the top of my gluten free dessert at a restaurant list. It is enough for two. I say that because the chocolate sensors start to go out about half way through this simple yet wonderful chocolate creation.

Pictured is Chang’s Spicy Chicken, brown rice, Ginger Chicken with Broccoli and gluten free soy sauce.

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Filed under: Dining Out, Gluten Free