Giving Up Restaurants

[anonymical7]

Hey all,

Not much of a complainer but I am in Barcelona and my wife and I were hoping for a good restaurant moment when we dropped by one that was recommended. We ordered the black paella (arroz negro) and octopus. We had our celiac card info saved on our iphone and it explained in spanish at least what the things were to look out for. The waitress called over an old codger who perhaps ran the place. He said, no its just fish, and the other ingredients... no other things. He swore it was okay. My wife and I had warning bells going off about the broth, but we decided to trust the owner or head waiter. Within 5 bites I started heartburn and congestion and sure as heck I was on my way down the gluten rabbit hole!

Ugh, anyhow, I am about to give up going out to eat. We love food but I cannot afford to get hit with these things. When we do have to go out we are going to bring along tamari from now on, and when I have to, just eat unseasoned grilled things and fruit.

[hrly169]

Hey all,

Not much of a complainer but I am in Barcelona and my wife and I were hoping for a good restaurant moment when we dropped by one that was recommended. We ordered the black paella (arroz negro) and octopus. We had our celiac card info saved on our iphone and it explained in spanish at least what the things were to look out for. The waitress called over an old codger who perhaps ran the place. He said, no its just fish, and the other ingredients... no other things. He swore it was okay. My wife and I had warning bells going off about the broth, but we decided to trust the owner or head waiter. Within 5 bites I started heartburn and congestion and sure as heck I was on my way down the gluten rabbit hole!

Ugh, anyhow, I am about to give up going out to eat. We love food but I cannot afford to get hit with these things. When we do have to go out we are going to bring along tamari from now on, and when I have to, just eat unseasoned grilled things and fruit.

Hi, I absolutely understand your frustration. After going gluten free I quickly realized that even "safe" restaurants screw up and tend to have cross contamination problems, or a lack of understanding of celiac disease. I have not eaten in a restaurant in 2 years and have healed so much faster. The only cross contamination I have had problems with has been unavoidable things. If you can manage it I highly recommend stopping eating at restaurants, you will feel so much better, plus it is so much more cost effective to cook your meals.

[MySuicidalTurtle]

Even when your in an English speaking place it can be hard to work out. There are a few restaurants in Barcelona that have gluten-free menus (even gluten-free noodles). Hopefully your next try with plain and fresh items will yield better results! Enjoy the city, and I hope you don't get sick anymore!

[anonymical7]

Yes, we cook in most of the time but this kind of resulted as the final nail in going out. Today on the other hand we went to a Barcelona store that had "celiac safe buns" I was asked to make my special hamburgers. For the others however they got normal buns. Upon getting home and sitting down later to dinner we tried them and they fell apart like sawdust... incredible that they're even sold. I would not buy them if my life depended on it. At least the store (Makro) had the option of celiac products but really, I wish there would be quality control too.

All that said I feel so much better after the night of getting hit with the fallout of the black paella. Stomach pain, the runs, but after a night of rest I was okay. Its always like that but seems to be getting worse the longer I am away from gluten. As long as i am gluten free its all golden.

[Mskedi]

It's going to be hard going back to Spain and not having any churros... I've been dreaming about them for years at this point.

But now that I've experienced being glutened, I think I'll be able to resist. Last time I was there, I stayed in an apartment... I guess I'll have to come up with a similar living situation so I can make all my own food. It was hard enough being a vegetarian there... being vegetarian AND gluten-free? That's going to be interesting, to say the least.

I wonder what was in your paella that had gluten. Maybe they used broth with gluten?

[MySuicidalTurtle]

How weird about the bread. I loved the bread sold in Spain and Portugal that I brought a whole suitcase home full of different products. El Corte Ingles has some good options since you are sticking to eating inside.