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Dear List: 
Sorry this summary took so long.  The original post asked for hints for a NYC Chinatown outing with foreign 
visitors intent on a Chinese meal -  names of restaurants, specific dishes, etc. ...

A lot of interest was expressed, but there were very few replies.  We ended up eating in a Vietnamese restaurant on Baxter St. just behind the courthouse.  Both my celiac daughter and I confined ourselves to unfried rolls with vegetables and shrimp, and to barbecued pork, and steamed greens.  It was delicious, fun to eat and we had no problems with this menu.  Everything else we wanted to eat contained MSG, and/or soy sauce already in the dish.  We were fortunate to have a waiter who understood what we were asking.  (I would not expect waiters there to be able to read restaurant cards....)  

This was our very first eating experience in Chinatown since being gf.  We were both quite wary, but ended up having a fine time.  I must add that the problem seems to be most difficult in inexpensive restaurants - just the ones where tourists like best to go, and which are the most "authentic." 

Two helpful replies:  

1. Everyone with me on my tour of China learned to shake their head "NO" and say ME-ANN -- apparently that means no flour but you have to deal with the soy sauce separately.  Here in Chinese restaurants I say no soy sauce and because I find a plain white sauce too bland I tell them to make it spicy.  For those who can't figure our how to make it spicy without soy sauce, I tell them to add chili peppers.  (Someone suggested taking your own chili peppers - good idea.)


2. Wow-eating in Chinatown is a challenge as practically everything contains soy sauce except probably plain steamed veggies and rice. I worked in the area for 10 years and went there everyday to shop at local markets for fish and vegetables and occasionally eat. My favorite restaurant is "Pho" on Mulberry St.-it is Vietnamese and the food is outstanding-very fresh, delicious,  and very well prepared. It is very popular and very reasonably priced. I have not been back since being diagnosed with Celiac because of the soy sauce issue which contains wheat. I have thought about calling ahead to see if I could bring my own soy sauce (wheat free organic which is GF) but haven't explored their understanding of the issue-they don't seem to speak alot  of English and I don't speak their language either-unfortunate as this may  be for us. If you come up with any good places in Chinatown please let me know as well since it is one of my favorite places. For now, I confine my Chinatown visits to shopping rather than eating.

Nancy in nyc

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