Singapore - food allergies

[Timpetill]

I am tagging along with DH on a business trip to Singapore next month, with our two DS's, aged 5 and 2. So far, so fab.

DS 5 has multiple food allergies - eggs, all nuts, sesame, kiwi and peas/pulses. Tedious, but we've figured out how to eat out at home. Eating out - a bit more complicated. We'll be staying in an apartment, and I know you can get practically anything at Cold Storage and wet markets, so I will do a fair bit of cooking at the flat.

BUT - Hawker centres! Food courts! Fine dining! That was the part of Singapore I always loved pre-DCs. If I have to spend a week eating toast and tomato pasta I can't vouch for my actions

How do you find food allergies are handled in Singapore restaurants? Are waitstaff understanding of allergy diners? Do you find you get proper help to avoid danger foods? Are hawker centres too much of a risk? Any advice gratefully received

TIA :)

[bakingaddict]

I would avoid hawker centres....lots of Chinese Singaporean food will have sesame oil/nut oil and nuts as part of the ingredients or might be prepped near foods which contain these depending on the severity of your DS allergies.

I would imagine the restaurants would be more than able to provide information regarding how their food is prepared and ingredients especially the ones around touristy areas like Orchard Rd, Raffles, Sentosa etc

[Timpetill]

I suspected that about hawker centres , the oil and the curry pastes.

Grrrrr

[Medal]

Also eggs (noodles), peanuts, sesame seeds are common when eating out. I think the more expensive restaurants will be able to better cater for his allergies. Sorry, I would feel the same, I love street food in Singapore!

[Timpetill]

Ugh, didn't think of noodles! This allergy stuff is a real bastard!

[butterfliesinmytummy]

Can you take food for your ds (pasta etc) and eat hawker food yourself or is he very severely allergic?

There was a post on Singapore expat wives group of Facebook about allergies and hawker food a while back. Might be worth searching or asking again?

[Timpetill]

Oh that's good advice Butterflies. Bringing takeout from home would mean none of us miss out, he shouldn't be in trouble being near the allergens, only if he ingests them

[RichManPoorManBeggarmanThief]

I think one of the problems is that because food allergies aren't that common in Asia they just don't "get" exactly what you're asking or why, so if you said "Does this have egg in it?" rather than thinking "does this have even a trace of egg in any of the ingredients?" they'd interpret it as "does it have an obvious fried egg stuck on top of it?"

[Timpetill]

Hmm, that could be a problem RichMan....

[picklesrule]

I have a friend whose son has multiple food allergies here in SG..they avoid taking him to eat out because of it (His allergies are life threatening though and include more food groups than yours) My friend finds though that there are often allergens in the food that you least expect and that people are not that clued up here about that kind of thing. Add in wait staff who are generally clueless here and you might have a problem in restaurants.. taking his own food might work though! Good luck, there is a lot of good food to be had here!