Eating out with multiple allergies

[MangoLangoTango]

In the same vein as the dairy and egg free finds thread, I wonder if it would be useful to share our experiences of eating out in different places and how accommodating to allergies they are.

DS needs to avoid dairy, eggs, nuts, fish and sesame. The places we have found safe for eating out so far are:

Nandos: chicken and chips, I bring him veg and fruit. They have an allergy booklet on site.

McDonalds: allergy information again available. Hamburger and chips safe (theme developing here!)

Prezzo: surprisingly their spaghetti and meatballs as well as pasta with italian sausage are safe. They have comprehensive allergy information on their website.

Wetherspoon: Their website have a function where you can tick off your dietary requirements and it creates a 'safe menu' in PDF format that can be downloaded.

Granted majority will be chain restaurants but it beats not eating out at all and it is nice to have some semblance of normality as opposed to home made everything. Plus, DS LOVES eating out.

Please do share your experiences

We found Pizza Express very very good. DS and I had cheeseless pizzas. A lot nicer than it sounds!!

Can I just rave about the resturants in Butlins (Bognor) too. They were understanding, confident and accomodating. 10/10

DS is allergic to milk, wheat, eggs & nuts. We find eating out very difficult (esp. as DD is also coeliac) but Beefeater do steak, chips & beans on the kids' menu that DS can eat and he loves it. Table Table (part of same group) also do the kids' steak plus they now offer a grilled chicken breast that is also ok.

I have found it easiest at one extreme or the other - either chain restaurants where they have allergy info on hand (or on website) and don't try the 'we can't guarantee anything' route, or really good restaurants where the (generally pre-warned) chef will come and talk to you, and cook specially,if necessary.

Unfortunately we don't get to do the second very often.

Looks like it is time we take ourselves off to Pizza Express. I dread the day DS realises he can't have most things on the menu.

Brilliant thread - thank you :) DD's list of allergens has grown in last couple of months :( so where I used to feel quite confident about where could do dairy and egg free I was resigning myself to never eating out except at McD's now that there is more stuff to avoid! Would never have thought that something as interesting as pasta and meatballs could be safe for her - yippee!!

Not in the UK, so can't help with specific recommendations, but I've found that small cafes are very good (I have to avoid dairy & egg due to still bf allergic DD2).

I usually order things like BLT or a BLAT (BLT with avocado, a local favourite it's yum!) and stress no sauce no butter etc. Most places are really accommodating. A few have even said, oh we have a lovely relish you could have, I think it's safe, here, let me get you the box to check

Another recent discovery is a BLT bagel in McDonalds at breakfast time. Without sauces it's fine.

I've heard rumours of a vegan restaurant in the city. I'm going to go there one day for the pure joy of being able to order anything from the menu

If DS ever grows out of ANY of his allergies I'll be dancing a merry jig and shouting it from the rooftops. But like your DD Maz007 he is still at the stage where new ones are popping up.

Will keep adding to the list if we discover any new places. It really is forums like these that help with the practicalities of everyday living. No allergist or dietitian will have this info on tap or be able to tell you which supermarket brand of shreddies is nut safe.

Harvester have a flame grilled chicken on the kids menu, we chose with chips and peas and then chose fruit skewers (no ice cream) for pudding but they also had jelly to choose from.
The older kids meal has the chicken in a bun so you'd need to ask for no mayo but the younger menu it just comes as grilled chicken I think.

Their website lets you choose things and it gives all the nutritional info www.harvester.co.uk/nutrition/

This thread saved my bacon this week when a blooming unplanned spontaneous Christmas get together had to be organised when we were visiting family. Prezzo was fab and their allergy information was good. Think they may have changed their spag and meatballs recipe which is now not egg free I know that anyone reading these threads will check everything before ordering but thought I'd mention as a word of warning.

We'd second Zizzi. Their sorbet is dairy free so dc can have dessert. They also get gluten free pasta with a plain tomato sauce. When ds was going through a 'no sauce' stage, they would even do him gf pasta with oil, peas and ham at his request!

My DS has an allergy to egg whites and nuts. I rarely take him anywhere to eat, and always with his epipens. Hearing the dreaded 'my mouth hurts' is enough to put the fear of God into me. Is there a comprehensive list of all these places to eat in relative safety anywhere? Anybody know about KFC?

My ds was diagnosed as peanut allergic last month and I've been googling ever since! I can't find any lists at all about places to eat. Even the places that list allergens in their online menus seem to have a disclaimer saying that they can't guarantee no traces of nuts and to ring for further info.

Most places will have some sort of disclaimer - it is just about you picking places where the allergy guidelines are clear and you feel able to discuss your concerns with the chef/cook. We are only brave enough to take my DD to McDonalds at the moment. She is allergic to milk, egg and nuts. Prior to the nut diagnosis we were starting to get a little braver and had ordered in a few restaurants after speaking with the staff and seeing labels on the food. However, since myt DD was diagnosed as being allergic to nuts we have lost our confidence eating out. I know that nothing has changed - I mean she was probably allergic to nuts all along and we just hadnt had this confirmed. However, it scares me that a tiny trace of a nut can cause her so many problems :(

We also go to Ask (went yesterday in fact!). DD is coeliac and most of the Italian chains do gf pasta and pizza plus DS allergic to milk, wheat, eggs & nuts so he could only have the kids gf pasta with pomodoro sauce but was very happy with that. Word of warning though, the kids menu doesn't mention cheese on this dish and it's never had it on before but for some reason this time they brought it out covered in mozzarella so we had to send it back. They were very good about it though and didn't take too long to bring a fresh one. Next time we'll make sure we remind them 'no cheese'! He also had the carrot & cucumber sticks to start (no bread sticks or dip) plus fruit for dessert. We're going to try Zizzi's next. I like places where I can read the allergen info online before we go, makes me feel less nervous and also causes less fuss when we're there.

Ds went to hollywood bowl for a bowling party last week and the chef could not have been more helpful. They had a book listing the allergens for each dish on the menu and the chef washed all the utensils to be used on ds's food again before starting his meal just to be sure. i didn't ask him to but he wanted to be extra careful and at least i had peace of mind.

Unfortunately, there was actually only one thing on the menu ds could eat as everything else did say may contain traces of nuts. Even the chips were listed as possible sources of cross contamination as they are fried in the same oil as the other products. I did actually take some microwave chips for them to cook, just so ds could have chips like his friends. I couldn't fault the staff and i did feel confident that ds was safe to eat there. It's just unfortunate that (a) there is only one thing on the menu he can eat and (b) its not the type of place we would go to for a family meal!

today KFC is no good for egg allergies as their chicken coating contains egg unfortunately.

Oh. Bugger. Thanks anyway.