This is a followup to my previous post back in August where I was prepping for my Japan trip by looking up all the allergy menus of all the chains I could find in Tokyo.
I went in October for 2 weeks, and to my surprise, managed to eat out every day for every meal with only a single (slight) allergy scare despite being allergic to all seafood, all nuts and sesame! Here's a couple tips that helped me on my trip:
– Before ordering anything, show the staff an allergy card and learn the phrase: "これは安全ですか？/ Kore wa anzen desu ka?". If you point to a dish and then the allergy card, asking "is this safe?", 9/10 times the staff will run back to the kitchen to confirm if the ingredients overlap with your allergies! (Do be prepared to thank them, apologize and walk away if there's nothing compatible on the menu however as this has happened to me a handful of times.)
– Most restaurants have allergy menus online or in person – check beforehand online if possible, but if you can't find one be sure to ask as soon as you get there!
– Be careful of oils, a surprising number of dishes are cooked with sesame oil! (I spent 30 minutes walking to a local pancake place in Koenji only to be turned away since everything was fried in sesame oil so always have a backup)
– Some places are more willing to make substitutes than the internet would make you think! This might apply more to local spots than chains, but I went to a few local spots that primarily cooked in sesame oil that went out of their way to clean the equipment and use vegetable oils just for my order specifically – I wouldn't go into anywhere expecting this, but some places will very kindly offer 🙂
– You might have to just flat out avoid ramen 💀 I know this seems like a sin if you're visiting japan of all places but from my experience 99% of the ramen I came across had some kind of dashi in the broth or involved some kind of allergen I had to steer clear from. (I did actually have allergy-safe ramen a single time on my trip, but it was from mister fucking donut of all places)
– Nuts aren't really a big worry in my experience, but ALWAYS translate food packaging before eating anything just in case as some chocolates/pastries might have nuts where you wouldn't expect – I luckily never ran into any issues here though!
– The single slight allergy scare I had was on the 1st day in a food court when I ordered a hamburg steak – I checked their allergy menu and it was safe on paper but they fried it in the same oils as all their seafood (which they made clear beforehand) – so this was 100% my fault – I never once came across someone who wasn't happily willing to double check ingredients/cross contamination so as long as you always check you should be fine!
– There's a decent amount of cross contamination in a lot of food places but I never had any issues with it (and I have severe allergies) – of course do keep this in mind if you know this is an issue for you! Most staff will ask if cross contamination is okay, but if they don't you might want to ask them to clarify.
– Yoshinoya is the GOAT! Extensive allergy list, open 24/7, cheap, fast, delicious – this was my go-to spot when I couldn't find anything safe since there are tons of these around!
– Pork/beef dishes are generally safe from allergens so look out for them if you're in a pinch, it might help when sifting through allergy menus!
This is about all I can think to mention but feel free to ask any questions 🙂
I still had tons of lovely food, it just had to be a bit more westernized than the average japan trip to keep me alive – would absolutely do it again!
by AuraLink