Little Saigon makes me wish I had two stomachs

Ok,
That was legit. 

I am still digesting that glorious meal and I just had to post about it.

How have I never had this place?  Several of you have probably mentioned this place to me and I must have had headphones in because SERIOUSLY it is incredible. 

The pork and shrimp spring rolls were sweet, crunchy and almost fooled us into believing we were eating healthy.  We absolutely loved the sweet fish sauce and bathed them in it. 

That same fish sauce went quite well with our meals. 

I had something boring called like, "chicken with noodles" or something like that.  Although it was not boring.  It was glorious.  They had gluten free soy sauce as well.  My wife had Pad Thai, which was also great.  The meat was tender, the vegetables offered the perfect compliment and there is one thing I still need to mention. 

The food is basically served in bath tubs.  How in the world they can afford to feed me for my next six meals is beyond me, but $8.50 seems downright cheap when you see the portions.  Please, please frequent this place.  The staff has varying levels of knowledge about gluten but they are all willing to ask. 

Go there now. 

Updated quick list for eating out.
updated 8-8-14

East Side:
Five Guys
BJ's Pizza
Red Robin
Bonefish Grill
Jason's Deli
Ya Ya's
Granite City
Doc Green's
PF Changs
Noodles and Co
Chipotle
Red Lobster
Pablano
Wichita Pizza Company
Mulligan's Irish Pub
Carlos O' Kelly's
Jimmy Johns
Outback Steakhouse
Carraba's
Jose Peppers
Hu hot
Buffalo Wild Wings
Chili's
The Olive Garden???
Louies??
On the Border??
Wendy's??

Central:
Cravings gluten free bakery
Little Saigon
Five Guys
Old Mill Tasty Shop
B&C creations (They told me the sauce is GF)
Freebird's
Tanya's Soup Kitchen
Pig in Pig Out Barbecue
Taste and See $
Lotus Leaf Cafe
Garden Grill Cafe
Playa Azul??

West Side:
Five Guys
When Pigs Fly Barbecue
Chipotle
Freddy's
Red Lobster
Carlo's O'Kelly's
Pei Wei
Outback Steakhouse
Gobi Grill
Buffalo Wild wings
Chili's
Jason's Deli
On the Border??

South:
Godfather's Pizza
Carlos O' Kelly's

My new favorite place in Wichita: China Go

Sometimes you have to just risk it and try something new. 

The wife and I had tried almost everything gluten free in town and now we felt it was time to be adventurous, for you, our loyal readers.  It had nothing to do with the fact that we really wanted Chinese food, didn’t want to pay for PF Chang’s and didn’t want to drive to Pei Wei on the West Side.  Enter China Go. 

About a week ago I sent a message to them on Facebook asking them if they did gluten free.  They responded yes but that was it.  I was intrigued.  I called them today and felt like they knew what they were talking about, or at least enough for my taste.  So I risked my health and took the wife out to China Go on Harry and Rock.  (About 2 minutes from our house!)  I brought a card explaining gluten as well as our own bottle of Gluten Free Soy Sauce. 

The manager was there and she explained that she had a few gluten free people in the past.  She knew what to do and asked us what we would like to eat.  She asked us what we would like to eat.  She didn't turn us away and label us as pariahs.  Nope she asked us what we wanted off the menu!   My wife has pined for good orange chicken for a long time and they were able to oblige.  Instead of making it with breading they used cornstarch.  Along with the Orange Chicken I ordered Mongolian beef and gave them my soy sauce to help them prepare it. 

The Orange chicken was hot, sweet and salty.   It was everything that you would want in Orange Chicken.   Usually I can avoid that heavenly smell but at our local grocery store, Dillion’s, they are constantly making orange chicken and the smell would drive me insane.  Now I can walk the aisles of Dillion’s with no concern, knowing there is better, gluten free, chicken down the road.   The orange chicken is worth the trip.  The Mongolian beef was very good as well.  It was a bit spicy for my liking but I am sure they would be able to tone it down if asked. 

We also had a nice bowl of freshly steamed veggies.  It was everything you would hope.  Nice variety and fresh. 

Another plus: their to-go brand of soy sauce was also gluten free.  (Not the stuff on the tables but the little packets)  It’s a brand that I’ve found in the past with great joy. "Kari-out," I think.  It’s not as salty but it still was a pleasant surprise. 

Okay, so recap.  Almost everything can be made gluten free off the menu.  Also, the prices are really good.  The helpings are huge.  You can almost share one item.  The food is fresh and tasty.  I do believe they are a bit newer to the GF thing so please make sure to go, as always, armed with information so as not to get sick.   They are working on a menu and striving to have well trained staff but you know things will always fall through the cracks if you are not careful.  Five hours later and I am feeling no ill effects. 

However, I would say this is my new favorite gluten free place in Wichita and you really need to go check it out.  Seriously.  You need to go now. 

Go to China Go! 
I will go back to China Go.   Let's all go.

Our Gluten free Vacation: Vietnamese Garden, Colorado Springs, SO AMAZING!

Yummy Potato fritter...

Oh, what a bittersweet day.  I am writing this while leaning back on the front porch of our cabin in glorious Woodland Park, CO.  Watching the miraculous sunset over Pike’s Peak and rubbing my very full belly, I am grateful for God’s creation.  Our car is jam packed with gluten free bread products from “Outside the Breadbox” and I just put away the best meal I’ve had in months.  But we leave early tomorrow morning to go back to the hot, hot heat in Wichita.  The gluten free beer has relaxed me a bit.   There is a bite in the wind I wont get in Wichita until the cool winds of fall.

            How I got Ashley to try out a place called “Vietnamese Garden” is beyond me.  Maybe it was the several 5 star reviews on gluten free registry.  Maybe it was the fact that she checked the menu online just to see if she could “handle” it.  It doesn’t matter now, because we went and we gorged.  I wonder if the sweet Indian waitress snickered in the kitchen at how much we ate? In the end my notoriously un-adventurous wife held her own when it came to eating well.

Dessert

            First off I started with a gluten free beer called New Grist, which was light and smooth.  It was crisp and refreshing.  As my wife and I talked through the meal with the waitress, she gave us several solicited options.  We found ourselves stuck between the spring rolls you make yourself, the egg rolls and the carrot sweet-potato plate.  Realizing it was our last meal in Colorado before we go back to pleading truck stop chefs for something that wont get us sick, we decided to have it all.  Yes, all three. 

            The egg rolls came first.  They had all kinds of succulent meat in them, spiced well with a bunch of other safe foods that allowed my wife to enjoy something “exotic.”  I forgot how much I miss truly great egg rolls.  I like these much better than the Chinese egg rolls, which usually have some sort of cabbage.  The temperature was very hot but it was not spicy.  They had a sweet, slightly spicy sauce, which we dipped them in, cautiously at first and then we started dunking them like Oreos in milk. (I miss those)  By the time they brought out our next course, all six egg rolls were missing and our cup of sauce was half full.  I don’t like spicy but the kick in the sauce was minimal and didn’t stick with you. 

            Next we enjoyed the fried carrot and sweet potato plate.   As with the egg rolls, they suggested we add sprouts, mint and basil before wrapping in lettuce.  Like the mountains I am presently enjoying, I felt like this was another type of blessing.  Oh to experience something so divine at every meal.  The crunch of the lettuce combined with the crunch of the fried potatoes with the sweet spicy sauce was transcendent. 

            Finally the chef herself came out and taught us how to make our main course.  She had a plate of rice noodles covered in chicken, pork, shrimp and beef.  All of them were seasoned to perfection.  Amidst the meat there was also shallots, green onions and some sort of GF fried onion reminiscent of French’s fried onions.  We put these all into our rice paper with the same greenery from before and wrapped it tight.  When we got it right it reminded me of biting into a great hot dog.  When the casing was perfect it was beyond enjoyable. 

She said "Why take a picture of my ugly face with such pretty food?"

            Another thunderstorm announced itself as I sat there with my wife soaking in the last minutes of our vacation.  We watched the light trickle turn to pouring as we finished our incredible, buttery, not too sweet, mung-bean cake.  I was a little sad.  Few people were there on a Friday night.  That was the kind of place people should fight lightning to get to.  (Fight Lightning should be the name of a cheesy Christian band.)  I really hope that when I return one day it will still be there bustling with customers.  The fact is I just ate a meal that 4 people probably could have eaten.  Usually when I eat enough food to feed the entire Chargers starting offense I get so stuffed that I become sick.  On the drive home my wife and I remarked at how we didn’t feel gross.  We were stuffed but felt comfortable, which is good for a guy who just ate his weight in yummy goodness. 

         




Hopefully someone will google gluten free in Colorado Springs and stumble across my blog.  Dear reader, please make sure you support this place.  Vietnamese Garden HAS TO stay in business. 

            For my regular readers, I hope you enjoyed my blogging while on vacation.  Maybe it will inspire you to do the same on your next vacation.  See you in Wichita! 

As Homer Simpson would say, “Sometimes it’s not that hard being a food cricket.”