Gluten Free restaurants in tokyo?

I have a friend coming to stay with me in Saitama, Fujimino and she is allergic to Gluten. Are there any good restaurants or big food stores where she can buy food?? We are close to Ikebukuro so anywhere within tokyo would be great.

The convenience stores will all have items for a gluten-free diet if you choose carefully. Certainly many salads, yogurt, and most ice cream will work. Also, yakitori is an obvious choice because that's typically 100% chicken meat. Shabu shabu is fine. Any restaurant serving grilled fish -- and there are so many -- is another safe and easy bet. Rice is OK, so many rice dishes will be just fine, such as domburi -- and there are certainly a lot of those. That also means sake should be fine. Soybean products are OK, too, and that's fortunate because soy is everywhere in Japanese cuisine.

Avoid the noodle shops (udon, soba, ramen), coffee shops (almost all the food is wheat-based, although the coffee itself is fine), and a lot of the Western-style restaurants (such as Italian pasta).

I think it could actually be a little easier to avoid gluten in Japan than in many other countries.

Triple check all these suggestions, though.

Actually soy sauce usually contains gluten! So in Japan it is very difficult to avoid gluten, more so than western countries where there is a higher understanding of what gluten actually is. So when having yakitori and other dishes avoid the soy sauce. You can get soy sauce that has been tested to contain no detectable gluten or get tamari.

I have heard numerous times on this forum and in Australia, that whilst Soya Sauce contains Gluten, Tamari doesn't and as such could be used as an alternative. It is actually sold and advertised as gluten-free in Australia.

However my Japanese chef friend told me Tamari is just the thicker, tastier part of Soya Sauce (that they don't use in Kyoto at all costs). So he thinks I'm wrong.

Anyway, since I'm no coeliac I don't really mind - although I was thinking if someone could clarify the issue with people who have gluten intolerance.

From my understanding you can buy two types of Tamari Soy Sauce - one containing wheat & the other not. What I would suggest is your friend getting hold of a Gluten Free Tamari & taking it with her to Japan. That way she can ask for her meal prepared with the wheat free Tamari. I would also suggest getting an Gluten Free ID card translated into to Japanese from her local Coeliac Society. Those little cards saved my life when I was in Japan.

I use Tamari wheat free soy sauce with my gluten free diet. I was reading about the gluten free foods to eat while in Japan. I found it reassuring the I could travel there one day on my diet. However, I wonder was curious if the Japanese ususally pre-marinate meat in soy sauce?? If so then the type that is used could contain gluten. Anyone have any experince with this??

I'm on a 100% GF diet but I sometimes do with a tiny bit of gluten especially when travelling. However, on my Tokyo trip, I found a few nice restaurants that should be able to help. And there are some brands of snacks you may rely on:
kamedaseika 亀田製菓株式会社 and Nagatanien 永谷園 have allergy ingredient search online that you could select your allergy items and search for products without them. (see more details on my blog below)

Restaurants:
- I had an amazing GF meal at S. Komatsu in Rippongi, this restaurant is catered to GF diet! Despite they say GF menu suspended, they still do not use flour/gluten in their cooking. And they can definitely accomodate our allergy requests given their experience with GF cooking. Try to make advance reservation whenever possible. It is truly worth the price!
http://www.nexgeneats.com/s.komatsu/tokyo/index.html
- Noukanodaidokoro 農家の台所 has a dish of "steamed veggie with chicken" in a tagine pot that seems to be safe for GF people.
- There is also a Grom gelato from Italy in Tokyo that you can tust to be GF.

See further details of my dining experience and other Tokyo tips in my blog =)
http://rainyrice.blogspot.com/search/label/Japan

Hope it helps!!

Rainyrice - your blog is very useful!

I have a visitor coming to Japan soon who is allergic to gluten and dairy food.

Does anyone know any more restaurants in Tokyo which may cater for people with allergies?

Last time I had luck at some Indian and Nepalese restaurants, at The Pink Cow in Shibuya, and at Fujimamas (gone now!).

Hi,There is a nice gluten-free restaurant guide in Japan.
http://glutenfree-restaurant.com/ This is pretty useful!