Tuesday, July 07, 2009

The problem with restricting certain foods...

...is that nobody takes any damn notice. Case in point, lunch today:

Sarah, to waiter: I'd like the tofu masaman curry please, with brown rice. That doesn't have peanuts in it does it? Because I can't eat peanuts, so if it comes with peanuts, I don't want them.

Waiter, to Sarah: Oh no, no peanuts; that curry is potato-based. There's no peanuts at all.


Of course, the meal arrives with a GIANT handful of peanuts dumped on top of it. Uh huh. Thankyouverymuch a-hole. So I spent the first part of lunch and much of the rest of the picking the darn things out, accidentally ate two halves and now I feel sick. I've been shoveling the Tums in, which is my usual remedy for accidental peanut-induced nausea, which works if I can do it quick enough. Otherwise I may have to go and stick my fingers down my throat. Bleh.

I mean, thank god I'm not actually allergic to the damn things, like anaphalactic shock allergic. Although I suppose then a) I wouldn't have set foot in a Thai restaurant, no matter how my coworkers wheedled and tried to get me to, and b) I'd have sent the meal back. Next time it happens, though, I will NOT be such a lame ass and I WILL send the meal back.

No doubt it had flour in it too, as the tofu seemed coated in something. So much for gluten free, as well.

4 comments:

Miss X said...

I would have sent the dish back! I guess I'm a bit high maintenance.

Care said...

I'd like to say I'd have sent it back...but I'm rather non-confrontational, and I know I would have just picked out the peanuts too. Unless it was for E, in which case I'd have sent it back AND raised a big ugly stink, because I'm much better at standing up for them than I am for myself.

Lori said...

I've had to learn to be very assertive about food because of dairy allergy. I question the wait-person when I order and when the dish is served. I always ask that the chef is notified of a dairy allergy. Most of the time it helps. And yes, dishes have gone back. If all goes well I leave a big fat tip. ;D

Sam said...

In a Thai restaurant you need to look out for soy sauce or hoisin sauce and obvious wheat-based things like fried rolls and whatnot. Other than that, Thai restaurant are among the easiest to eat gluten free. I don't even try Chinese. My husband found that telling waitstaff that I would barf everywhere if I had wheat helps in some places (think TGIF Fridays type places). Although it isn't true, the people that don't give a shit if you get sick are the same people that DO give a shit if they have to clean up vomit. /novel