Crossroads Bar and Grill Review

UPDATE 04/04/2013: Driving by the Crossroads location last weekend, we noticed they are no longer open! There are still four other locations around the area ( check here to find the closest one to you), but the Bellevue location is getting turned into a Tutta Bella, which does not seem to promising for the GF crowd.

Jason here. I finally found a place that has decent gluten free wings, Crossroads Bar and Grill. Now I say decent of course, not fantastic which is fine, they do not specialize in wings. What actually peaked our interest was that they clearly displayed on their sign that you can substitute any burger bun, for gluten free buns for a $1. Any restaurant that is innately gluten intolerant aware, I'm willing to try. I was again pleasantly surprised when we got our menus. The menu clearly labeled every gluten free item with a little symbol. There was a nice variety of choices, from salmon, steak, ribs, wings, chicken, burgers, and salads all of which were gluten free, or had easy substitutions such as buns for the burgers. I would note that while the restaurant has a pretty varied menu, it is certainly catered to bar and grill foods, since that is what the restaurant is.

The wait staff was also very pleasant. Aside from just being friendly overall, they were also genuinely cared about the patrons. When my wings came out, I asked what brand of ranch they used, or if they knew if it was gluten free. The waiter said he wasn't sure, but would go ask. He also gave me a scare because he added quickly, that he did not think the wings are gluten free because they are breaded (I do not think they were breaded, but it would be an easy mistake to make on looks alone). He came back and assured me that everything was gluten free. It is very nice when you have a wait staff that care about the patrons which is the case with Crossroads.

My meal consisted of a mixed drink called, "Absolut Sparkling Lemonade",  Garlic Buffalo Wings, and celery with ranch dressing. More and more I see wings come without any celery or carrots, so a tip of my hat to Crossroads for including those. The wings were well cooked, with a nice coating of sauce on the wings. The sauce itself was not very spicy, but very tasty.

The second time we went, I got a Western Round-Up burger substituting a gluten free bun. I asked the waiter if the fries were gluten free and he assured me they most certainly were. So with that I had a side of fries with my burger. The burger comes with cheddar cheese, bacon, onions, lettuce, tomato, pickles, and BBQ sauce. I ordered mine without onions and tomato. The burger was delicious over all. A little messy, so I wouldn’t order this if you are on a date, or trying to look professional. The French fries were crispy on the outside with some fluff on the inside, making them an excellent addition.

Kayleigh here! The first time we went, I was on a huge seafood kick, so I got the coco prawns (which I admit, are not gluten free). Since that's a bit out of the jurisdiction of this here blog, I'll just leave it at a two thumbs up. The second time, I decided to take the GF burger dive with Jason, and got the 'Tree hugger' burger, which is their version of the veggie burger. The rice-based patty was a fantastic surprise, when I was fully ready for the usual frozen Morning Star fare, and the bun was lightly herbed, with a lovely texture. And I must say, for any GF diner missing out on good old fast food style fries, look no further than Crossroads! Combining it with a Happy Hour top shelf drink on the rocks is just a bonus!

SUMMARY
Overall, I think the Crossroads Bar and Grill, has been the best restaurant we have gone to in Bellevue. They are very gluten friendly, and it shows through their menu, and wait staff. The food is great and the wait staff friendly.

Deliciously G-Free Cookbook Review

With the internet as our arsenal, Jason and I started our journey of gluten free enlightenment with an enormous array of contradicting and confusing information. While many websites offer gluten free recipes by substituting with GF all-purpose flour, many others recommend shunning the stuff whenever possible, since they tend to be largely diluted with inexpensive potato and rice flours. But, if the mixes are so bad, then what kind of flours SHOULD we buy?

The saving grace in this madness came as an housewarming/engagement present: the Deliciously G-Free cookbook. Yes, it was written by a celebrity. No, this doesn't mean you should ignore it. The beginning of the book shares her story of diagnosis, and how she turned it around into an adventure. The preface then turns into a very thorough explanation of common flours, starches, and gums, explaining not only what they are, but how they behave, and what they help do in gluten free cooking and baking.

From this book, we were able to make a list, and scoured every market in the area (and even a few on the internet), and quickly found that nearly every grocery store in the area had a decent selection in stock for a fair price. With tens of flours now in hand, we made.....waffles.

Well....we used the cookbook's pancake recipe, added chocolate chips, and made waffles. We kinda forgot to buy the sour cream and lemon needed for the book's waffle recipe. But they came out fantastic nonetheless. So fantastic that we made them again a week later.

The recipes in the book range the whole breakfast-to-dessert gamut, so we definitely recommend it for beginning gluten-free cookers, or simply anyone who'd like a few more recipes on the shelf. We'll certainly be trying quite a few of the meals out in the future!

Jason here. The book has been fantastic. As Kayleigh mentioned, the introduction discussing all of the gluten alternative flours is really helpful if you want to do any of your own baking.

The waffles did indeed turn out very well. They were crispy on the outside, but still light and fluffy on the inside. My favorite part was of course the added chocolate chips. I will probably add more next time. Maybe toss some sliced banana's on top.

Recipe - Buffalo Seafood

So, with about a week's worth of time to spend gathering furniture and gearing up for the long haul, we took a bit of free time checking out the enormous asian market nearby, Uwajimaya.

I felt like a kid in a candy store, seeing all the ingredients that I'd read about before, but never found! But, without a recipe in hand, we escaped with only a pound of fresh whole prawns and squid. Squid is not something I'd ever prepared before, but how hard could it be?

With a freshly stocked arsenal of flours at our disposal, we quickly cobbled together a recipe for a crunchy buffalo batter, using the traditional double-dip method that served us well when gluten was an option. And, as it turned out, rolling the squid rings and tentacles into small balls was far easier to bread than keeping the rings presentable, so fried squid balls it was!

In the end, we went for Garbanzo flour for its crispiness when fried, and crushed cornflakes on the outside for the flavor and added crunch. The results were beautifully golden, crispy balls that tasted way better than the usual all-purpose flour we're used to!

Buffalo seafood

¾ lbs Seafood (or Chicken)

1 cup Milk

1 cup Garbanzo Bean Flour

1 tsp Garlic Powder

1 tsp Cayenne Pepper

1 Egg

1-1 ½ cups crushed Gluten Free Cornflakes

Vegetable Oil/Canola Oil (enough in the pan to completely submerge the seafood)

Franks Red Hot/Buffalo Sauce, or your favorite Buffalo Sauce recipe

1. Follow any prep for cleaning and cutting your meat of choice.
2. Pour the milk in a bowl, and let your cuts soak for a bit, to make sure the batter sticks.
3. In another shallow bowl, combine the garbanzo flour with the garlic powder and cayenne pepper.
4. In a third bowl, crack and whisk one egg. It doesn't need to be light and fluffy- just combine the white and yolk.
5. Using a ziploc bag and a rolling pin, crush the cornflakes into a near powder (leaving some larger bits gives it a nice texture), then pour into a fourth shallow bowl.
6. Roll the meat around in the garbanzo flour, thoroughly coating it. If using squid, I recommend balling it up a bit, just to make the coating process easier. OPTIONAL- you can choose to chill the cuts at this point, to let the first flour coating to set up, and be less likely to come off in the egg wash/frier.
7. Dip the coated cuts in the egg, then immediately transfer them to the cornflake crumbs, thoroughly coating them. Put the oil-filled pan on medium-to-high heat at this point.
8. Once the oil is up to temp, throw them in! Keep close watch, and flip them if needed. As soon as each piece is uniformly golden-brown, take them off. Especially with squid, it can be easy to overcook.
9. Blot with a paper towel to remove excess oil, then slather on your sauce of choice. Enjoy!

Jason here. These were absolutely FANTASTIC. I can't emphasize how amazing these turned out, both the calamari and the prawn. I ended up not soaking them in hot sauce, but rather dipping them instead. This really helped them keep their crispiness. I have always loved buffalo, and fried breaded foods, so I was eager to try out a recipe. The taste was really perfect. The prawn and squid still each retained their distinctive tastes while the buffalo and breading adding a nice spicy kick. The only downside to the recipe is the amount of time and effort it took to prepare the seafood, however it is completely worth it. (especially since Kayleigh did all of the tough work)With the squid balls and prawn turning out so well, I cannot wait to try this recipe out again to make some boneless chicken wings. This will definitely be a go to recipe for whenever I am craving something buffalo flavored in the future.

Restaurant Review: Garlic Jim's Famous Gourmet Pizza

Jason here, One of the first things we did after we moved to Bellevue was order some pizza. Our apartment basically had 0 food items in it, and none of our cook wear had even arrived yet. We checked for local gluten free pizza places and Garlic Jim’s ( you can visit their website here) was the first to come up. It was actually only the second gluten free pizza I’ve had, since I only found I was celiac about 6 months ago. We ordered one large pepperoni pizza, a side of hot wings, and a 2 liter of coke.

The pizza was delicious. Pizza is one of the foods I have really missed since I became Celiac and wondered what the crust would be like.  Garlic Jim’s pizza crust was similar to another gluten free pizza I have tried in the past. It was thin, crispy and had a hint of corn bread. My favorite type of pizza crust has always been thin and crispy, so I loved it. The cheese and pepperoni was pretty standard, but delicious as well. In fact, it may have been the second best pizza I have ever had. (The best was a tiny little pizza shop I used to frequent in Pittsford, NY named Pontillo’s).  The wings were pretty lack luster. They had very little sauce, and were not spicy enough. I would label the spiciness mild at best. All in all. The pizza was absolutely fabulous, but the wings I would never order again. Although a little pricey, we will definitely order from them again for all our pizza delivery needs.

Kayleigh here, since I just wanted to comment on how helpful the staff was. He double checked on all the menu items we ordered, including the salad dressing to make sure it was okay. They really went above and beyond to make sure the order was all okay, and we both appreciate them for that! Okay, and the pizza was really delicious, too. A nice spice to the sauce, and a wonderfully crispy crust. It even heated up excellently the next day, when we needed another quick dinner!

If there's anything else you guys miss ordering out, they've got an extremely thorough allergens list here, and I'm sure they'd be glad to double check if you really wanted to make sure. I'm sure we'll be calling again soon, next time we need something simple and delicious!

Hello World!

Hi Everyone,

This is our very first hello world post. We wanted to start off talking about the blog, and a preview of things to come. We recently moved to the Bellevue, Washington area, and began the fun journey of discovering and trying new restaurants. Since one of us is celiac, it made searching for restaurants a little tricky. This blog is intended to be all about our quest to find tasty, gluten free restaurants.  Both of us have pretty different likes and dislikes for food. For instance, one of us loves fish, the other does not. One loves steak, the other does not. There will be a lot of restaurant reviews, some fancy, but also take out. Since we are both very new to gluten free cooking, we will also post some delicious recipes along the way.

So two of us will be making these posts. To start I’m Jason, I’m the celiac of the two. My favorite genre of food is anything cooked in buffalo sauce.  I’m still looking for a great gluten free wing place in Bellevue, but can’t wait to share it. I’m a pretty simple cook, and enjoy simple foods.

And I'm the other one, Kayleigh. I grew up in a household where pretty much every meal was a new recipe, so I'm excited for the chance to experiment around with cooking gluten free. It's just one more way to customize tastes to our liking!

-Sincerely,
The Singularity