Antica Trattoria Review

Jason here. Kayleigh and I took a trip down to San Diego to visit some family. While we were there, we had the fortune of visiting some wonderful gluten friendly restaurants. The last place we visited was a restaurant by the name of Antica Trattoria.

Antica Trattoria is an upscale Italian restaurant which also has a selection of fine wines. Not being a big wine connoisseur myself, I opted out of drinking this night, so will let Kayleigh speak to the drinks. I did however, order some capellini made from gluten free pasta. The price point was about where I would expect it for a nice Italian restaurant, even after the additional charge to substitute gluten free pasta.

While you can by gluten free pasta from the store, it always seems to just taste better somehow at a restaurant. Our waiter was friendly, and confirmed the dish was entirely gluten free once I made the substitution. Italian restaurants are traditionally hard for me to eat at, as few offer gluten free options. It was nice to finally sit down and enjoy some pasta again. Back when I could enjoy it, I was a big fan of angel hair pasta, so I was a little disappointed when I found the pasta substitution was only penne. While it makes perfect sense, it is something to be aware of when you make your order.

The capellini dish tasted great. It caught my attention as it contained what I would have added if I was making my own pasta dish from scratch. Primarily the mushrooms and shrimp. Something I could never have pulled off was the garlic and chardonnay lobster broth sauce. Along with the fresh tomato, it gave the dish something in the middle of a traditional red pasta sauce, and a creamy white sauce.

As an aside, I am getting slightly better at de-shelling shrimp using only a fork and knife, but I still feel quite clumsy at it. I’m sure I can’t be the only one that finds that awkward. Also, I’m still not sure where to place the shell after I peeled it. I still haven't managed to deshell a shrimp with chopsticks, though...

Kayleigh here. I admit, I rarely order the same alcohol twice- not because I have yet to find one that I like, but because I just love trying new ones and expanding my knowledge and palate. The wine list here focused mostly on Reds, but encompassed a wide variety of Italian and Californian vineyards (and even a couple in Washington) that made choosing very hard. The food, I found, was an equally difficult choice despite the menu being only one page long. All the entrees just seemed so...good! Others at the table highly recommended ordering one of the dishes with the short ribs, but I went with something more on the veggie side of things. Either way, there are plenty of choices for even picky eaters, and they were extremely accommodating with the few substitutions we ended up making.

As the food was delicious, the menu and staff gluten friendly I would recommend you give Antica Trattoria a visit if you are in town.

Safe Travels in Japan - Komatuan and McDonalds

Komatuan

Jason here. After a day of sightseeing, we headed back to our hotel to drop souvenirs off and hit up a restaurant right nearby that specialized in Soba noodles.
The restaurant is Komatuan, and not only do they specialize in Soba noodles, they specialize in 100% buckwheat Soba noodles. Soba noodles, which are always made of buckwheat sometimes contain some portion of wheat as a binder. The higher the percentage of buckwheat, the more prized the noodles.

While there was no English menu, and no English speaking waiter, we eventually managed to put in our order. I opted for the traditional plain soba noodles, served cold. After we were served, I added my own packet of gluten free Tamari sauce. Tamari sauce tastes effectively the same as Soy sauce, and are in fact both made from soy. The primary difference, is Tamari is generally made with little to no wheat and more soy base.

Wow, these noodles are hard to describe and articulate why they tasted so good. Maybe it was from walking all day, but despite being plain the noodles themselves seemed bursting with flavor. It wasn’t a sweet, or spicy flavor just a really strong noodle flavor. If anyone knows how to describe a noodle, please let me know.

Kayleigh here. Essentially, the specialty of the restaurant was plain noodles, served cold, that you would dip into a little bowl of sauce and slurp up. I still don't really know how to slurp noodles properly- I hear that taking in some air at the same time improves the taste, but I thoroughly enjoyed them all the same. And the price was very reasonable, considering the upscale shopping district surrounding it. Go here for the food, stay and shop if you can justify $800 handbags!

McDonalds

(not posting a link for this one- they're everywhere!)

Jason here. Every now and again, I just craved some French fries. This is where McDonalds came in. No matter where we went, there was a McDonalds within walking distance. This made it great for a random snack, and a place to grab a seat and rest my feet. In Japan, most McDonalds are two floors and give you a chance to get away from the hustle and bustle of the street. The french fries have dedicated fryers, so you can always be sure they will be gluten free. Definitely safer than you would find in America.

Whenever we would be out and Kayleigh would stop and grab a non-gluten free snack, I would drag her to McDonalds and buy myself some fries. Sometimes it’s the little things in life, and sometime I just want some fries.

Kayleigh here. In a pinch, fries could be a lunch. It was actually pretty interesting to eat in and observe the little differences from an American McDonalds. Besides the easternized menu items, the restaurants had a coffee shop- like vibe to them, with students doing homework and friends sitting and socializing over soft drinks. Getting fries was a good excuse to pop into the quieter dining areas and regroup. You can only get lost so many times in a day before you need a break!

Safe Travels in Japan - Artnia and CoCo Ichibanya

ArtniaCafe

Jason here. After getting lost for some time, and fierce wind storm beginning to pick up we finally found our destination, Artnia- the Square Enix Café.

This is café and store is right next to the Square Enix headquarters, located in Shinjuku. Everything about it pays homage to some Square Enix game or another. After perusing the store and checking out their really fantastic upscale room decorated to look like a crystal cavern, we decided to sit down and order some drinks.  

Of course the entire food and drink menu is themed. After looking over the ingredients and trying to decide if it would be safe, I ordered a Chocolate Ice Cream Parfait, complete with a solid chocolate buster sword sticking out of the top. 

While I seemed to feel fine the next day, I may have just gotten lucky. There was no allergen menu, and Kayleigh’s parfait contained corn flakes despite not being listed as one of the ingredients.

The parfait itself was delicious. Extremely chocolaty, which is exactly what I had been craving. There were multiple layers, each one revealing yet some other type of chocolate. After walking around all day, this really hit the spot.

Kayleigh here. While the food is a bit risky because of the frequently changed theme menu and unlisted components, the trip is still worth it for any nostalgic Square Enix fan. The drinks are equally creative and decorative, and should all be safe other than the beer cocktails. Not to sound nerdy, but Final Fantasy VII was what Jason used to ask me out on our first date, so it holds a special place in our hearts (even though the game has not stood the test of time!)


CoCo Ichibanya
(website is in Japanese only, but english menu is available online)

Jason here. As I mentioned in a previous post, Kayleigh spent some time before our Japan trip researching restaurants which would be gluten free. The second chain she discovered was Coco Ichibanya.
CoCo Ichibanya is a Japanese curry restaurant, and Kayleigh was eager to find out how Japanese curry tasted. I myself, was happy to eat at a restaurant that sported an English allergen menu, and takes extra special precautions.

The allergen menu unfortunately only has a single item, non-spiced curry. It comes with white rice, and you can add sausage and\or meatballs as a side for an additional charge. Of course I opted to get both sausage and meatballs.

To make sure the meal is completely allergen free, they actually bring you the curry freshly heated up still in its package. Be warned it is extremely hot, so be careful opening it. It was a bit chilly that evening, so the extra hot meal really rejuvenated me and helped me to enjoy the rest of the night. 

Kayleigh here. Unfortunately, as Jason said, the only gluten free curry available is the mild version, without the ability to select the spice level like the other curries. It is still a good representation of what sort of flavors and combinations that Japan considers a curry, so bring your own travel-sized hot sauce and heat things up to your liking.