Red Robin Review

Kayleigh here. It is about time we reviewed another national chain with gluten free policies. And Red Robin was one we had been hesitant about, because it sounded like their safety measures varied from restaurant to restaurant. As a matter of fact, out of the three locations within driving distance of us, only one of them had any mention of offering gluten free hamburger buns- the other two suggest that you make it a lettuce wrap. So it led to the question- is cross contamination a concern in these lesser prepared ones?

Given that one slip up leaves Jason in great discomfort for several weeks, we chose to go to the safest sounding one of the three, and would recommend that you also call ahead and ask about your particular location's offerings and practices. The more gluten-free friendly ones can readily answer questions about ingredients and using separate fryers on top of offering actual buns for the burgers. Our waitress herself knew the answers without having to consult the kitchen, so we felt surprisingly safe for going to a chain restaurant.

The draw of Red Robin lies squarely on the large variety of toppings and combinations for your burger- there are pages of them. Most of them seemed safe to us, although it does not hurt to ask, and all current varieties of fries, we were told, are gluten free. We were told not to use their 'signature seasoning' found on the table, though.

Going to a Red Robin is a great opportunity to bring younger children and people you don't feel the need to impress, order the biggest and messiest burger that catches your eye, and go to town. It is not exactly a date spot- a little too noisy for that-, but sometimes it is more important just to go to somewhere normal and mass-marketed and be able to enjoy yourself without being worried.

Jason here. My feelings on Red Robin mirror Kayleigh's. I thought my burger was alright, but definitely would go back to more local joints like Wibbley’s or Blue Moon given the choice. However, when traveling you can’t be too picky, and it helps to have a handful of places in your pocket that you know are likely to be in any given area. As Kayleigh mentioned, Red Robin was loud with plenty of kids milling about, so if you have kids of your own this place can be a great atmosphere. If going out for a romantic dinner, not so much. 

Of course, I only got to try a single bacon burger at Red Robin and their menu options are expansive. This makes it is a good restaurant if you’re out with a group of friends, and they all seems to want different types of food. You can even check out allergy listings their latest menu before you leave, to see which burger will be your best bet.

Bombay House Review

Jason here. Recently we went out with some friends on a whim to Bombay House in Bellevue. Bombay house is an Indian restaurant located in south Bellevue. It was on our list of places to check out, so we knew it had gluten free options, as well as fantastic reviews online. Well I definitively say it earned every single one of those positive reviews. This place was fantastic and hits every mark of a great gluten free restaurant.

I want to start with the service. Normally I skip over this part, but I want to really highlight how fantastic a service we got. Not only did our waiter crack a joke that had our whole table giggling, but later on I noticed they got a second table laughing and conversing with the staff. Everyone here just seemed to be in such a jovial and happy mood, it was infectious.

Next, the number of Gluten free options is outstanding. How many you ask? So many that rather than listing the items on their menu gluten free, they instead choose to list only the items which have gluten. Nearly all of those items with gluten are restricted to their flat breads menu and even there existed a gluten free option. I’ll get to that in a bit though.

Not only did the menu clearly call out which items had gluten which had me feeling safe at the start, but the waiter was very careful to let me know which items had gluten when the items were brought out. Specifically my table ordered a variety of flatbreads, so even though I already knew those contained gluten it was nice to be reminded and reassured. It was clear the staff deals with gluten intolerants like myself fairly often.

For an appetizer the table ordered the onion pakora. These are effectively sliced onions, super battered in chickpea flour, spiced, and deep fried. They came with two sauces, which I used the one that tasted sweet almost like an extra sweet duck sauce. Wow, these things were amazing. Ridiculously crunchy and over the top flavor. I’ll be ordering these every time hands down.

My main meal consisted of Saag Paneer (medium), which came with a side of rice. I also ordered some Chana Roti, as a flat bread option to give it a try and compliment the main dish. For my drink I ordered the Bombay Lime, which consisted of lime juice, club soda, and some spices I could not identify.

To start, I will say the drink had a lot of spice in it. It was not spicy as in heat, just spices that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. I enjoyed it, but think I would order something a bit less intense next time. Perhaps one of the yogurt drinks the whole table seemed to really be enjoying.

The Saag Paneer was excellent. Lots of paneer, and the right texture of blended spinach. It tasted how I like it, which is cheesy, creamy, garlic, and just a hint of salt.

The real surprise winner though was the Chana Roti. This flat bread came out thin as most flatbreads, but also crunchy while maintained a bit of flexibility. It was downright delicious. This whole meal really opened my mind up to the possibilities of chickpeas which I have traditionally not liked. Scooping up some of the Saag Paneer with rice onto the Chana Roti was the perfect blend of textures and flavors.

To cap off everything, Bombay House delivers. Previously our options consisted of some fairly expensive pizza places nearby, so the number of times we have ordered out in the last 2 years can be counted on one hand. With Bombay House as an option it makes ordering out a much more appealing option.

Kayleigh here. I do not know how much I can add to Jason's glowing review of this place, but everything from the atmosphere to the food itself was fantastic. The Strawberry Lassi was a perfect foil to a spicy entree, and even the rice was wonderfully fluffy and worth mentioning by itself. It was my first time trying Matar Paneer, and I am really looking forward to finishing off what little leftovers I have of it.

Ishoni Yakiniku Review

Jason here. Finally another Bellevue restaurant review. While our family was up visiting we wanted to take them to experience a Yakiniku restaurant. We just so happen to have Ishoni here in Bellevue. It can be hard to spot from the road, but they do have parking available.

If you are interested in Yakiniku restaurants in general, go check out our Yakiniku reviews from Japan.

Ishoni has approximately 6 large tables for guests, which seat six guests comfortably. We definitely recommend you go with a group of 4 or more, so you can make reservations a couple days in advance and get a table for your group. The way ordering works is this: you receive a large menu which lists all of the various items to order. While you could order something just for yourself, it’s much better to have everyone order 1 or 2 items at a time and then split it up amongst the group. This will help you try out the largest variety of the delicious and fresh dishes Ishoni offers.

If you feel like you need soy sauce, I would bring a small packet of gluten free Tamari or Soy sauce with you. Due to the freshly prepared nature of the food, and that you cook it on the grill in front of yourself, most of the items are gluten free. In general though you will have to make sure you order the salt & pepper versions, or make sure to ask your waiter to be sure the sauce versions are gluten free.

Our meal was delicious. We ordered a large variety of items including beef tongue, duck, chicken with butter, mackerel, cuttlefish, and a vegetable combo. My favorite of course was the beef tongue, but cuttlefish came in a surprising second. I had not had cuttlefish before, and found it to taste very similar to other shellfish. The duck was very succulent, so I recommend it as well. In fact, every item we received was fresh, and clearly higher grade. The beef was extremely marbled, the chicken juicy, the vegetables fresh, and on and on.

Not only was our food delicious, but the price was excellent. Considering the quality of the food here, what you pay is a steal. Kayleigh and I hope to make Ishoni a regular spot for us now.

Kayleigh here. We were just ecstatic to find out that there was a Yakiniku restaurant this close to home, after making some lovely memories at ones during out honeymoon. While we really took a risk going here, we found that almost none of the dishes came with any sort of sauce or marinade beyond a simple oils, salt, and pepper. We still made sure to ask about everything we ordered (and found that the starter miso soup was not safe), and were lucky enough to have the entire table willing to stick with gluten free choices. If you end up going with a group that wants to order something unsafe, make sure to designate a gluten free grill and tongs at the table, to avoid cross contamination. I am willing to bet that you can ask for an additional pair of tongs to just use on gluten items, too.