How has this vegan-pescaterian celiac fared so far on this trip?

Weeks before we arrived in Japan, R contacted the Hilton Hotel Tokyo, detailing my food restrictions and sending the kitchen a gluten free restaurant card. In response, the hotel promised safe food, asking that we make reservations in their restaurants. Because R is a Hilton Diamond Club member, we ate breakfast in the hotel’s executive lounge where the chef made egg whites mixed with fresh vegetables for me, using a clean pan and utensils each time. One evening, the same chef prepared gluten free vegetarian pasta and a gluten free minestrone for dinner in the same lounge. This chef’s careful and courteous attention and service impressed us; we both praised the chef to the hotel’s manager.

Salmon, potatoes, and a side of olive oil. Excellent, though pricey.

We also enjoyed a couple of meals in the Hilton’s Metropolitan Grille and Junisoh, its Japanese restaurant. The Metropolitan Grille provided careful service and I enjoyed excellent salmon grilled with oil, dairy-free mashed potatoes, and salad.

Twice we ate in Hilton’s Japanese restaurant Junisoh. On our first visit, the restaurant prepared delicious vegetable sushi as a quick, light lunch and for the other visit, the the chef grilled lovely scallops and fresh vegetables, without sauce but provided me with gluten free soy sauce. I give the Tokyo Hilton high marks; the hotel took my condition seriously and although food in the hotel is expensive, food everywhere in Tokyo is expensive.

Hilton’s Japanese  restaurant.

On our second day of touring Tokyo with a guide, she took us to Sushi Say in the Ginza District. That morning while we toured the Tsukiji Fish Market, our chef at Sushi Say shopped at the same market, buying for the restaurant. R and I shared unbelievably fresh cooked salmon and cooked crab sushi rolls. With our guide interpreting, I was able to ask the chef questions about food preparation, including whether he used soy in preparing the sushi rice (he did not). However, I wondered if Sushi Say would be a safe restaurant for a celiac who was not Japanese speaking or with a guide.

Sushi Say in the Ginza District

Richard’s prep ahead of our visit, an excellent chef, a careful Hilton staff, and restricting the food venues resulted in my faring well in Tokyo.

Highlights of Tokyo

A memory from the Tsukiji Fish Market. Many Japanese do not understand the market’s attraction to tourists.

We are moving on from the Hilton Hotel in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo to Yokahama where we will board a cruise ship.

We’ve enjoyed our time in Tokyo, a city of 12.5 million mostly very polite people.
Tokyo, with its tall, shiny buildings that reach into the clouds, carefully tended parks, walkability, and public transportation resembles many modern cities. Two items distinguish Tokyo from similar cities — the number of people and its cleanliness.
Hong Kong, somewhat of an Asian neighbor, is also a densely populated, crowded city with building cranes working every inch of extra space. Compared to Hong Kong’s grit and grime, Tokyo is unbelievably clean and in some areas offers an illusion of spaciousness.

Hundreds, no probably thousands, of people pack Tokyo’s trains, sidewalks and buildings and somehow, perhaps because of their rules, their politeness, their organization, it all works.

At Shibuya Crossing, up to 2,500 pedestrians cross every time the signal changes. I feel lucky we made it across.

 Ready, set, go……at Shibuya. People never seem to collide. 

These vehicles zipped through the fish market, frightening unsuspecting tourists. Yikes!

A moat, a bridge, and a guardhouse outside the grounds of the Imperial Palace. Quiet beauty in a busy city.

The art and beauty of the tea ceremony. Beauty is highly valued in Tokyo.

A gate to the Meiji Shrine.

Next post, how this celiac fared with food in Tokyo.

A Celiac Packs for Japan

Did you think I meant packing clothes and shoes? Nope. For our upcoming trip to Japan and places beyond, we spent many weeks figuring out how other celiacs had managed food in Japan, learning where to eat, and then deciding what food to tote along.

Apparently, Japan is a difficult place to eat safely for anyone with celiac disease, mostly because of hidden gluten and that gluten sensitivities are not commonly understood. However as any celiac who travels by plane knows, food safety starts with the flight. Before we arrive in Japan, we’ll fly for 12 hours on Japan Airlines. While we’ve pre-ordered gluten free, veganish meals from JAL, I just never know what might happen, so I tote food. Once on an overseas flight from London to NYC, a flight attendant gave my pre-ordered meal to a passenger who randomly wanted something gluten free, leaving me without a meal. Another time, though we’d ordered a gluten free meal for a flight to Peru, the gate agent so kindly screamed at R, telling him to buy me some food for the flight because I was “entitled to a seat on the plane and nothing else.” Everyone else on the flight was served a meal, however. Not surprisingly, these experiences occurred on American Airlines. In contrast, I’ve had excellent food experiences on Qantas, Cathay Pacific, and Virgin Atlantic.

For our days in Tokyo prior to boarding a cruise ship, we’ll carry with us a very detailed celiac card written in Japanese. Weeks ago, R sent a copy to the Tokyo Hilton where we are staying as he arranged meals for me. The chef there has promised safe meals at breakfast and dinner.

So although we have good plans in place, I’m toting some food cause I’ve learned I can’t be too careful.  I’ll be back with notes on Tokyo.