Sichuan Gourmet
Not Great Place for Gluten Free Chinese Food
Recently we tried to go to Uncle Chungs, as that's our go-to place for Chinese, but they were closed. We did a quick search and decided to try Sichuan Gourmet across the street as they offer gluten-free Chinese.
Gluten Free Sweet and Sour Chicken at Sichuan Gourmet in Framingham, Massachusetts
Four Things We Learned
They said that they could make any dish gluten-free. We asked for Sweet and Sour Chicken and boneless spare ribs as that is what my daughter usually orders. The waitress told us that the kitchen could make the dish using corn-based flour and it would be gluten-free.
When the dish came out, it looked very good. In fact, it looked too good to be gluten-free. The adults at the table took a bit and confirmed - as best as we could - that it was made with corn-based flour. The dish did look different than other fried foods that we ordered - General Tso's Chicken and Sesame Chicken. My daughter decided to try it out.
I thought the Sweet and Sour Chicken was good, but my daughter didn't like it. She didn't have the same comfort feeling that she has when she orders from Uncle Chungs. She had a few bits but ate most of the boneless ribs and vegetable fried rice.
She did complain about her stomach later that night - usually a sign that she had gluten. It didn't hurt that bad, which leads me to believe that there was potential cross-contamination. I am thinking that they probably don't have a dedicated gluten-free fryer for their Sweet and Sour Chicken.
Other Dishes on the table.
Not Going Back
Despite the fact that I enjoyed my General Tso's Chicken, we are unlikely to return because we believe that it was not a safe place for my daughter to eat. The next time we are in this situation, we are likely to go to P.F. Chang's at the Natick Mall. We have eaten their plenty of times and never run into any issues.