Red Poke

Update to a previous review:

Items that I was told were gluten free have been now updated to indicate they do, in fact, contain gluten.

Proceed with caution.

How confident are you that this establishment takes safety precautions against cross-contact?

— Not very

Is there a gluten-free menu?

— No gluten-free information on the menu

How much of the menu is available gluten-free?

— Some

How would you rate the taste and quality of the gluten-free food you tried?

— Excellent

(*Skip to the last paragraph for the final verdict if you want a quick read*)

I’ve eaten here a few times over the years and I will say that what is accurately labeled as gluten free is delicious. However, a few years ago I wanted to try the tamago and inquired about the ingredients only to discover it wasn’t gluten free like the menu led me to believe. Since then, I’ve noticed they changed the menu to indicate that the tamago contains gluten, which is great. As you can imagine, I’ve been hesitant to try this place again but I went tonight to give them another chance despite my better judgement. I picked what looked like the safest ingredients that were labeled gluten free, told them I was celiac, and so far so good (I will update if anything changes). My boyfriend (not gluten free but chooses to eat gf anyway) placed his order based on what was labeled gluten free on the menu. He accidentally picked a topping that had a red asterisk (meaning contains gluten) and the guy who worked there caught it and asked if he’d liked to adjust his order, which he did. The problem was that halfway through the meal, we noticed that the sauce poster near the cash register says that the yuja chojang sauce he ordered contains gluten despite the menu noting it was gluten free. After some research online and reading their (very vague) ingredients list, the yuja chojang sauce was confirmed to contain gluten. Thankfully, he’s not celiac and it’s a choice for him, but that could’ve just as easily been me. Totally not the workers’ faults, they were great, the menu was misprinted, but this seems to be a pattern there because there’s always an ingredient or two with contradictory information.

Be careful if you decide to go. No guarantee against cross-contamination and there’s no guarantee that what is marked as gluten free is actually gluten free. I won’t be eating there anymore because it just seems way too risky. That said, my dinner was delicious and, if you want to take the leap, I highly recommend warm noodles (gf, made from Asian sweet potato) paired with the wasabi ginger sauce. It’s so good.

How confident are you that this establishment takes safety precautions against cross-contact?

— Not very

Is there a gluten-free menu?

— Gluten-free items are marked on the main menu

How much of the menu is available gluten-free?

— Some

How would you rate the taste and quality of the gluten-free food you tried?

— Excellent