August Gluten Free Restaurant Review: Mikuni's

Mike was raving about some fabulous sushi he'd had, and wanted me to find a sushi joint we could go to safely. I figured that was going to be a long shot as soy sauce tends to be in everything, but I discovered there are several issues celiacs to not watch out for with regards to Japanese cuisine.

The problem for celiacs when going out for sushi is that sushi rice pretty much always contains gluten, but unlike some other places, which either do not offer plain steamed rice, or whose steamed rice also contains gluten, Mukuni's plain steamed white rice is safe. Then there's the issue of cross contamination, and thus we need to stay away from any of those delicious items, like shrimp tempura, deep fried eel and the like. Thirdly, there are those wonderfully colored sauces that typical decorate the top of the sushi roll, and those are a big no-no for the celiac community, since they generally contain soy sauce as their base ingredient. Often it is the low end sushi place that looks a little best up from the outside offer really good food, but they act too busy to ask any of a celiacs silly questions. And on the other end of the spectrum I have been to some very high end Japanese cuisine restaurants where there are no substitutes allowed, and the chef relays all the information to the brainless server instead of coming out to speak with you in person. That's just a waste of time. So much can be lost in communication: we're all played telephone at some point in our lives, right?

So after much frustration, I stumbled upon a small chain called Mukuni's with a few locations in the greater Sacramento area. I first ventured to the downtown location, right around the corner from P.F. Chang's. I had been calling and calling all the sushi joints people recommended to me and finally I was able to speak with a manager who had access to the holy grail of ingredients used at the restaurant. And thus with a few modifications I began to explore the wonderful world of sushi. I started out simple, a chef's choice roll with salmon and cucumber: no negative side effects. I went back again and this time got a little bit more adventurous, and still the evening went smoothly. Then we starting going with friends and family because I finally felt safe in my dining selections. (I have fallen in love with both the Aerojet and the Wonder Roll).

I've now been there at least a half dozen times, at their various greater Sacramento area locations, the staff is very accommodating and the chefs are knowledgeable. I have yet to walk away from Mikuni's with what I like to refer to as "the intestinal flu". I've continued to call other locations hoping to find a second place to eat sushi but so far Mikuni's seems to be standing all by its lonesome, at least in the greater Sacramento area.