Kona Island sushi bar with allergies

[clanmcculloch]

I wanted to share that I just got an email from a sous chef at the Kona Island sushi bar regarding getting sushi with multiple allergies including some that could definitely be an issue at a sushi bar including gluten and sesame (no shellfish or other fish). The chef assured me that they could definitely make some sushi that is free of all of my girls' allergens. At the restaurants at Epcot, the rice contains gluten but not at Kona Cafe. Sesame was my other big concern since most sushi rolls have sesame seeds. The chef seems very confident that they can make safe stuff for my girls. I can't wait!!! There's a night during our upcoming Poly stay where I had figured we'd just eat at Captain Cooks along with lounge snacks but now I can surprise my girls with the sushi bar which is a huge treat for them. They LOVE nigiri and the occasional sashimi. Yes I have odd children but at least they have diverse pallets which is important with food allergies. LOL

I'll report back after our trip to let you all know how it goes. I'm getting so excited for our trip!!!!

 

[snorris49]

I wanted to share that I just got an email from a sous chef at the Kona Island sushi bar regarding getting sushi with multiple allergies including some that could definitely be an issue at a sushi bar including gluten and sesame (no shellfish or other fish). The chef assured me that they could definitely make some sushi that is free of all of my girls' allergens. At the restaurants at Epcot, the rice contains gluten but not at Kona Cafe. Sesame was my other big concern since most sushi rolls have sesame seeds. The chef seems very confident that they can make safe stuff for my girls. I can't wait!!! There's a night during our upcoming Poly stay where I had figured we'd just eat at Captain Cooks along with lounge snacks but now I can surprise my girls with the sushi bar which is a huge treat for them. They LOVE nigiri and the occasional sashimi. Yes I have odd children but at least they have diverse pallets which is important with food allergies. LOL

I'll report back after our trip to let you all know how it goes. I'm getting so excited for our trip!!!!

What great news! I was so hoping the Sushi was going to work out because I was planning on checking this out before my brother's reception (he's getting married at the Poly).

I had a rotten experience at Epcot trying to get rice (which I was told was safe at the time--later learned it wasn't--thankfully, I didn't eat any of it). I have found the Poly to be very good with allergies (though I sure will miss Chef TJ this next trip!)

I'm so glad your girls will be able to get sushi! Can't wait to hear your report!

 

[snorris49]

Oh and by the way, I was able to get sushi (I had several types of sashimi) at California Grill that was safe (and they said the rice was safe too--this was right after the Epcot debacle--so I made sure it was ok). So there is another option to (though I expect the Kona Island Sushi bar is more reasonable on the costs ), it's nice to know there are many places that offer this!

 

[clanmcculloch]

We were lucky I guess that the chef from Tokyo Dining told us via email before our trip that they use grain vinegar for their sushi (I did specifically ask about sushi plus I asked about tempura for DD10 which is when the chef brought up his concerns for our safety because they use sesame I think in the oil plus there's a lot of sesame around the place). I find it weird that they use grain vinegar (he wasn't sure what kind of grain but that was enough to get us to say no thank you). Most places use rice vinegar.

In my response thanking him for his email and for such great news and for all they do I did also ask if he knows if the rolls in the Club Lounge will be safe or not. Crossing my fingers! I'm doubtful since I suspect they're rolled in sesame like most rolls but a gal can hope.

I have considered a Cali Grill ADR because of the sushi but we always use a dining plan and I'm too stingy to use 2 credits for a meal that's not a show or doesn't include tip or something else special (CRT I found harder to use 2 credits than I did for HDDR or SoA; those are the only places we've used 2 credits). We're thinking of using TiW for future trip (just bought our first APs in June) so at that point I think Cali Grill may go on our list of places to try. If we had more than 3 nights at Poly this coming trip I'd likely try it now since we're not going to have a dining plan these nights but I don't really want to leave the resort for dining because I want to use every bit of non-park time we have during those days to enjoy our resort.

I'm hoping that with Chef TJ at GF that maybe Chef Jeff's track record will no longer matter. Maybe we'll have to stay at GF some time in the future. Hmmmmm....... I am actually considering adding a dinner at 1900PF during our trip just to get another potential Chef TJ encounter. LOL I wonder if he knows he has a large group of stalkers?

 

[snorris49]

We were lucky I guess that the chef from Tokyo Dining told us via email before our trip that they use grain vinegar for their sushi (I did specifically ask about sushi plus I asked about tempura for DD10 which is when the chef brought up his concerns for our safety because they use sesame I think in the oil plus there's a lot of sesame around the place). I find it weird that they use grain vinegar (he wasn't sure what kind of grain but that was enough to get us to say no thank you). Most places use rice vinegar.

In my response thanking him for his email and for such great news and for all they do I did also ask if he knows if the rolls in the Club Lounge will be safe or not. Crossing my fingers! I'm doubtful since I suspect they're rolled in sesame like most rolls but a gal can hope.

I have considered a Cali Grill ADR because of the sushi but we always use a dining plan and I'm too stingy to use 2 credits for a meal that's not a show or doesn't include tip or something else special (CRT I found harder to use 2 credits than I did for HDDR or SoA; those are the only places we've used 2 credits). We're thinking of using TiW for future trip (just bought our first APs in June) so at that point I think Cali Grill may go on our list of places to try. If we had more than 3 nights at Poly this coming trip I'd likely try it now since we're not going to have a dining plan these nights but I don't really want to leave the resort for dining because I want to use every bit of non-park time we have during those days to enjoy our resort.

I'm hoping that with Chef TJ at GF that maybe Chef Jeff's track record will no longer matter. Maybe we'll have to stay at GF some time in the future. Hmmmmm....... I am actually considering adding a dinner at 1900PF during our trip just to get another potential Chef TJ encounter. LOL I wonder if he knows he has a large group of stalkers?

He must know he has a large following because when I met him in February I mentioned the disboards and how so many people loved him, he just grinned and said that yes, he'd heard a lot from disboard folks...

I am also hopeful that GF will improve on the allergies...maybe that's why TJ got moved over there! Can't wait to hear reports from everyone!

I'd definitely recommend California Grill--and yes, I can understand not wanting to use 2 credits on the dining plan. I plan on buying a TiW card now that we are getting annual passes--we'll use that for some of our favs like Jiko.

Can't wait to hear your report and hoping that the CL lounge can work out some sushi for your girls!

 

[valree]

At the restaurants at Epcot, the rice contains gluten but not at Kona Cafe.

Wow! I never knew that! Thanks for letting us know!

 

[clanmcculloch]

I should clarify that it's the Japanese restaurants at Epcot that have gluten in their sushi rice. We've had chefs at other restaurants cook rice for DD12 but it was Japan in particular where she wanted sushi and wanted to eat in general but we really couldn't do it safely.

16 more days until I get to dine at Kona (not the sushi bar; that'll be a week later but we'll likely order a sushi appetizer for our meal at Kona just because my girls love it so much).