Gluten Savvy

Zadin is a family-run restaurant serving authentic Vietnamese dishes in the heart of San Francisco’s Castro District. Although it is by no means a gluten-free affair, the menu features a number of gluten-free options, all marked GF.

As anyone who must eat gluten-free knows, it’s tough to find anything breaded or fried that we can eat. Zadin offers a delicious fried salt-and-pepper calamari appetizer, which is tossed with jalapenos and green onions and served with a delicious dipping sauce. In fact, the majority of Zadin’s starters are gluten-free and a hungry celiac could have a good time sampling everything on this part of the menu. The summer rolls — eaten without soy sauce — were also a fresh-tasting delight.

All of Zadin’s pho dishes — the traditional Vietnamese noodle soup — are gluten-free. I didn’t sample one but one of my friends did, and the pho smelled heavenly. Sadly, fewer of the main dishes are gluten-free, and the item I had — a richly flavored clay pot with caramelized monkfish, greens and three tiny quail eggs — does not appear on their Web menu.

Still, Zadin’s food is amazing, and offers enough gluten-free options that a celiac can dine with friends and come away satisfied with taste buds tingling.

Zadin
4039 18th St. (near Castro)
San Francisco, CA 94114
+1 (415) 626-2260
Rating: