Gluten Free Chinese Food in Westchester

I’ve been eating gluten free for years.  My mom, my oldest son, Nathan, and I all have celiac disease and a lot of other family members have it as well.  Once you’re gluten free, and feeling better, you can’t even imagine going back to eating gluten, but you still miss a lot of the foods you once loved.

For a long time, I was really missing Chinese food.  Then, I found Golden Wok Cafe in Ardsley, NY.  It has a separate gluten free menu and we order from there quite often. The other day, my parents were visiting, so decided to have dinner at the restaurant instead of ordering our food to go.

Golden Wok's gluten free menu contains many Chinese food favorites

Golden Wok Cafe is located in a strip mall right on Saw Mill River Road.  It’s nothing fancy inside, but comfortable, especially with kids.

When we sat down, the waiter brought out a bowl of fried wonton chips with duck sauce.  He warned us that they were not gluten free and not to eat them. The gluten eaters of the family, my husband- Jason, our younger son- Drew, and my dad all enjoyed the chips.

Here is my chicken and broccoli with brown rice

I haven’t had chicken and broccoli in a long time, so that’s what I decided to get. It didn’t disappoint.  It was cooked perfectly, and the sauce was slightly sweet and delicious.  I usually order chicken and garlic sauce or something else on the spicy side- so this was a nice change.  I asked for brown rice on the side instead of white rice.  Usually when we order take out, my husband and I get gluten free pork fried rice and share it.  I wish I had thought of it at the restaurant, but I didn’t and the brown rice was fine.  I think the portion size was slightly smaller than when you order out, but it was still plenty of food, and I was stuffed.  (Usually I only eat about half of my meal and save the rest for leftovers)

My mother's chicken chow mein.  You can see from the spoon and fork

on the right she was ready to dig in!

My mother’s favorite Chinese food dish is chicken chow mein.  She was so excited to see it on the menu.  When she ordered it, the waiter warned her that the vegetables would come out soft.  She said that was fine, that’s what she likes (I guess some people order chow mein expecting firm vegetables?)  She was thrilled when her food came out.  She said it was just like the chicken chow mein she remembers eating before going gluten free.  She also paired hers with brown rice.

Nathan's sweet and sour chicken, with the sauce on the side

he thought they were regular gluten free chicken nuggets

Nathan is a very picky eater and has never eaten Chinese food before.  He’s really picky and usually refuses to even try.  I ordered him the sweet and sour chicken with the sauce on the side.  When it came out, he immediately started yelling that he was not going to to eat it.  I told him they were chicken nuggets, he looked at me skeptically, but did take a tiny bite, and actually liked it!  He ate almost the whole thing (but still refused to try the sauce).  My mom and I both tried a piece and thought both the chicken, and the sauce were delicious.  The chicken was moist and flavorful.  The breading was seasoned well and the chicken was great, even without the sauce.  Drew had ordered the same thing- but with gluten.  He hated his chicken, but loved Nathan’s!

At the end of the meal, our waiter brought us out some orange slices.  It was the perfect touch of sweetness on the palate to end the meal.  If I could change anything, I would love to see some type of combination meal on the gluten free menu.  My husband and dad both ordered combination platters that came with soup, an egg roll, their entree was combined with pork fried rice, and they got ice cream for dessert.  I know we can’t eat the soup or egg roll, but some type of combo would be great!

Golden Wok Cafe in Ardsley, NY

Overall, I would say, if you’re in the Westchester area, gluten free and in the mood for Chinese food- absolutely go to Golden Wok Cafe.