I bought my triumph dining cards a while ago, and at first was not entirely impressed ( the first place I showed it to said they didn't feel comfortable serving me and asked us to leave).
I now think they are the best thing that has happened to me since I got diagnosed.
I went to a Thai restaurant near my house that I love, I've been going there and just ordering the soup cause I know they are safe, but haven't been able to comunnicate much more than "Does this have soy sauce"
Triumph cards are geared towards cuisine, which I find helpful for myself as well, and we were waiting for our friends to join us so I decided to jump start my ordering process and gave the card to the waitress, showing her the Thai side. She stood there reading it, at one point exclaiming "wow" and then asked me to pick something out on the menu that we could discuss. I choose the spicy noodles, which is my favorite Thai noodle dish. She went back, I saw the kitchen staff reading the card, and then came back to tell me that they would just leave the soy sauce out, but it wouldn't be a problem.

When my friends came in, they began to order, and chose a steamed mussel appetizer. not really thinking I exclaimed " can I have that?" She thought for a minute, and said yes, just not the dipping sauce. I felt kind of embarrased for having blurted out like that, I'm trying to make it so not every single dinner conversation with friends is about celiac. My friend ordered Pad Thai and the waitress smiled at me and said "you can't have that!" Amazingly enough it difussed the wierdness, everyone laughed, and I was so grateful.

My meal was amazing, and it was so good to be sitting in a restaurant having a noodle dish.

I couldn't have done it by myself. I've eaten at several restaurants with these cards, and it takes a great deal of the edge off of the worry of "did he/she understand that, did I remember to ask about everything."

I can say its the best ten bucks I've ever spent.

Elonwy

I forgot a detail - I asked the waitress if everything in Thai was worded right, and if made sense and she said it was perfect and thanked me for having it.

Glad to hear that the Triumph Dining Cards are working out well for you. I've always enjoyed various cuisines of the world, but have not gone to restaurants more than once or twice since my diagnosis. I recently received a set of Triumph cards, and am looking forward to using them in the near future. They are very impressinve, and I carry them in my wallet "just in case" I get tempted to visit a new, or familiar, restaruant.

Thanks for sharing!

THANK YOU for sharing about those!

I just ordered 2 sets - one for my sweetheart's car - in case he wants to get take-out :-)

They aren't even expensive! Yippee!

Gina

I got my set of triumph cards about 3 months ago but still not ready to eat out yet. They are in my wallet and hopefully will get used someday soon.

Stupid question-Where do I get the triumph dining cards?

Thanks,
Hez

I was going to ask the same thing--that is in the event that I ever start eating out again!

I guess I should have added that. Whoops.
http://www.triumphdining.com/
I got the set of six. They are nicely laminated, so I think they'll last me a while, and I have mine in my purse always.
Elonwy

..

thanks for posting about this! i had thought about ordering them but had never laid eyes on them so i wasn't sure. it's really good to know i'll be able to eat Thai!!
Gina, is that your cat in your avatar? i laugh out loud every time i see it! i bought reindeer antlers for my cat the other day and you've never seen such misery. it's hilarious!

I also highly recommend them. I got mine the same day we were taking my mother out for her 84th b'day. I showed the american to the waiter and told him I was thinking of the beef tips. He took it to the chef, came back with the report that the meat comes preseasoned with soy sauce and couldn't recommend it. But any of the grilled chicken or fish dishes would be okay. Saved by the card! The only negative experience I had that night was my brother sitting next to me waving the freshly baked bread sticks under my nose and chanting "wheat........wheat.........wheat"
Annette

Elonwy--Thanks for the link--I'm going to order them and hopefully will get up the nerve to go out and use them!

thanks for the info, i just got dx...so i havent ventured out yet....but im not going to be scared just very picky! just wanted to ask though, did u get the all cuisine one? whats the difference?
thanks a bunch

I have the all cuisine one. Well, really six. All of them are printed in English on one side and the other in whatever language - Spanish, Japanese, Thai, and I foget. (not that many options in my town). It explains to each nationality what we cannot have and what possible cross-contaminations can occure. And there is differences in soy sauces. Thai cooking uses a differently prepared sauce than other cuisines that, if original, we can have. There is a load of infomation on each card in very concise but easy to understand terms. You will not regret having them.
Annette

Chinese food is mostly rice, meat, and vegetables ,so I can eat any of that.I'll probably order Chinese takeout for New Years Eve! Chow Mein for me . But I don't know what their fried noodles are made of -I couldn't seem to eat them,and I don't know about their egg rolls-What is that dough made of? I have to ask them?It costs about $3.65 a pint including rice and more if meat is added.Egg rolls$1. Always very good. I always eat at home so I never eat out much.But i guess it is difficult to try to findgluten free restaurants.I could easily think of things to serve in one esp.soups thickned with potato flour.And gluten free baked goods,and all reg. meats veggies and candies.

Actually, chinese food is often risky. They use soy sauce in many of their sauces - or other sauces which also use wheat. Chow mein uses wheat based noodles, and the egg roll wrappers are also wheat based. Anything fried is likely to be coated in a flour you can't have. White sauces can be ok, but you have to check on the thickener.

Got mine in Aug. Finally used last night to eat Chinese. Everything went fine. I met Ross Cohen, the person that came up with this idea at a local support group meeting.

Tom

Has anyone used the Restuarant Guide that can be ordered with the cards?

I love eating out and have really felt the pinch of having to be careful. Thanks.

Just ordered mine!!

This is good news! I ordered them in December and I'm anxiously awaiting them as well as the book.

When ordering Asian make sure you ask for rice noodles because a lot of places use Japanese noodles and they are not gluten-free. This was told to me by a sweet Thai woman at her restaurant in Hampton, VA. If you want the rice paper rolls with the basil and meat call ahead and request the rice noodles.

So far in my limited dining out experiences since being diagnosed it's been all good. It was frustrating over the holidays during travel time on planes/airports though.

I just received the restaurant guide and it is great! Sure, you can get most of the info that is in it by researching the internet, but it is nice to have so much compiled in one handy book. I also got the dining cards, but have not used them yet.

Just got my book too, it has a lot of helpful ideas for wherever u live...nice to have something like that when u just need too look up something quick!

Hi Moongirl and Tracey
So you both like the dining book and think it's worth the extra $$?
Does it list all the menues along with the gluten-free dishes?
Anyone else have imput on the triumph dining guide book?
I'm going to get the cards.
Judy in Philly

It wouldn't be worth it for me to get them. We never go out to dinner anyway....

Not only because of Celiac Disease, but going out with four kids (including 4 yr old twin boys) is an experience you don't want to go through too often! Not only is it expensive, but messy, especially when the boys were younger (I swear there were a few restaurants that were taking our license plate number as we were leaving so they can ban us in the future!!!!).

As for getting a babysitter to go out to dinner, well, there's not too many people I would feel comfortable leaving the children with and actually have a good, worry-free time, so why bother?

Karen

Judy,

Personally, I like the guide. It lists restaurants by state, and indicates if they have a gluten-free menu, an extensive gluten-free menu, a chain restaurant with a gluten-free menu, or if the restaurant does not have a specific gluten-free menu, but the staff has been accomodating to other Celiacs. There is also a section of gluten-free menus for chain restaurants. Also included are some helpful tips on dining out in general - when trying to follow a gluten-free diet.

I thought it was worth the $$, but I am new to this disease and am desperate for information!

Let me know if you have any more ??

Gina,

I just have to say that I get a hoot out of your avatar every time I see it! I LOVE IT!!!!

Karen

I have both the dining cards and the book. They are well worth the $$$$. I have recently dined at Smokey Bones and On the Border in Aurora, IL. Used the book and card in combination. It was great. Enjoyed food that had flavor instead of the plain, dry chicken breast, plain baked potato that I had at a conference luncheon.

Showed my son the cards and he asked for a set of his own as a xmas stocking stuffer! He is going out of town this weekend and asked to borrow the guide. Guess I'll have to get him his own copy.

Has anyone tried to use the Japanese card? My friend took it to a sushi restuarant to see if I could go next time (isn't he sweet!) and the hostess said the card was written in Chinese. I've only had the cards for about two weeks and haven't been out otherwise (I'm so spineless about being picky).

I'm going to my old favorite Chinese restuarant next week so I'll show them the cards then and see what they say. If they confirm, guess I'll be making a call to Truimph.

Maybe there was a misprint? Mine is definitly in japanese, my dad reads and speaks japanese. I've used the chinese one as well, and its in chinese. You may have gotten one that printed wrong.
Chinese and Japanese are pretty different looking, as well. Chinese is much more Spidery.
Elonwy

Thanks Elonwy - Hopefully, my Chinese friends can help clarify.

Hi all,

Since I'm also new to the gluten free lifestyle, are these cards better than the ones that you can find online or in the back of the "Against the Grain" book? If so, i'll totally get some!

Triumph cards are nice because they are laminated. I used another one and it got torn and tattered from going in and out of my wallet! I really like using them with the Dining Guide.

Are there any references to US food terms on the cards?

I think we call a few things differently in Australia (like cilantro, what is that again? lol) and I don't want to have to decipher things like that

Otherwise, I'm going to order them asap!

Tracey,

If you find good cards that work well in Australia, let me know.



Does anyone with multiple food intolerances use Triumph cards successfully???????

Mango, I'm considering designing my own ones and posting them on my blog - I'll let you know if I do ones for other allergies/intolerances - cause I definately need one for yeast!

I do not find the book to be useful. I wish I had not spent my money on it. I bought the book and the cards. As for the cards....don't leave home without them. Like Elwony, they are ALWAYS in my purse. The cards are amazing, fabulous, and a dining out Celiac's best friend.

That said, I still don't eat out very often. For me it's not worth the CC risk on a regular basis. BUT I have had only VERY positive experiences with the cards. They are concise and worded in a straightforward but friendly manner. Every manager that I've ever shown them to (and yes, I do ask to speak tot he manager) has been unbelievably helpful and concerned. They take the cards back and forth to the kitchen, bring ingredient labels, whatever.

I also don't like the dining experience to center on my Celiac. I have a hard time with that. But at least this cards do it in a way friendly way not a "let me give you a hard time about my food" way.

It's really tough to tell people about what may contain gluten, especially abroad.

Here's a tip for all of you traveling around the world. I have been using Menudata's service at http://www.menudata.com and have been happy with their celiac translation cards. They have some 40 different languages!

- Randy, FL

Is the text of these cards available anywhere? I can see why they don't post it on the website - people could just make their own. Still, in some of the gluten-free books, they have samples of cards and they come off so threatening, I wouldn't serve anyone who presented one if it were my restaurant. It is a difficult balance to stressing the seriousness without making people afraid to give you anything for fear of being sued over CC.

I was concered about that too, as I will be using them internationally and don't want to come off as some stupid foreigner. I searched all over and could not find the text anywhere online (understandable I guess). So I went ahead and ordered them (just now). I will post when I receive them and let you know. I ordered the set of different languages/cuisines and I think each are different (tailored to that particular type of food) but each have an english translation on the back. I will post some of those if you like.

Also, right now (August) they are giving away a free American card. You have to pay like 70 cents for handling. You can order it at http://www.triumphdining.com/freediningcard.aspx