Anyways, on with my story…the family that owns Kaide put their own spin on recipes, as would any restaurant owner. NOWHERE on the menu did it say that any menu items contained peanuts or nut products, and NOWHERE on the menu did it warn patrons to alert staff if you have any allergies.

Knowing that gomae is made of spinach leaves and sesame paste, we didn’t hesitate to order some for the kids. This gomae, completely unbeknownst to us, was made instead with peanut paste. Both children almost immediately broke into allergic reactions.

The elder child was mostly okay, but within the hour, we were sitting in the emergency room at St. Paul’s hospital. Doctors told us that, had we arrived only minutes later, one of the two children probably would not have survived the peanut exposure.

Thankfully, both were okay, but needless to say, we called the restaurant upon returning home late that night. When we were there in the first place, the waitstaff denied that the children were even having reactions, and the manager had the audacity to say, word for word, “it’s your fault anyways!”

When we talked to the manager on the phone again that night, he again refused to take any responsibilty, avoided the fact that the menu contained no warnings and did not list “peanut” as an ingredient in any of their food items and was nothing short of belligerent.

Needless to say, I will never visit Kaide again.