Restaurant chains that don't use MSG or too much salt?

[Ombra]

I try to avoid unhealthy quantities of salt and, despite what the research might say, MSG seems to have a negative effect on me. When I eat in Fuji, See Fah, or the 'Cheap and Good' restaurants attached to Foodland stores, I never have a headache afterwards or a raging thirst. Can anyone recommend restaurant chains that are suitable for old people? My wife would like a change, though, in truth, she has plenty of other people to eat with. With thanks.

[Fat is a type of crazy]

My partner and I are a big fan of MK. She is  a vegetarian and likes to make the healthy soups from nothing - no salt or MSG - and I like to get duck with MK sauce to go with it. She has a card where you get a discount too. I like too that they have free iced tea.

[Ombra]

54 minutes ago, Fat is a type of crazy said:

My partner and I are a big fan of MK. She is  a vegetarian and likes to make the healthy soups from nothing - no salt or MSG - and I like to get duck with MK sauce to go with it. She has a card where you get a discount too. I like too that they have free iced tea.

Thank you. That's a surprise, though, because I would have thought that such a popular chain would use MSG. The missus will be very happy to know that we can eat in MK Suki.

[KannikaP]

1 hour ago, Fat is a type of crazy said:

I like too that they have free iced tea

Nothing is FREE, it is included in the price you pay.

[EricTh]

2 hours ago, Ombra said:

Thank you. 

 

I usually go to any Thai shops where the food is cooked to order and ask them not to put any MSG and sugar on it.

 

Thai people just love to put MSG and sugar in every food. Just avoid those prepared food that they prepare in bulk, those have loads of MSG even though they say 'a little'.

 

I'm allergic to MSG too which gives me headache, lethargy and thirst every time I eat it.

 

No wonder diabetes is going up in Thailand, they put sugar in everything.

Edited April 11, 2021 by EricTh

[Maha Sarakham]

3 hours ago, Ombra said:

Thank you. That's a surprise, though, because I would have thought that such a popular chain would use MSG. The missus will be very happy to know that we can eat in MK Suki.

 

My wife's first job in her youth was at a MK restaurant.  She said everything comes pre-packaged in bags for the soup, powders and all.  She is skeptical they are telling the truth about the 'No MSG' clause in their advertising.  No one knows for sure in the restaurants, just at the production facilities.  Take that for what you will.

[Ombra]

9 hours ago, EricTh said:

 

I usually go to any Thai shops where the food is cooked to order and ask them not to put any MSG and sugar on it.

 

Thai people just love to put MSG and sugar in every food. Just avoid those prepared food that they prepare in bulk, those have loads of MSG even though they say 'a little'.

 

I'm allergic to MSG too which gives me headache, lethargy and thirst every time I eat it.

 

No wonder diabetes is going up in Thailand, they put sugar in everything.

I have done that, but I was asking about restaurant chains in shopping malls. When I go to a mall with my wife, there is the question of where to eat. I got a headache after eating in Sizzler last week.

[Ombra]

8 hours ago, Maha Sarakham said:

 

My wife's first job in her youth was at a MK restaurant.  She said everything comes pre-packaged in bags for the soup, powders and all.  She is skeptical they are telling the truth about the 'No MSG' clause in their advertising.  No one knows for sure in the restaurants, just at the production facilities.  Take that for what you will.

That is a good point. Owners of small restaurants shop in Makro and buy ready-made ingredients, and so they only have an approximate idea of what they are offering their customers.

[EricTh]

5 hours ago, Ombra said:

I have done that, but I was asking about restaurant chains in shopping malls. When I go to a mall with my wife, there is the question of where to eat. I got a headache after eating in Sizzler last week.

 

Unless you go to fast-food chain restaurant like KFC and McDonald, you do have a choice not to put MSG because the meals are individually prepared.

 

[Aomelia]

17 hours ago, Maha Sarakham said:

 

My wife's first job in her youth was at a MK restaurant.  She said everything comes pre-packaged in bags for the soup, powders and all.  She is skeptical they are telling the truth about the 'No MSG' clause in their advertising.  No one knows for sure in the restaurants, just at the production facilities.  Take that for what you will.

I tell my new gf’s don’t even think about MK I don’t eat that stuff  

[Fat is a type of crazy]

1 minute ago, Aomelia said:

I tell my new gf’s don’t even think about MK I don’t eat that stuff  

I don't get the problem with MK. You buy plates of super fresh vegetables, and plates of different mushrooms, and tofu etc and add it to the water. What sauces you add is up to you. It's not surprising that the sauces may come from a factory but that's not necessarily a good thing or bad thing. Their fresh duck is always tasty and well cooked too. 

[geisha]

Do Fuji restaurants advertise their food as being non MSG ? There is msg in soja sauce, and most sauces / seasoning that come out of a bottle / tin ( curry pastes) .I always ask my local restaurant not to add sugar and Msg. You can tell the difference straight away. Of course, lots of foods taste better with msg. Same with juices , I’ve seen Thais put half a cup of sugar in the juicer ! 

[shy coconut]

Duck in water with vegetables sounds delicious ????

[Ombra]

28 minutes ago, geisha said:

Do Fuji restaurants advertise their food as being non MSG ? There is msg in soja sauce, and most sauces / seasoning that come out of a bottle / tin ( curry pastes) .I always ask my local restaurant not to add sugar and Msg. You can tell the difference straight away. Of course, lots of foods taste better with msg. Same with juices , I’ve seen Thais put half a cup of sugar in the juicer ! 

Fuji is the wife's favourite restaurant and we first went there many years ago, long before I retired and came to live here. So I just know that I have never felt thirsty soon after leaving the restaurant, and I have never had a headache. But I have also never seen any information in English in Fuji about the use or otherwise of MSG, which, as you say, is a food enhancer and which most Thais are happy with. Makro, after all, sells it by the sackful.

[KannikaP]

Salt, sugar & MSG IN MODERATION are not any problem..

How many times do you see someone served a meal in a restaurant, and the first thing they do is season it, salt & pepper, before they have even tasted it.

That, to me, is an insult to the chef.

[Ombra]

37 minutes ago, KannikaP said:

Salt, sugar & MSG IN MODERATION are not any problem..

How many times do you see someone served a meal in a restaurant, and the first thing they do is season it, salt & pepper, before they have even tasted it.

That, to me, is an insult to the chef.

Too true!

[BenDeCosta]

2 hours ago, Fat is a type of crazy said:

I don't get the problem with MK. You buy plates of super fresh vegetables, and plates of different mushrooms, and tofu etc and add it to the water. What sauces you add is up to you. It's not surprising that the sauces may come from a factory but that's not necessarily a good thing or bad thing. Their fresh duck is always tasty and well cooked too. 

 

Yes and the flavours of everything that you and anyone at the table throws in get mixed together. I won't eat it, just doesn't appeal to me at all. And if the sauces are produced in Thailand, which I suspect they are, then they will inevitably have a decent amount of salt, MSG and sugar, like almost everything in Thailand.

 

You the only way you can be sure of what goes into your meal is to cook it yourself.

Edited April 12, 2021 by BenDeCosta

[Fat is a type of crazy]

2 hours ago, shy coconut said:

Duck in water with vegetables sounds delicious ????

I don't put the roast duck in the soup.

If you have been to a decent asian roast duck or roast pork restaurant you'll know how tasty it can be and MK do a good job. 

My girlfriend is a vegetarian as I said above so she makes the soup with fresh vegetables including a plate of different  mushrooms and different tofu and she adds some sauces that she likes. I share that and have the duck separately. 

They make a point of saying they are MSG free.

and I like my free ice tea so there

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 12, 2021 by Fat is a type of crazy

[BenDeCosta]

27 minutes ago, Fat is a type of crazy said:

If you have been to a decent asian roast duck or roast pork restaurant you'll know how tasty it can be and MK do a good job. 

 

I agree 100%. The roast duck noodle soup available at Yaowarat Road is one of the tastiest meals I have ever had, and costed peanuts.

[EricTh]

3 hours ago, KannikaP said:

Salt, sugar & MSG IN MODERATION are not any problem..

How many times do you see someone served a meal in a restaurant, and the first thing they do is season it, salt & pepper, before they have even tasted it.

That, to me, is an insult to the chef.

 

Sugar is detrimental to diabetic people.

 

MSG is detrimental to MSG allergy sufferers. I heard one elderly guy told me that he goes into coma after taking MSG whereas most people get thirsty which is a sign that the body is trying to flush the toxin from the body. It is a neurotoxin.

 

Even a 'little' can be detrimental.

Edited April 12, 2021 by EricTh

[EricTh]

1 hour ago, BenDeCosta said:

 

Yes and the flavours of everything that you and anyone at the table throws in get mixed together. I won't eat it, just doesn't appeal to me at all. And if the sauces are produced in Thailand, which I suspect they are, then they will inevitably have a decent amount of salt, MSG and sugar, like almost everything in Thailand.

 

You the only way you can be sure of what goes into your meal is to cook it yourself.

 

Luckily, I didn't need to cook it myself as I always tell the order-to-cook chef not to put these stuff. They are usually in separate seasoning containers and they just mix and match the seasoning.

 

Edited April 12, 2021 by EricTh

[BenDeCosta]

1 hour ago, EricTh said:

MSG is detrimental to MSG allergy sufferers. I heard one elderly guy told me that he goes into coma after taking MSG whereas most people get thirsty which is a sign that the body is trying to flush the toxin from the body. It is a neurotoxin.

Sorry Eric, but this is simply not true. MSG is naturally present in many foods, including soy sauce, anything made with yeast (bread, beer, Marmite etc.), tomatoes, ham, mackerel, cheese, mushrooms, nuts, grape juice and thousands more. It is not a neurotoxin and is harmless. Some people like to try and perpetuate the myth that MSG is some kind of thing to be avoided, if you wanted to avoid MSG entirely, you wouldn't be able to eat very much.

 

MSG is just a combination of a sodium ion with an amino acid, glutamate. Without sodium, you'd die. Without glutamate, you'd survive because the body produces it's own glutamate, it's a non-essential amino acid. Therefore to suggest that it is toxic is pretty far fetched.

 

Sodium is needed by every cell in your body, and glutamate is required for proper nerve function, if you were allergic to either of them, you'd be dead. When people talk about MSG allergy, what they are referring to is the symptoms of having eating too much, which used to be known as "Chinese Restaurant Syndrome", it's not an allergy but the body's reaction to a large dose. Some people are more sensitive to this than others, but is NOT an immune system-mediated allergy. Nobody has ever gone into a coma from eating MSG, of that I am certain, because they are eating something which already exists in their body. Maybe that dude was talking about a "food coma", which is something different entirely, and usually referred to as post-prandial somnolence.

 

Edited April 12, 2021 by BenDeCosta

[Maha Sarakham]

I feel like Thai people use MSG as freely as they use salt and sugar in their foods.  It's just super natural for them to enhance the flavor of the food and they think nothing of it.  I would advise anyone newly retired to Thailand to learn to start cooking at home more often if you have MSG intolerances.  I feel like it is in practically everything from night market food all the way to chain mall restaurants.  Tough country to be in for food allergies.

[BenDeCosta]

11 minutes ago, Maha Sarakham said:

  I would advise anyone newly retired to Thailand to learn to start cooking at home more often if you have MSG intolerances.  

 

Nobody is intolerant of MSG, but some people are more prone to the effects of a large dose, i.e. they have an MSG sensitivity. But it is not an Ig-E mediated immune response, therefore not an allergy. Even potatoes contain MSG.

 

Even if you have an MSG sensitivity, you could still eat a whole bag of MSG and you won't die. Your blood pressure might increase slightly because of the sodium content and have some gastro-intestinal symptoms, but it's still better than eating the same quantity of salt.

 

If you're genuinely "intolerant" of MSG, you wouldn't be able to eat cheese, bread, meat, many vegetables, any fast food, takeaway meals, instant noodles, sauces, beer, stews, almost all snack foods, condiments, stock cubes, soups, gravy, pizzas, the list is endless.

Edited April 12, 2021 by BenDeCosta

[Maha Sarakham]

I have no stake in the MSG argument, some people swear its detrimental to their personal health, I personally don't seem to suffer any side effects from its use but I know not all human bodies are the same.  Just important for new retirees to Thailand to understand that ordering a 'customized' meal in Thailand is much harder than it is in the West.  From my experiences at least, the chef is gonna do what he wants using the ingredients that he always uses.  Even ordering a curry without cow milk and trying to get coconut milk used has mixed success, whether its the waitress screwing it up or the kitchen staff, who knows.  Better to cook yourself so you know what's in the food if you suffer from food allergies of some kind IMO.

[BenDeCosta]

8 minutes ago, Maha Sarakham said:

I have no stake in the MSG argument, some people swear its detrimental to their personal health, I personally don't seem to suffer any side effects from its use but I know not all human bodies are the same.  Just important for new retirees to Thailand to understand that ordering a 'customized' meal in Thailand is much harder than it is in the West.  From my experiences at least, the chef is gonna do what he wants using the ingredients that he always uses.  Even ordering a curry without cow milk and trying to get coconut milk used has mixed success, whether its the waitress screwing it up or the kitchen staff, who knows.  Better to cook yourself so you know what's in the food if you suffer from food allergies of some kind IMO.

 

I remember the first time I came to Thailand as a young man, I ordered chicken fried rice at a place in Pinklao with NO TOMATOES because I don't think they have a place in fried rice. Lo and behold, it came with tomatoes, and there was nothing lost in translation because my Thai girlfriend ordered it for me. Food allergies and intolerances are still not really something that is understood here. Now I usually choose something that I want to eat as it comes, because any special requests are either not understood, ignored, or forgotten about. I had a voucher for a half-price Big Mac, but I can't eat the Big Mac sauce because it's mayonnaise-based, but I never used it because I assumed that my no sauce request would be either ignored or misunderstood, thereby causing someone to lose face and I just can't be arsed with the hassle.

Edited April 12, 2021 by BenDeCosta

[EricTh]

2 hours ago, BenDeCosta said:

Sorry Eric, but this is simply not true. MSG is naturally present in many foods, including soy sauce, anything made with yeast (bread, beer, Marmite etc.), tomatoes, ham, mackerel, cheese, mushrooms, nuts, grape juice and thousands more.

 

LOL. You must be reading those Ajinomoto 'research' defending their toxic products.

 

Natural MSG and artificial MSG are two different things just like artificial leather and natural leather are two different things. I can list a thousand of others natural versus artificial products that are 'supposedly' the same.

 

This is the type of crooked argument used to fool people.

If they are the really the same substance, then why do they need to produce a special product and call it MSG? 

 

We can just eat tomato, mushroom for the same 'kick' then? See how weak your logic is here....

 

Whenever I eat tomato, mushrooms and 'thousands more' of natural MSG, I don't feel any of the headaches, thirst and lethargy that I felt with taking artificial MSG. How do you explain this?

 

Are you calling me a liar, this is a real life account from another retiree that I met at immigration who said he will go into coma if he takes MSG. Just because you haven't heard doesn't mean it's not true.

 

So don't try to convince someone like the Thread Starter and million others that what we are feeling are just 'illusion' or 'harmless'.

 

Edited April 12, 2021 by EricTh

[EricTh]

2 hours ago, BenDeCosta said:

Sorry Eric, but this is simply not true. 

 

Why do food packaging have this sign if it is so 'safe'?

 

Edited April 12, 2021 by EricTh

[KannikaP]

4 hours ago, EricTh said:

tell the order-to-cook chef 

...cook-to-order.........no?

[BenDeCosta]

10 hours ago, EricTh said:

Natural MSG and artificial MSG are two different things

 

Please explain what the difference is between these two "different" MSGs.

 

The name MSG is a specific chemical name, monosodium glutamate, if there was any difference then the chemical name would be different.

Edited April 13, 2021 by BenDeCosta