If ketogenic is full of prohibitions, we can still enjoy ourselves at the brasserie or the Asian restaurant… provided we choose the most suitable dishes. Decryption by a keto expert.
At a restaurant, it’s not easy to satisfy your taste buds when you have to analyze all the dishes, ingredient by ingredient, so as not to break your special diet that drastically reduces carbohydrates (candy, pastries, starchy foods, almost all fruits, etc.) in favor of good fatty acids (salmon, avocado, duck fat, coconut cream, etc.). Given its many prohibitions, the keto diet is already complicated enough to follow at home, so at an Italian or Chinese restaurant, it’s a challenge because the menus and menus don’t detail the recipes very much. Which limits the range of possibilities…
Fortunately, Caroline Schwob comes to the rescue of keto diet aficionados! The author of “Débuter le régime kéto” (Larousse edition) knows what she’s talking about since she’s been eating ketogenic for several years and regularly updates her site “La popote de Potine” with her recipes and tips to help the newbie change their plate without taking (too much!) the head. According to the expert, you can go to a restaurant without deviating from your dietary principles: “today , the offer is so vast that we generally manage to enjoy ourselves without problem away from home “. To guide you through the menus of brasseries and other more or less gastronomic places, Caroline Schwob gives you some gourmet suggestions.
Keto diet: vegetarian restaurant is a good option
To avoid asking yourself too many questions at the table, head to a vegetarian restaurant where you can more easily follow a ketogenic diet “because there are many sources of plant proteins, recognizes Caroline Schwob, starting with tofu , soy, seitan , eggs, plant-based creams and “milks”, oilseeds”. However, be careful with legumes (lentils, chickpeas, quinoa , bulgur, etc.) which are rich in carbohydrates (sugars) and therefore not keto compatible. Among the dishes that are both veggie and keto, you can treat yourself to a vegetable flan, a mixed salad, cauliflower rice, a vegetable gratin, a stuffed avocado, a tofu curry, etc. Enough to please you!
The menu offers quite a few nice options, starting with seafood and shellfish, which are particularly rich in vitamin B12, iodine and omega-3 fatty acids so dear to ketogenic eaters. Yes to shrimp, oysters, peas… “But beware of mussels, which can be more glycemic,” warns Caroline Schwob . Good news : you can accompany everything with mayo because ” it’s the best condiment for the keto diet: almost no carbohydrates and high in fat! “, reassures the specialist. For fish: salmon, mackerel or sardines are also excellent choices. As for meat: duck breast, lamb chops or chicken are also good in all respects. Also to be enjoyed at the brasserie: an avocado/shrimp starter or a salmon or meat tartare (without ketchup) with a green salad. To make sure you don’t get it wrong, the beautiful grilled entrecôte accompanied by its green vegetables is perfect… And why not kidneys for those who like them! Finally, a nod to the region of eastern France where our expert comes from, who invites you to treat yourself at the Alsatian brasserie with a good pot-au-feu or a traditional cervelas and Gruyère salad. But no more tarte flambée. If the filling is keto compatible (white cheese, crème fraîche and smoked bacon), on the other hand the dough is made from wheat flour (gluten and carbohydrates). Too bad…
Great to start, you can honor the antipasti: tomato/mozza salad, bresaola carpaccio with artichokes and parmesan, eggplant alla parmigiana, marinated grilled peppers, etc. Also ok for the friendly platters of cold cuts and cheeses. On the other hand, as a main course, you are not allowed pasta or pizza. No focaccia, no arrancini, no bruschetta either, since these specialties are based on flour or risotto, ingredients that make the glycemic bill soar. But no worries if you order a escalope “à la saltimbocca” or even an osso-buco. And as an accompaniment, vegetables or green salad are perfect. As for dessert, it will be nada! Because sugar, in almost all its forms, is really the number one enemy of ketogenic eaters. So no melon or pineapple carpaccio before the addition.
