Do vegetarians get a raw deal in uk?!
Answers: Ive been veggie since I was 4, thats 24 years! Whenever I go out for a meal I either have a choice of pasta, pasta, or everything that everyone else has minus the meat, ie a plate of vegetables. Would it really hurt restaurants to offer meals with an alternative like a Quorn fillet, Veggie sausages, Linda Mcartney pasty.... Theres so much veggie food out there why isnt it available in meals in restaurants? It drives me nuts! All our local eateries are even serving pasta for the veggie option on Christmas day!!! OMG!!!! Ever heard of a Nut Cutlet? Rant over.
I agree that most restaurants are very unimaginative when it comes to vegetarian food and some just state "a vegetarian option is available". Tough if it is an option you don't like!
I also find that choices go in trends. I live in a very small town with about 7 places to eat and most of the vegetarians meals on offer have goat's cheese in them. I love cheese, but not goats. Meat eaters are obsessed with the idea that all vegetarians like mushrooms. Many do, but I know a lot who don't.
It does seem strange that all your local eateries are offering pasta for Christmas Lunch! Probably because it is cheaper than nuts or that the chefs lack imagination.
Another gripe I have is that it is very difficult to get a decent salad anywhere nowadays. (I don't mean the limp salads that one was offered back in the 70s). There are so many wonderful salads that can be made at home, but they never find their way into commercial kitchens.
I have been a like long veggie (nearly 50 years) so I do sympathise and understand your problem.
You are right on they do
If there was a big demand for lots of veggie options then I'm sure restaurants would provide a wider choice. In the meantime, eat some meat, you know it makes sense.
tbh I live in the UK and have never had a problem, most places I go have several if not many vegetarian options.
Occasionally if its a set menu event , its just one option, but I have found thats often risotto , not pasta.
Supermarkets are selling more and more veggie foods, so the demand must be high.
I think you may just have had bad luck with your restaurants
Dear it's not that restaurants slight vegetarians intentionally. They are in the business to make money. And quite frankly, the market segment of vegetarians is very small . . . and those who go to restaurants is even smaller . . . and those who tip appropriately are virtually non-existent.
That's the problem. Not enough market.
I think it must depend on where you live, I spent years being annoyed with this , living in rural areas, my rant was it was always omelette's or a mushroom strogganoff but usually in towns there are many more choices, and it may be Worth checking out Thai restaurants as they have a lot of alternatives as they use tofu in many recipes and their veggie dishes are really tasty!Its worth finding out where there are wholefood cafes, taco bars and Fair Trade places Good luck and ignore twits who tell you to eat meat !
pretty soon Im opening up a veggie restaurant so come and stop by
u r so rite in all the years i have been a veggie i have only found 1 Lil cafe that does veggie sausages with its all day breakfast
it really gets on my nerves having 2 eat bland over cooked mush wen i go out even tho u can buy pretty tasty and cheap veggie meals from most shops now i have stopped going out now i prefer 2 cook my own food at least i know i am eating something i want and like
I have been veggie since I was 11.
I don't find any problem eating out, and rarely take the pasta option.
So I don't think we do get a raw deal!
Its a lot better than it used to be, however I can cook quorn fillets and warm up pasties and sausages at home. I would like a decent homemade vegetarian dish when I am paying to eat out.
A restaurant did start selling quorn fillets with sweet and sour sauce and rice near me a few years back. But they were selling it at ￡12 a throw!
Why pay through the nose for a simple dish you can make at home.
lol, so right, hard to find a restaurant that actually serves decent vegetarian food
I'm not sure that the UK is any worse or better than other modern societies re: vegetarian restauarants. I asked my s/o who is a partner in various enterprises including restaurants--he said it is a matterr of economics--creative "STRICT" vegetarian/vegan dishes as entrees simply don't sell in modern Anglo-European societies.
I do, and he does, notice a trend towards many eating healthy foods, but the "entree" is usually fish, poultry, seafood, etc ... which is not a problem for flexitarian vegetarians/vegans but not "strict" vegetarians/vegans -- not to mention sauces, gravies, etc.
He said restauranteurs' menus reflect what people "want" or if you are a noted chef with a following you can devise your own menu ... let's face it, I don't know of too many noted veggie chefs with a following.
Yes we do get a rubbish deal - especially in North East England (which is where I live). Up here there are no exculsively vegetarian/vegan eateries. But that's not the case all over the UK. When I went to London I was spoilt for choice, Eat and Two Veg is THE best restraunt I have been to. I suppose until Newcastle gets a bit more of a vegetarian market I'm stuck with uninventive, boring and limited meals. = |.
By the way, I don't think I would like to see commercial meat subsitutes on a menu in a restraunt. That would really put me off...