Vegetarian - eating out?

I used to think that goat's cheese was made in a more humane way than cows milk cheese, but no longer.
Pleased that there are others who do not like goat's cheese.
I am also pleased that there are lots of vegetarians who move fom York to Durham.
Now we need more vegetarian festivals up here, although there are vegan festivals in Newcastle, Morpeth and Sunderland.
Anyone in Viva!, or vegsoc want to start one in Durham?

I'm glad I'm not the only one not too keen on goats cheese. It does vary and sometimes is OK but it tends to be very dry and makes me thirsty. I don't like blue cheese either.

I have been a vegetarian now transitioning vegan (cheese??‍♀️) for 30 years and happily raised three daughters vegetarian too. The offerings in restaurants everywhere are 100% better than they were 25 years ago and here on the south coast I have no problems finding an excellent selection of vegetarian and vegan meals in our cafes and restaurants I get to choose from Thai, Bangladeshi, Japanese, Indian,Spanish,Greek,Moroccan, Italian,French,Mexican etc? I do wonder though if it's not so easy in non city or tourist places

Almost all chefs are meat eaters, they have to taste the food to get the seasoning right, therefore they have little or no interest in non-meat eaters. Risotto? It's going out for a meal, having nothing on the menu I can eat and being offered an omelette.

My favourite vegetarian dish is one I first tasted at one of the old spaghetti house restaurants in London in the 1970s/80s - Spaghetti aglio, olio e peperacino - or spaghetti tossed in a sauce made by infusing olive oil with garlic, chilli and parsley.

I live in East Anglia. to prove my point yesterday went to a posh(ish) place for lunch and had parsnip soup, followed by a mushroom gnocci (can't seem to spell it) £ 27 thank you. I actually think I dislike gnocci more than risotto!

In East Anglia we like the Three Blackbirds, Woodditton, New Market area. Lovely food.

There is a new veggie pub, the walnut tree, thwaite nr eye which looks interesting. Quite a way from me, will try and get there some time.

Telly, that does not appeal. And what a rip off too!

I suffer from IbS and cannot eat beef, pork or lamb, which is fine I am happy with chicken and eat most fish. I am also slightly lactose intolerant so have to be careful of my dairy intact, and mushrooms are the only veg I can't eat. Imagine my disappointment when we went out for Sunday lunch this week to the local pub, the menu was, roast beef/lamb/pork or vegetarian option, mushroom quiche ?

Surprised there was no fish, Nannykay.

I know durhamjen, there is normally some sort or fish or a chicken dish. I know I'm fussy, but I have never had a problem before, and I don't like to make a fuss

Not as fussy as me. I'm vegan. Not even mushroom quiche, although I love mushrooms.

I hate it that people assume vegetarians eat mushrooms. I dislike the taste, I've also never quite got past a story told in the early days of the Centre for Alternative Technology in Wales - the staff menu called for mushroom omelette but there were no mushrooms so the desperate chef collected some slugs, chopped them up and used them, apparently the only comments were that 'mushrooms' were a bit gritty!

I don't believe that, Azie. It's obviously one of those apocryphal tales.

You'll be telling us next that there are tree octopuses for them to chop up.

zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/

Apocryphal perhaps but it was the very early days (1980s) when the Centre was two ramshackle buildings and some muddy fields with very avant garde displays about living sustainably and we were so thrilled to find vegetarian food that we read them all avidly and admired the quick thinking of the chef! Nowadays vegetarian gastronomy has become mainstream and mushrooms seem bottom of the barrel (or perhaps flower pot!).

Tree octopus, ha, ha. Excellent website, I haven't seen it before and was taken in for a moment. Thank goodness for Google!!

I must have gone before you, in the late 70s, studying environmental science.

My 10 year old granddaughter caught me with that one today when she phoned up after she had got home from school. Apparently it's part of year six syllabus, to teach them not to believe everything they read on the internet.

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My main gripe is that often there is chilli added to a perfectly nice vegetarian dish for no good reason. I hate chilli! I also find the vegetarian option in pub restaurants is often something that I would make at home with leftovers. However, I accept that I am in the minority and the owners have to make a living.

Lots of chain restaurants now offer a much wider selection of vegetarian and vegan food clearly labelled - Wagamama, Wahaca, The Real Greek, pizza Express has a vegan pizza, as well as lots of vegetarian ones.

I was a vegetarian for about 8 years in the 80's and DH hated taking me out for a meal because he was so concerned about the lack of choice for me. At the time, you had a choice of a salad or vegetarian lasagne. No wonder I went off the rails and tucked into a roast turkey sandwich on white bread one Boxing Day! Glad to see things have improved over time.

I'll eat mostly vegetarian when having Indian. One of our village pubs does a great Portobello mushroom with grilled halloumi, aioli and spinach burger. Delish!

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I really love the Wagamama Dishes!