Vegetarian - eating out?

Usually Indian or Thai places have number of vegetarian selections.

I have not eaten meat for thirty years and I agree that it is a lot easier to eat out now than it was then, but I still find that buffet food often includes quite nice looking salads which are spoilt by the addition of small pieces of cold meat, or sausage. Chorizo has been fashionable for the last few years and seems to find its way into unexpected places. Why can't they just serve the meat separately?

paddyann your post reminds me of a scene in the Royle Family when Nana was told that a young visitor didn't eat meat, she said "not even waver-thin ham?"

I was vegetarian for around 15 years and the menus always had a very limited choice,mushroom stroganoff,vegatarian chilli or lasagne ,and risotto...often I was offered chicken or ham salad becuase they "weren't real meat"lol.Nowadays I eat a limited amount and type of meat ..no fowl,no pork very little beef and the veggie options are usually so good in restauarnts that I have them instead of the meat ones .The variety is much better than it was even 10 years ago

Annifrance !! Ive been vegetarian from VERY young...I spat out any meat as a baby and refused meat as a child. Therefore would say I was a natural vegetarian.
I'm sure I've mentioned this before but in the 60's going for a staff Christmas meal I was given a large oval plate full of whole lettuce leaves, tomatoes, hard boiled eggs and cheese...no dressing other that salad cream which I hate...and I was expected to pay an equal share for the meal, very expensive, boring salad.
Thankfully things are very much improved when eating out now and also in supermarket frozen food depts.

"vegetarians really get up my nose" - why?! surely not all vegetarians ... just because they don't want to eat meat?

Love vegetarian food inter alia. Vegetarians really get up my nose.

M0nica, I'm with you all the way about goat's cheese. My throat seized up even at the thought of it. Apart from that, I don't understand why all goat's cheeses are lumped together under that generic name -the many vegetarians who do like the flavour might themselves appreciate a bit more variety. It looks like they only get the kind that looks like a long cylindrical Camembert. When I cook a goat's cheese recipe at home, I can substitute something else, and I have often managed to arrange that in a restaurant as well, though I can't rely on it.
I'm also not a fan of feta - it's too salty for me - but restaurants love it because it is so white, I suppose, and because it's fashionable. At home I use Wensleydale to replace it in recipes. But I'm looking forward to the next cheese fad ... at least I think so!
I'm on a low carb diet, which is even more restrictive than a vegetarian one when it comes to eating out. But that's another story ...

Telly, where do you live? I hope the many posts on here recommending vegetarian/vegan eateries are helpful

Ask has a vegan menu.
For those in London there is a very good restaurant called Vanilla Black.
They started off in York, and we were all upset when they moved to London.
In York, El Piano is vegan. Goji has a lot of vegan options, too.

I am joining the 'I'm a veggie but I hate goat's cheese' club! Why does it turn up so often in restaurants? We are lucky though in London (and most of the UK) to find some lovely veggie options and lots of choice in shops. The last time I visited my sister in rural Canada I had to search for the last frosty package of veggie burgers (they were going to a BBQ) in the supermarket.

If you're in central London, try Tibits, a vegetarian restaurant (there are two branches now) where there's a great choice - you take what you want and pay by the weight of your plate. It's probably slightly over-priced (have to be careful not to take heavy stuff) but is a real treat.

It's much better these days in big towns and cities, but rural east Anglia not so great I can assure you. I don't like mushrooms, don't east fish. Pubs etc seem to have one or two standard veggie options. Years ago it was veg lasagne, often horribly stodgy. Now the fashion is for risotto, usually mushroom. And they have the cheek to charge almost as much as meat dishes! I love halloumi and that's getting more popular. Luckily I also like goats cheese and beetroot!

I have really thought about eating meat again, purely because of these problems. But I can't, so will have to put up with it, as I doubt much will change soon.

I've been vegetarian for years (I wouldn't eat meat as a child either) and I've just started plant based diet. I have to say my hated meal was vegetarian lasagne. In the 90s it was often the only veg option! There is amazing vegan and vegetarian food around now, but you to choose sensibly. I had a great vegan pizza in Zizzi's the other day! Be more selective of where you eat if you can!

Im not veggie but often eat vegetarian dishes when out. I too have sufferedfrom mushroom risotto - in an Italian restaurant! Also not v keen on goats cheese.
I did have a delicious squash lasagne recently though.

My daughter is vegetarian and hates mushrooms. She says mushroom risotto is always on offer and she won't eat it. More imagination needed in restaurants please!

My bro owns a restaurant which serves Croatian food, which naturally is heavy and meat-heavy (if you see what I mean); I am vegetarian though and asked him to consider adding some vegetarian food to the meun, and now my veggie friends are happy to eat there, and I'm pleased to report the veggie options are delicious (and don't include mushroom risotto!)

I'm not a vegetarian but we do have at least one non-meat or fish day a week. Eating out with family recently I enjoyed a delicious falafel burger; I do agree with others that there is far too much goat's cheese, which I really don't like. I love halloumi though, and I've seen that on various pub/restaurant menus recently. Mushroom risotto - ugh.

As a veggie I love mushrooms but they, apart from in mushroom soup which I can liquidise, give me indigestion so have to avoid them .Any one else find this ?

I once had a plate of mushroom risotto that looked like dog food........I did not touch it and when the full plate was taken back to the kitchen, the irate chef came out and told me off.

Too often vegetarians get the left over veg with a sauce on at a very high price.

As a bit of an aside, why is the only cake on offer for gf is a chocolate brownie - usually very dry!

Here in Germany the only "ethnic" restaurant that can be found everywhere is the Italian. There is always a good choice of pastas with a mushroom, spinach or tomato sauce as, traditionally, the meat would be served as a separate course anyway. Can't say I've ever seen mushroom risotto on the menu.

Elsewhere in Germany it is sometimes difficult to find something without meat, though, certainly in traditional German restaurants where "meat" invariably means "pork".

I always assume that my sons' friends are vegetarian until told otherwise.

DS1 took us to a vegan Thai restaurant in California - quite delicious.

I was totally vegetarian for 30 years but now occasionally eat fish , I can tell many horror stories about eating out in this country and abroad. But there are many excellent veggie meals available now: I agree with Wagamama in bigger places and Prezzo have good options as do many Chinese restaurants.I never find veggie food to be smaller, in fact going out with my sister recently to her local upmarket Chinese I couldn't finish my starter or main course whereas her and her partner's meat dishes were far more sparse.
A good mushroom risotto is hard to beat... make your own and use any spare to fill little peppers and bake for anothe day, spinkle with parmesan or goats cheese!

I have been a vegetarian for nearly 50 years and I do sympathise! My bete noir is goat cheese, which I can't bear the smell of, and beetroot, which disagrees with me. So often the veggy option is a goat cheese tart with beetroot salad or coulis or something. I find it's best to eat Indian, Chinese, Thai, Lebanese or some other "ethnic" option as it gives me lots of choice while not restricting husband or other companions.

which is probably a good thing.

Vegetarian or fish portions seem quite measly in comparison to meat dishes.