Being vegetarian is so tiresome.

[Brandnewskytohangyourstarsupon]

I’ve been vegetarian for over 25 years.

Just arranging dinner with friends who are raving about a particular restaurant. It’s a m at eaters dream of a place I’m sure gorgeous food is sold.
It’s Italian so there’s the usual vegetarian offerings of over priced margarita pizza available and it really pisses me off.
There are also some overpriced sides available but it boils my piss to pay £14-16 for a bit of cauliflower.

It’s the majority vote to go to this place.

I don’t want to bring it all down because there’s very little choice for vegetarians so I’ll do as I always do, eat before I go, order a drink and order the cheaper side to just be sociable.

Its always the same I find, always the same.

If you are vegetarian, how do you navigate this?

I guess it depends where you live- I'm a vegan and there's always at least one thing I can eat on any menu. But I live in Surrey/South London so perhaps we are better catered for here?

I'm a veggie of 20 years or so. Try being a veggie that's also diabetic and can't eat carbs. I don't eat frankenfood so fake meat vegan burgers are out, and I can't eat risotto or pasta which are the usual alternatives. Bloody vegans have a lot to answer for. Sheese my arse.

It's gotten way worse over the last 5 years, so I rarely if ever eat out these days.

I just suck the poor vegetarian options up and have a glass of wine to get over it and just try to enjoy the company at the table.

Order a steak?

mumtojakie
25 years ago is 1999!! How did that happen?!
Sorry- I was talking about a time in the 80's when choice was scarce.
I'm not going to add up how many years ago that is!

Don’t get me started on splitting the bill as they all drink alcohol, order starters as well as expensive mains.
My salt n pepper chips and coke will. One to about £12 but when it comes to the bill I’m afraid I’m an arsehole and remind them of my contribution always.

No fucking way am I paying £50-£60 for a bowl of shit chips and a coke.

I’ve been vegetarian for over 20 years. It’s part of it unfortunately. Most friends make sure we go somewhere that suits but it can’t always be that way. I’m used to eating goats cheese salad and chips. It’s my choice to be veggie and I’ve never let it affect others choices

Helpful.

I find now that veganism has become more popular that the vegetarian option in lots of restaurants is the only vegan option too. Vegetarians and vegans are not allowed to have a choice so it seems. Also, vegetarians may not want the vegan option. I don’t want fake mayonnaise and cheese on my burger!

The thing is that is also hard for non veg to go out with vegetarians. I must say I only eat steaks and alcohol when dining out. Usually go to the best possible place so it is not cheap. We would be such a mismatched to eat out. 😂

DD was vegetarian for years. Restaurants did vegan because they couldn’t be bothered to differentiate. She’s now a pescatarian when eating out.

If I had a vegetarian in my
friend group, I would happily go to a veggie restaurant she recommended. Will your friends not put one on the list.

And you are not an arsehole for only paying your bit if you aren’t drinking and only having a side!

I went to bistro yesterday and they were 8 starters and 8 main courses and 2 of each were vegetarian/vegan, plus 2 fish dishes. Thought that quite refreshing. Really unusual too- chargrilled watermelon with smoked burrata and mint sorbet was one starter.

Asian restaurants are much better for veggie food I find.

I've been vegetarian since 1988. My dad was for 30 years prior to that, and his father too.

I'm actually not bothered about being limited to a really good Margarita pizza with mushrooms and olives, and an avocado salad, but I do like butter, cream and eggs.

I can't stand goats cheese. I hate heavily processed meat replacements. I do think the hospitality industry is dumbing down vegetarian food, by doing a vegan meal for all non-meat-non-beef-non-pork diets.

I do very occasionally eat fish. Meals in this house are chaotic enough as DH should not eat any raw veg, or anything like celery, cucumber, melon etc, and the dc (12, 15) would always like meat (I swear I weaned them in hummus)

Given the choice, I would chose tapas, Middle Eastern or Indian. I love a "proper" lentils- and-Homity- pie type whole meal, wholesome veggie restaurant, like Crank's was, but I'm not sure there's many about anymore. Fortunately, I have sympathetic meat eating friends, who are always up for a curry!!

If you always want to go to a steakhouse that might be one of the more restrictive places for a vegetarian choice!

Though if it’s a steakhouse that does dauphinoise potatoes… 😋

I do find italian restaurants particularly bad. One had no vegan or veggie options at all and they said they could make me a speciality dish no problem. Very accommodating. It was essentially tomato pasta and they charged me more than the coat of the meal of the person who had steak.

My vegan colleague is Italian. She really struggles as she said Italians believe in dairy so lots of cheese or other cream sauces.

We leave her in charge of choosing a restaurant for eating out, she knows she has three carnivores as team members.

But the biggest challenge was a customer lunch with a veggie, a vegan and a gluten free person.

A group of friends went to a local restaurant where it was a burger and a beer for £15. One of the group was vegetarian. The vegetarian burger was not included in the offer. So the vegetarian in the group had to pay full price for a Moving Mountains burger in a bun, more than the meat eaters.

@Gondoliere

I take clients to Gaucho and Hawksmoor regulary with work. They've really ramped up the veggie options on their menu over the last few years - makes business sense for them I guess.

I don't mind steak choices being shown at the table - I guess that's not ideal for some people who don't meat - but the veggie menu choices are pretty good these days.

Exactly what I came in to say.

What other pizza would you expect other than vegetable or margarita?

Surely there's vegetable pasta or Quorn pasta, and garlic bread.

I'm genuinely wondering what else you can expect.

We went somewhere that had lovely veggie burgers, but they refused to replace the fake cheese and mayo with the real thing, because it had to be served vegan...wtf.

That's seriously the limit of your imagination?