to wonder why many vegetarian menu options

[E320]

have very little to do with vegetables?
If I wanted pasta or risotto I could order those, but mostly these seem to be the only choices, unless in a "real" Italian, where you could order aubergine or a Greek or Turkish place, where there are stuffed vegetables.
I am very fond of potatoes, but even these don´t feature very often. Of course, they are vegetables LOL
Anyone else feel like this?
Disclaimer: I do eat meat and fish, but I do not always feel like it

I'll back up the non-veggie's eating the veggie options. I'm one.

So when we go out for a meal with our veggie friend, we make a party of 3 meat eaters (both DH's and my DD) and three Vegetarians (me, friend and her DS)

50/50 split.

6 people, 3 each - and I guarantee you, every time, only four different meals. Incredibly annoying! Particularly with two DC's who are at the 'I want to try everything' stage.

I usually stay in and cook!

I'm another non-vegetarian who almost always chooses a veggie option (I won't eat meat unless I know that it isn't factory farmed and I don't generally eat fish unless I know its origin).

I would imagine a pretty substantial proportion of the population might choose a non-meat option if it sounds interesting, so its not like the restaurants are only catering for the 10% or whatever that are actually totally vegetarian.

Feeding veggie children when you are out is a nightmare. One of mine likes pizza so tends to have that. The other child is quite fussy on top of being veggie so he usually gets pasta with a knob of butter. However there are quite a few chains that offer pasta with a tomato sauce but can't do plain pasta as apparently it is delivered to them with the sauce on it (boil in a bag?)

On a more grown up front, I once had an amazing 7 course veggie meal at a friends 40th (everyone else had meat) at Fischers Baslow. It was wonderful.
An independent carvery pub near me offer nut roast and veggie gravy along with the normal help yourself veg (Hare and Hounds, near Sidford) and also I recommend the Pea Green if you are anywhere near Sidmouth. They do a veggie meze platter and also offer a butternut squash salad with chick peas and couscous. Another thumbs up for Giraffe as well and they also have an allergy list for each dish.

And as for school dinner veggie options. Beige stodge all the way: cheese, bread, chips, pastry, cheese and more cheese. which might be fine for chn who want the occasional veggie meal (pizza is always popular, it's basically cheese and bread tho), but for an actual vegetarian child, who would have to eat this stuff every day, its hopeless.

Agree, veggie meals out are usually subpar to what I cook at home. I would love to have a nut loaf or loads of veggies stir fried or something else with flair, instead of carb laden pasta or risotto.

I usually dine in Asian or Lebanese restaurants to get a good meal. It sucks because I love the ambiance in pubs and it would be great to have a good veggie pub meal.

Yes, I'm no Nigella Lawson, but my own home-cooked veggie meals are nicer than almost anything we have when we're out (unless we eat at a really good Indian or Thai where they cook their own stuff rather than buy it in). But I've had risotto or pasta dishes at supposedly good quality restaurants that aren't a patch on what I make.

Oh, and there's always an exception. I once ate at the National Gallery restaurant. There was only one veggie option - risotto. My heart sank, but it was absolutely delicious. The finest risotto I've ever had!

I remember when I was at primary school many many years ago some pupil had a cheese salad - slice of thick cheese, lettuce leaf, tomato cut in half, some cucumber - left out EVERY DAY.

There might have been slice of white bread and butter with it. This was the 70s, I should add.

I usually dine in Asian or Lebanese restaurants to get a good meal. It sucks because I love the ambiance in pubs and it would be great to have a good veggie pub meal

When we go out with veggie friends we always go to Oriental or Mediterranean places, I wouldn't bother with anything else TBH.

yes, restaurants that neglect veggies are going to put off meat eaters too. If you have a couple or family with a veggie in it then they will probably veer towards restaurants that do cater for them. There are a couple of places we don't go as a family group as the veggie choice is so poor.

I've looked up that POD place in London. Will try and visit when we're next in the area .