To feel I almost have to apologise for being veggie...

[Loopylala7]

We were invited out tonight with a big group, but I couldn't go due to no babysitter. Anyway DH casually mentions that, well there was nothing on the menu for me anyway. This is following a holiday where being a vegetarian was considered weird, so had to survive on junk food.

These are just a few of my recent experiences. TBH I feel lucky if I go to a restaurant and have two dishes to choose from. Am I being unreasonable to think this is unreasonable?

Ooh, she would have ended up wearing it if it was me! I've been to some houses where they won't even put you a bit of Bisto in some hot water in a mug.

It's sadly family that I usually get this from. "Are you still going through that veggie phase?" Yes, only for the last twenty years.

My dad is really good with it, the hoops that man jumped through to find me food to eat when I was younger

But the other day he said "we tried some of those Quorn sausages you eat, really sorry but they weren't very nice"

And I said "I know, I only eat them at your house!!"

Just reading through this and most amused at kiki the "vegetarian"

Isn't Bisto meaty then? Well I never...

My mum, bless her, used to make a proper big sunday roast lunch. Everything bar the meat/resulting gravy was veggie. I love roast poatoes, carrots, peas, sweetcorn, cabbage, sage and onion stuffing, etc. Who needs meat!? Bloody lovely with veggie gravy and mint sauce (oh yum).

And my old favorite friday works canteen special - chips with loads of grated cheese! And they thought it was just a pregnancy craving.

bisto beef granules are veggy.

Late to this.

I do find vegetarians a bit of a pain if I'm cooking dinner because they increase the workload significantly and I do suspect that a higher proportion of the vegetarian population is also fussy and/or food intolerant in one way or another than the meat eating population BUT

I do like my vegetarian friends and vegetarian is also the easiest way of dealing with guests with religious requirements,so I do try quite hard. There are a lot of posts about vegetarian dishes which everyone hates or which are thought to demonstrate insufficient care etc. What would vegetarians/vegans LIKE to be served at dinner parties/in restaurants? What suggestions do you have which work reasonably easily alongside non-vegetarian options?

I usually do Indian or middle eastern but some more suggestions would be great

I suspect that fussiness is nothing to do with whether someone eats meat or not.

Rather than doing different dishes for meat eaters and for the vegetarians, you could make the main dish vegetarian so that everyone can eat it. Then do some meat based side dishes so that the meat eaters don't feel deprived.

Trust me, the meat eaters won't die if they don't eat meat one night!

THe majority of vegetarians I know actually really struggled to give up meat, it wasn't fussiness that made them stop eating it! IME vegetarians tend to be more likley than meat eaters to try different foods especially from other countries as they frequently do veg better.

There are a lot of posts about vegetarian dishes which everyone hates or which are thought to demonstrate insufficient care etc. What would vegetarians/vegans LIKE to be served at dinner parties/in restaurants? What suggestions do you have which work reasonably easily alongside non-vegetarian options?

Depends on the pesron! It's the same asking you what kind of meat you like and assuming that works for ever yother meat eater. Some things are just lazy, like not making a main meal and just scraping together some side dishes for the vegetarian. Safe bet is asking them.

You only need to watch Come Dine with Me to see what pains some meat eaters are.

There's always one who 'doesn't eat fish, anything with bones, peas, beans, anything with a sauce...'.

When I cook for people its usually veggie (apart from my sis who loves meat and needs feeding up) and if I do antipasti there's always some nice hams/salami there so the meaters can get their fix.

I have more trouble with people on weird and wonderful 'health diets'. Oh can't eat green and orange foods on the same plate? Can't have carbs? No I have no bloody idea what the 'blood group diet' is. Atkins?

There's a lot to be said for buffets.

My favourites:

Nut roast with all the roast dinner bits.
Veggie sausage and mash.
Quorn lasagne or cottage pie.
Pasta bake.

Four out of five of us love Surprise Fish Pie

(There's no fish in it)

SURPRISE!!!

The older I get the more I appreciate a good nut roast...

Eating at someone's house is different to a restaurant vix .As long as the host isn't trying to foist meat or fish on me (I'm looking at YOU, favourite aunt), I'm happy. I don't expect much, honest! I love a roast dinner and am happy with veggie sausages (cauldron are best) in place of meat.

If I'm paying for my food, however, I expect a bit more effort! A lot of the meals that have been mentioned (veggie lasagne and risotto being the best examples) are annoying because they are often better made by home cooks, so whilst I'm sick of seeing these on menus, I'll happily eat them at someone's house.

If you're a meat eater, it's a bit like shepherds pie. You'd happily eat it at home but you'd get a bit narked if that was the only thing available to you in restaurants.

I've been a veggie for 26 years and get the most stick (and lectures) still to this day from my brother. He is so obsessed with eating meat, he refuses to eat a main course that doesn't have meat - even once refusing to eat something my niece cooked at school because it was vegetarian...

My SIL is an amazing cook and it is her only real interest in life, cooking and baking.

One New Year's day she made a meal for us, and by the time it was served was so stressed out by all the cooking, she poured gravy over my veggie option. I felt so sorry for her, I faked eating it (all the time feeding it to one of my kids on one side and my husband on the other, when she and my brother were looking the other way). She is another one who does a huge elaborate roast dinner but the veggie option is - all the vegetables, and nothing else. Although if it's a buffet or something she knows how to do a veggie pizza...

I often wondered if it occurred to her after we went home that she'd poured gravy all over my plate. But she's never mentioned it - nor have I.

Nohootingchickenssleeping +1 for blue moon cafe

Allergic to aubergines?

nightshades. people are often allergic to them (tomatoes, peppers etc).

Living in London, I'm lucky that most places do cater for veggies, but some pubs (inc my local) are particularly dire. I have had a bowl of chips and a side salad more times than I'd like, and the worst thing is I feel like it makes my meat eating friends and family feel awkward. They tuck into their lovely roast/rack of lamb/mixed grill etc, and I'm sat there trying to eek out a bowl of tomato soup.

I hate that, and will kick up a fuss.

going out should be fun, and you live in London so you essentially have infinite choice. If I was with a group and they insisted on going somewhere I couldn't eat, I either won't go or eat beforehand and just have drinks (if a pub). I think it's a bit strange to go to a place that one of the party can't eat at. I would never, for example, insist on going to a thai or indian place if someone said they couldn't eat spicy food.

Had a macaroni cheese burger at a pub tonight, which was quite nice

HSM

Do what?

Does it not slip out of the bun?

How does that work then?

Carb-tastic, HSM!

I reckon you'd like my DHs snack of choice;

www.cookipedia.co.uk/recipes_wiki/Macaroni_pie_(Scottish)

I hate it when restaurants say they serve a "mushroom burger" and it turns out it be just a bloody mushroom in a bun!

As if putting something in a bun magically turns it into a burger.

Wait ... isn't that what HSM is talking about?

I've been a vegan for 7 years, vege 25 years before that. If you are vege for ethical reasons, it's worth looking into veganism as the meat and dairy industry cannot really be separated.

I have to say I've never had half the problems (even as vegan) that many of you seem to have had. I will always phone up a restaurant in advance, they have all been happy to prepare a vegan menu for me. The Limehouse and the Blue Bicycle in York were the last two. I never feel 'the centre of attention' and nobody has ever 'taken the piss'. Sometimes the more attention you draw to yourself, the more you get.

Scottish, you say, bolshy?

Then shouldn't that be a deep-fried macaroni cheese pie?

Haha. Asked for it without the bun . It wouldn't have been as nice with it.

It was covered in crispy breadcrumbs. But strangely tasty. Probably had hidden beef stock or something.