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?

The "wider picture" is anything outside the narrow range of two curry houses within ten miles of where chipping lives, that you used to demonstrate your point that vegetarians are well-catered for and just need to seek out the right restaurants.

And you need to be very careful with Chinese food. There's a lot of fish stock in dishes that otherwise have no meat.

many of my friends don't eat Indian food and I don't always want to.

If you start imposing overlapping requirements ("must be veggie", "must not be Indian") then you're going to need to live in a city to hit them all in one restaurant.

And I think the "many of my friends don't eat Indian food" (what, all of it? It covers quite a wide range) pretty much proves my "scary and white" point.

itsallgoing are you in Brighton?

No duh how about all of the 'main stream' Restaurants & Pubs. We don't all want to be eating Indian or Chinese, or even pizza - and frankly, the Chinese in England is rank.

Uhhh, I'm not fussy! Vegetarianism is against my beliefs! Don't mind vegans tho as at least they obviously believe in it, vegetarians are just a bit half hearted in their beliefs.

If there were no meat eaters in the world they'd be no dairy products and no eggs!

Rhonda - Yes, given the sheer quantity of restaurants/pubs in my area, being able to find 2 Indian restaurants that have more than one veggie dish on the menu just about sums up the situation

how about all of the 'main stream' Restaurants & Pubs

They've taken a commercial decision. The ball's in your court to convince them otherwise.

And that chain restaurants and pubs are shit is hardly a problem unique to vegetarians. They're shit for everyone, with a (few) honourable exceptions.

and frankly, the Chinese in England is rank.

I love the vegetarian duck pancakes

It's taken longer than I expected for the "vegetarians are half-hearted" chestnut to come out, but good to hear a meat-eater who isn't afraid to resurrect it for another outing.

[yawn]

new regulations are being enforced for december 13th for all catering establishments and restaurants. 14 different allergens in all dishes need to be highlighted.

Rhonda I know, I just can't be arsed with that arguement, it's so tedious. Not to mention that the person spouting it doesn't seem to understand that eggs come from live chickens and milk from live cows..not the ones which are sent to slaughter. Poor love, such a challenge to go through life being hard of thinking.

eragon that's interesting.

And that chain restaurants and pubs are shit is hardly a problem unique to vegetarians. They're shit for everyone, with a (few) honourable exceptions.

Meat-eaters still get a wider choice of shit, though

I think that's what commonly happens to vegans in France Chipping! Over the past few years I have known 2 American vegans who have moved here and been forced to make concessions re cheese and eggs pretty quickly.

Yadnbu, I get bored of being confronted with yet another risotto or veggie lasagne in pubs. I wish chefs could be a bit more imaginative. But my town, with the exception of a couple of good Indian restaurants, is hardly a culinary destination even for omnivores.

I do think the UK is far easier for veggies than countries such as France. A few years ago DH and I were in New Zealand. At one restaurant they had no vegetarian option on the menu, and when I asked about it they said we could have chicken without the chicken or duck without the duck.

I've never really done dinner parties but when I've had non-veggie friends over for dinner they've been quite happy to have a meat-free meal. There must also be some people who, although not vegetarian, nevertheless try to reduce their meat consumption for health, financial or environmental reasons.

Yes, NZ is very meat focussed too in most places. The UK is marginally better in restaurants and about a gazillion times better in the supermarket!

I just love places like Brighton where you have your choice of restaurant and choice of meal - it's fab, but we can't all live there!

I frequently struggle with the lack of choice in vegetarian menus. Due to the use of Stilton and other blue cheeses, which I dislike intently, I frequently have no choice other than to either ask if they can make me something else, or walk out.

Must say I loath having to ask for something off menu.

Don't get me started on Christmas lunch menus. Let's just say I didn't go to the work lunch last year as the only veggie starter had blue cheese in it and the main was fish. They wouldn't cook anything else.

If I'm entertaining, I will always do one meat dish and one veggie - eg if we're having Hungarian food (which I cook a lot), I'll cook mushroom goulash and a beef or chicken one. The accompaniments will all be veggie - potatoes, red cabbage, lecso (egg and peppers). Indian food is the easiest though.

I have a great recipe for peanut burgers for veggies at a barbecue, and will also do grilled halloumi, which goes down well.

I have no problem with vegetarians or vegans, but I do have a problem with fussy eaters - the couple who came round and demanded a plain roasted (not griddled) chicken breast with no skin (nice and dry) and no sauce. Oh and the vegetarian who wouldn't eat my veggie shepherd's pie, made with lentils and marmite gravy "because it smells like there is meat in it and I don't believe there isn't." (She didn't get invited back, nor did the dry chicken couple.)

A bit late in the day I have just reread the OP.

Am I mistaken in thinking that because the OP had no baby-sitter, she stayed at home but her DH went without her?

Or have I completely mis-read that?

I consider myself very lucky never to have had such rude guests as some people on this thread.

I'm looking at you, dry chicken couple

I live in hampshire, not near Guildford though

And yes, as has been reiterated many times on here Indian and Chinese restaurants tend to be pretty good

But you know, to quote the tv show 'goodness gracious' sometimes I quite fancy trying an English!

Rhonda - they were very late as well, so the chicken was exceptionally dry. Frankly, I didn't care, as they had been so dictatorial about what they would eat. The rest of us had a lovely dinner.

Rhonda - no I clocked that, but the OP is a longtime poster and I'm sure she knows her way around the relationship boards if she needs them... it's just that occasional give & take in a relationship I hope :)

I was a veggie for 6 years and only ever felt the need to apologise when eating at someone's home, only because I felt like my choice of veggie diet ment they ended up having to prepair two meals. But never in a restaurant you are paying to eat like everyone else and should have a choice of food that is to your taste not just a single veggie option. I can't stand mushrooms found them to feature highly in veggie options about 75% of the time :(