Do most people think vegan food is utter shit? It's not!

[Ennuid]

And that we all just eat still eat pasta, salads and that vile tofu (yuk!) they used to make in the 90's?

I've been vegan for 15 years and let me tell you there isn't anything these days that you will miss in terms of taste or texture, the ''fake'' stuff is amazing and just as good, if not better than the real thing (not to mention much healthier). I mean meat, chicken, fish, cheese, melty cheese, ice cream, milk, yogurt, salami, pate, mayo, spreads, hot dogs, burgers, pizza, even eggs... literally anything you can imagine! Ask me anything you'd like to replace and I can come up with at least 2-3 great vegan alternatives.So may EU and US companies make really good stuff and the chinese fake meats are different but equally amazing. Every largish city will have at least a few veggie/vegan restaurants and stores (I have personal experience of Brighton, Edinburgh and Norwich).

The best thing you can do is visit one of the vegan fairs where you can get lots of free samples and see everything in one place. There seems to be a vegan fair just about everywhere in the UK nowadays (quite surreal since 5 years ago there were maybe 5 or so?) , here's a schedule for 2015: [edited by MN to remove possibly spammy address, we're sure MNers are smart enough to Google if needs be] .

There's even a new all vegan supermarket chain spreading all over Europe. Vegan is the new organic, baby!

Is your name Ruthie and do you live in Liverpool?

Vegan cheese is shit. As is that cheese dip you make from potatoes and carrots.

I am vegan and I found your post quite irritating op, calm down eh? And I love tofu, why is it vile? It's better than lots of the shite the 'meat replacements' are made of, which are largely chemicals and fillers.

YABU to post what's clearly an advert for an event.

YA also BU in assuming that we're all so pig ignorant that we need a patronising lecture on veganism.

I'm a vegetarian and am currently dairy free because of my allergic breastfed baby. I have not had real cheese, milk or butter for about 3 months and I think that all substitutes are shit. There is one brand of cheese I will reluctantly have but it's not brie. I would give anything for a stuffed crust pizza, to be honest anything with real cheese on it.

I think I'm going to go to the fridge and sniff the real cheese.

I don't eat meat, didn't eat fish either for twenty years, and will happily eat vegan meals. I generally hate fake "meat" although some sausages are tolerable and Quorn meatballs are ok with pasta and Tom ketchup. My problem wilth a lot of dairy free stuff is that it tends to be full of palm oil, which I want to avoid.

I would far rather eat"stand alone" vegan/veggie food, and have pulse based meals for breakfast, lunch or tea several times a week.

Long term vegan here. I loathe fake meats/cheese/tofu etc.

However, plenty of Middle Eastern, Indian, Mediterranean nosh made from vegetables, seeds and fruit is delicious.

This is making me hungry!

Very contentious, this one. Ignorance in abundance on both sides of this, without fail. I'm afraid I'm out.

YABU for posting an advert in AIBU.

Course its an advert!

Is this a Vegfest advert?

I'm out too.

I like a lot of vegan dishes, hate hate hate all the fake cheese/meats though.

hideous processed stuff

A not so stealth advert. There are better ways OP, there really are...

Do vegans think normal food is utter shit? It's not!

I love milk, eggs, butter, chocolate and proper cheese. Not to mention a proper bacon sarnie. And a real Sunday roast is devine! I've been eating normal food now for 40 odd years and i feel sooooooo healthy!

Ask me anything you'd like to replace and I can come up with at least 2-3 great non fake alternatives.

YABU. You sound just like my vegan friend at work. She's lovely but a bit evangelical about her veganism. Some vegans seem to think we'll all eventually come round to their way of thinking if only we realised how cruel the meat and dairy industries are and how tasty vegan food is... I think that's making a massive, flawed assumption that we all have the same motivations in life.

Sorry to offend, but I don't actually care that unpleasant things happen to animals in order for me to enjoy a juicy steak or a lovely piece of Gruyere cheese. If that makes me a bad person, so be it. I'd prefer it if animals don't suffer too much and as such I only buy free range eggs etc, but I'm not in denial - I know that whatever the label says, animals still suffer to a certain extent in order for me to enjoy tasty food. And I accept that. I wish vegans would stop all this tedious preaching. Congratulations on being morally superior to the rest of us, but frankly I don't give a damn.

I'm sorry but vegan 'substitutes' for anything do actually taste like crap. The 'cheese' males me want to gip.

Ask me anything you'd like to replace and I can come up with at least 2-3 great vegan alternatives

you really really can't. What is your vegan alternative to a big thick rare steak with a slice of stilton melting on top?

I would rather eat pasta, salads and tofu than meat substtitutes. I am rather surprised that someone who has been vegan for so long is still reliant on those kind of products anyway.

Ask me anything you'd like to replace and I can come up with at least 2-3 great vegan alternatives

Lobster.

Steak.

Mackerel.

Roast lamb.

Pecorino.

Sainte-Maure de Touraine

And that's just my breakfast.

I have a vegan family member & cook vegan meals at least once a week. There is a lemon cake recipe that's vegan that I love & will use instead of a non vegan recipe but tbh I find the substitutes fairly shit.

The non egg white powder to replace egg whites doesn't work in cakes. Vegan chocolate is just vile as is vegan fudge. Ditto the cheese. Vegan sausages, even the expensive ones have a texture that makes me want to heave. Soya/coconut/almond milks are disgusting.

I will happily eat & cook vegan food as long as its not reliant on substitutes. I prefer veggies with a good slosh of oil, garlic & chillies. I think that substitutes are where vegan products fail & I would advocate a clean eating approach over a chemical fake food substitute approach any day.

I've been to a vegan fair, the stereotypes were fairly predicatable but the food was fab!

What's the vegan supermarket chain, please?

Veganz, it's a german company that started in Berlin. I think there is one in London, last time I heard it was planned anyway. It's mostly on the continent. Go to happycow for local info on your area.

OP, I'd be interested to hear what 'cheese' you recommend.

Vegusto is the best one I can think of, they have a huge range. Yes, Sheese is vile indeed, it put me off vegan cheese for a long time.

Also, people who say fake meats are awful must have had the shity ones you can find in mainstream stores. Buy something from Fry's, Wheaty, Vegusto, Vbites, Tofurky.. or others that I can't think of right now. Go to a vegan chinese/taiwanese restaurant and you'll see the difference. The number of times I've heard women drag in their reluctant carnivore boyfriends into these places only for the guys to not just eat everything but also get takeaways after they were done. There's lots more out there these days but I can't recommend it since I haven't lived in the western EU for a couple of years. Generally though, anything from the germanic area is really good. I could recommend lots of East-euro stuff but it's not available anywhere else.

Tumbleweed goes past as we all wait for OP to return with a list of vegan alternatives to steak, lobster and Stilton...

I agree there is lots if great vegan food out there. I think the best way is not to replace meat and dairy with substitutes but to be creative with veg, seeds, nuts etc.

Vegan cheese is truly vile. Worse than toe cheese.

Sorry OP, x-post! But still no steak, lobster or Stilton alternatives

Fry's, Wheaty, Vegusto, Vbites, Tofurky, had all of 'em, all shit and full of crap too. Better to cook real food imo.

Chocolate that is vegan is not necessarily crap though, pretty much all chocolate over 70% is vegan. I always thought milk chocolate was a bit grim even when I ate dairy.

Sounds way too complicated. One supermarket in London or go to Germany?