AIBU to hate the veggie option?

[BabooshkaKate]

It's always halumi.

Why? Why must it always be halumi?

How many different ways can you do halumi?

Why do restaurants never think outside the box?

I must admit I don't get the quorn hate. Yes it's processed but why is it worse than soya protein or TVP?

Ottolenghi is the fount of all knowledge when it comes to delicious vegetarian food.
The people that want a slab of something on their Christmas dinner could have his Roasted whole cauliflower cut into wedges.
He does this rice and lentil dish that has onion in it and topped with crispy onion... oh my!
Anyway if you don't want to get his cookbooks there are loads of his recipes on The Guardian website.
I am meaning this info for the restaurant owner, but maybe you could all become veggie guerillas and print out some recipes and leave them with your local restaurant to give them new ideas.

mantlepiece that is such a great idea, I'm tempted to scatter our Christmas table at the restaurant with vegetarian recipes. :-)

Not that I think I should have to teach the chef to cook, but needs must...

Having checked out the "Plate of Carrots" thread, I'm reminded of the very kind chef, whilst on holiday in Greece some fifteen or so years ago. He said he would cook me something special. He did. Peas. Just peas. And salt. Plenty of salt. I ate the peas and drank a lot of water.

I'm reminded of a vegan friend of mine desperately trying to make a Greek waiter understand what a vegan was. She eventually got a chips wrap

I must admit I don't get the quorn hate. Yes it's processed but why is it worse than soya protein or TVP?

Frankly I just think it's 'orrible.

In my far distant youth vegetarians were usually just offered cauliflower cheese. There are vast numbers of good veggie dishes but it seems beyond many cooks/chefs to go to the trouble.

Thanks mantlepiece for the Ottolenghi tip off, I'm not vegetarian but my 12 year old is, (correctly he's pescitarian but I think he's slowing dropping fish too) has been for ages, I've been struggling to think of dishes for him (lm like a restaurant chef aren't I!! Can't think of a different vegetarian dish!)

The 12 year old doesn't like goat's cheese (weirdo), halloumi (sensible) or mushrooms (this make my finding a recipe difficult I've found). Eats just about everything else.

Tbf though Mushrooms are a fungus (fungi? IDK)
Quorn comes from mushrooms, so I can't get up in arms about it being 'pretend food' its a good substitute. Their sausages, burgers, hot dogs are grim (their hot dogs have a clear condom like skin, boak) but I prefer Sainsbury's or Tesco's own meat free stuff against that, and I've never found a problem (you get more for your money too generally 2x as much for the same price as actual Quorn).
And if its good enough for them to use in frozen lasagnas I don't know why its not good enough to make into an actual meal. The best meal I ever had eating out (in a small low/mid end restaurant In gloucester city centre) was a lasagna, freshly prepared and cooked on site and made out of vegetarian mince.

It's an improvement on the 80s offering of Nut Cutlet 😷 I somehow endured vegetarianism for 10 years, then gave up 😄

I remember being invited to a friends house (as a teenager) for dinner telling the mother beforehand I was vegetarian, which she said was fine. When I arrived I found out they were having beef... and I was having chicken! The mum genuinely thought vegetarians ate chicken!!!

I haven't read the whole thread but you've chosen to be veggie so suck it up. Yabu.

I can see how reading might be a struggle for you.

Thanks TaterTots for the bitchy comment. Can read perfectly well. Merely passing on my thoughts, that being veggie is a choice so the OP should just get on with it. Or am I not allowed my own opinion!!

What's wrong with Quorn?

An industrial meat substitute is not going to find it's way onto the menu of any restaurant that claims to be serious about food any more than it will start serving Turkey Twizzlers for the meat eaters or Dairylea triangles on the cheese board.

You're entitled to your opinion but it's a pretty pointless thing to say. Might as well do the same for every other thread on here.

Annoyed by somebody's driving? Going out in your car is a choice so suck it up and get over it.

MiL pissing you off? Getting married is a choice so suck it up and get over it.

DS in trouble at school? Having a child is a choice so suck it up and get over it.

What I'm trying to say is, if people aren't happy with something, then discussing it and trying to change things is perfectly reasonable, and almost always a better option than "sucking it up and getting over it".

I wouldn't expect a restaurant to serve Quorn, which if you read what I wrote you'll see that I didn't suggest. I meant why do some people hate Quorn generally, whilst being ok with TVP or soya products.

At the end of the day, the OP has an option as to where they eat. If they don't like the veggie option on the menu then just move into the next restaurant. Easy.

EastMids- Clearly I'm imagining it then! . Again, If its ok for the frozen meals they buy in, why not actually make something with it?

CockLodger I always say that on vegetarian threads looking for help and ideas, sainsburys frozen Mince is definitely my first choice, I rarely use any quorn.

I don't use Morrisons though as they have a meat free range which isn't vegetarian, it is in the freezer with the vegetarian range and under the heading of vegetarian. It doesn't contain a piece of meat but it can contain or use in the process of manufacturing it things like gelatine.

Can anyone tell me where to buy tempeh in the UK? (Fermented soya beans, sounds rank but is delicious, nutty tasting, from Malaysia/Indonesia)

I once ate in a tiny restaurant where there was no veggie option. Was mortified and didn't want to walk out as we were the only two people in there! They said not to worry they'd rustle something up, checked what I liked, and returned with some kind of delicious pasta dish (and charged a reasonable amount). It probably had mushrooms and cheese in but it was freshly prepared by someone who obviosuly knew how to make all the flavours work together so was lovely.

Foxtrot Get the word out about all the veggie options, and we'll all show up! :)

I am vegan. You veggies have it good .

I have the same thing EVERY time. Chips, side salad and some dry bread/roll.
At buffets I have nothing.
Tell a lie, theres a local pub that people round here tend to use for get togethers like major birthdays/funerals etc. Theydo some hot foods on the buffet table like pizza and chips, so I get to have chips then.

I'd welcome more variety in the veggie options, though I'm actually carnivorous. DH won't eat a meal without meat, and I get very tired of it and welcome nights when he's out so I can cook veggie. It all adds up to my almost always choosing veggie on the rare occasions I eat out.

Foxtrot if you're where I think you are I've several veggie friends who holiday there regularly and are quite big spenders I'll send em your way if you wanna pm me your business info?

Try looking for a vegan option! In one pub I had to have a mediterranean salad (no cheese, no dressing) and one of those annoying little baskets of chips.

The solitary vegetarian option is cheese-based 99% of the time.

At Carluccio's, they charge £7.60 for literally a bowl of pasta with tomato sauce on it. And that's all you can have for a main.

Cocoa, Graphista will do just as soon as I've got chef on board and the menu sorted! There are so many amazing veggie recipes out there, restaurants are definitely missing a trick.