4 ms·

Eat at a good vegetarian restaurant, you'd be surprised with the amount of tasty non-salad dishes that can be made without meat. Where I used to eat there were

Eat at a good vegetarian restaurant, you'd be surprised with the amount of tasty non-salad dishes that can be made without meat. Where I used to eat there were fantastic lasagnas, various kinds of pasta with various sauces, and some classical "meat-centered" dishes with seasoned "soy beef" to emulate meat -- which of course comes nowhere near real beef, but isn't all that bad. Lots of salad too, of course. If you're lactose intolerant then you'd probably have to cook your own dishes using lactose-free dairy products. If you're vegan than I wouldn’t know what to recommend.

SwellJoe 11y ago
Most reasonably large cities have at least a couple of really good vegetarian restaurants, and some have a couple of really good vegan restaurants. Asian restaurants are historically the strongest on this front, but, I've seen an upsurge in the past decade in much broader options (I've been vegetarian, occasional vegan, for 22 years). But, almost any Asian restaurant has tofu options on the menu that are probably vegan and are probably delicious. I'm back to traveling full-time (I did it for four years in a motorhome, and have hit the road again in a travel trailer), in very remote locations, and small towns almost never have vegan or vegetarian restaurants. So, I go for Chinese, when I want to go out. There's nearly always at least a couple of delicious options on the menu. Honestly, I would choose tofu over meat in almost any Asian dish. It's just a nicer texture when prepared well and picks up the flavor of the dish.
- vidarh 11y ago
  The "almost any Asian restaurant" really depends on where you are. Especially Chinese, because of the massive regional adaptations of Chinese food (e.g. the same "Chinese" dishes in California, London, Oslo or Beijing can look and taste like entirely different dishes - I still find the constant presence of oranges in a lot of "California Chinese" food hilarious, for example). I live London, and while I have no interest in vegetarian food, the few times I've been out with vegetarians to Chinese restaurants in London for example, it's been an exercise in frustration to the point that I won't do it again, because many places you'll ask if disk x is vegetarian, get told it is, order it and find out that it's full of shrimp or covered in fish powder, or cooked in animal fats, and when you bring it up with them they're confused and appear to not understand that this means the dish isn't vegetarian... I've been to Chinese restaurants where finding any vegetarian dishes other than plain boiled rice has been almost impossible. (as for tofu.... I'd rather starve; I can stomach it in small quantities in addition to something else, but I can't handle it as a meat replacement)
  - SwellJoe 11y ago
    Yes, I've heard this is true in some non-US locations. In the US, you generally only need to worry about eggs and fish sauce, or beef/chicken broth in soups, and I've rarely (maybe never) had trouble getting a vegetarian or vegan meal in a Chinese restaurant anywhere in the US, Canada, or Mexico. I do often ask for clarification about whether a dish has fish sauce or eggs, and if I can get it prepared without, but I've never had a dish appear with shrimp that didn't advertise it had shrimp; given the price of seafood in the US, restaurants like to brag when a dish has seafood in it. I also never order soups at unfamiliar restaurants unless they are explicitly labeled as vegetarian or vegan. Thai and Vietnamese restaurants are more likely to have fish sauce in almost everything, though they're usually happy to make a vegetarian version. Korean restaurants seem tricky, as there's almost never anything vegan on the menu, but bibimbop can be ordered without meat or egg, even if they don't offer a tofu version. But, none are as consistently easy to order from as Chinese. I've been told that when traveling abroad, in some regions in Asia (including some parts of India), saying, "I'm Buddhist" will help the wait staff and chef understand what you mean when you say "vegetarian". I don't know exactly where or whether this is entirely accurate, since millions of Chinese are Buddhist and not vegetarian. I've never used this one weird trick for getting an actual vegetarian meal, but I've heard it from a few older vegetarians who have traveled a lot.

SwellJoe 11y ago

Most reasonably large cities have at least a couple of really good vegetarian restaurants, and some have a couple of really good vegan restaurants. Asian restaurants are historically the strongest on this front, but, I've seen an upsurge in the past decade in much broader options (I've been vegetarian, occasional vegan, for 22 years). But, almost any Asian restaurant has tofu options on the menu that are probably vegan and are probably delicious. I'm back to traveling full-time (I did it for four years in a motorhome, and have hit the road again in a travel trailer), in very remote locations, and small towns almost never have vegan or vegetarian restaurants. So, I go for Chinese, when I want to go out. There's nearly always at least a couple of delicious options on the menu. Honestly, I would choose tofu over meat in almost any Asian dish. It's just a nicer texture when prepared well and picks up the flavor of the dish.

vidarh 11y ago
The "almost any Asian restaurant" really depends on where you are. Especially Chinese, because of the massive regional adaptations of Chinese food (e.g. the same "Chinese" dishes in California, London, Oslo or Beijing can look and taste like entirely different dishes - I still find the constant presence of oranges in a lot of "California Chinese" food hilarious, for example). I live London, and while I have no interest in vegetarian food, the few times I've been out with vegetarians to Chinese restaurants in London for example, it's been an exercise in frustration to the point that I won't do it again, because many places you'll ask if disk x is vegetarian, get told it is, order it and find out that it's full of shrimp or covered in fish powder, or cooked in animal fats, and when you bring it up with them they're confused and appear to not understand that this means the dish isn't vegetarian... I've been to Chinese restaurants where finding any vegetarian dishes other than plain boiled rice has been almost impossible. (as for tofu.... I'd rather starve; I can stomach it in small quantities in addition to something else, but I can't handle it as a meat replacement)
- SwellJoe 11y ago
  Yes, I've heard this is true in some non-US locations. In the US, you generally only need to worry about eggs and fish sauce, or beef/chicken broth in soups, and I've rarely (maybe never) had trouble getting a vegetarian or vegan meal in a Chinese restaurant anywhere in the US, Canada, or Mexico. I do often ask for clarification about whether a dish has fish sauce or eggs, and if I can get it prepared without, but I've never had a dish appear with shrimp that didn't advertise it had shrimp; given the price of seafood in the US, restaurants like to brag when a dish has seafood in it. I also never order soups at unfamiliar restaurants unless they are explicitly labeled as vegetarian or vegan. Thai and Vietnamese restaurants are more likely to have fish sauce in almost everything, though they're usually happy to make a vegetarian version. Korean restaurants seem tricky, as there's almost never anything vegan on the menu, but bibimbop can be ordered without meat or egg, even if they don't offer a tofu version. But, none are as consistently easy to order from as Chinese. I've been told that when traveling abroad, in some regions in Asia (including some parts of India), saying, "I'm Buddhist" will help the wait staff and chef understand what you mean when you say "vegetarian". I don't know exactly where or whether this is entirely accurate, since millions of Chinese are Buddhist and not vegetarian. I've never used this one weird trick for getting an actual vegetarian meal, but I've heard it from a few older vegetarians who have traveled a lot.