Vegetarians

[jomifl]

When vegetarian friends come to stay with us we have to go *** restaurants and eat mediocre food so that they can indulge their fad. Are they being unreasonable?

[Islay]

most good restaurants will do veggie food - just ring in advance and ask then everyone is happy

[ummmm]

Yes. I didn't eat meat for years, I'd eat fish and seafood, just not meat, still not a fan, but would happily eat in a meat eaters restaurant.

[Retrochic]

You are obviously going to mediocre restaurants that probably sell mediocre meat based food. Being a vegetarian is not a fad its a life choice like your choice to eat flesh. Do they think you are being unreasonable eating dead animals in front of them?

[EcclesCake]

You are being unreasonable.

Quite why you feel you HAVE to go to mediocre restaurants is beyond me. A great many restaurants have ghastly vegetarian offerings, humdrum risotto, mushroom stroganoff and grim veggie lasagne being the most frequent felons.

A pleasant evening at an Indian restaurant should deliver a meal that satisfies both omnivores and vegetarians.

[jomifl]

let me put it another way, vegetarians expect non vegetarians to limit their choice out of consideration for their vegetarian 'needs'. It doesn't seem to work the other way around.
Retrochic, it is quite normal for humans to eat dead animals, we are omnivores, that means we do actually need to eat dead animals. A vegetarian diet is abnormal and requires a lot of knowledge to get the right amino acid balance. Personally I can't bear to see people eat living plants, but I'm sensitive like that :-)

[Sir Alec]

Eggs, cheese and milk are all 'first-class' proteins which are suitable for a vegetarian diet. Unless you're vegan, you can eat all of these foods, as can an omnivore, who incidentally does not need to eat meat to live.

[Jennykenny]

Why don't you suggest that they cook for you 'in-house'.
If nothing else it will be cheaper, you get to have a night off, and it might be an interesting and worthwhile meal.

[-SharonA-]

I know what you mean, you cannot just go and walk into a restaurant at random!
Menus have to be perused and phone calls made to ensure the veggies can get a suitable meal. It is worse when one announces that they also don't like Indian/pasta/chinese!!! Christ on a stick.

[janbee]

I'm a veggie and often go out with non-veggie friends. We always go to a place serving food for all tastes etc. It's not a problem here in Brighton and Hove. I would never expect non-veggies to eat nonmeat dishes unless they wanted to.
BTW, veggie food, is NOT mediocre. You must be going to mediocre places, which would serve mediocre food no matter what it cooked. If these friends are a problem, don't invite them again or stress before hand that you'll eat only at "mixed" food places.

[janbee]

I've been a veggie for nearly 40 years and have never once inflicted my choice on to anyone else. Never have, never would. Very selfish.

[waterboatman]

That'd not unreasonable at all. It may not suit you, but it is their choice.

I don't know any restaurants around here that don't have a good vegetarian selection on their menu.

Sorry, but I think it's you being unreasonable.

[woofgang]

Your choice jom...keep them as friends or not.....

[pastafreak]

Do your friends know that you refer to their lifestyle choice as a "fad" that you have to indulge? Have you ever bothered to ask about or discuss this "fad"?
As for the food,maybe it's just the standard of restaurant in your area. Or,possibly your friends just like mediocre food,and being veggie has nothing to do with it.

[Retrochic]

jomifl Saying vegetarians only 'eat vegetables' is like saying meat eaters only eat meat and nothing else. BTW I'm not vegetarian but eat very little meat only a bit of chicken and fish now and again. 'Omnivores' do not need to eat meat you are mixing up your 'vores' - even Carnivores' will pick at the odd fruit or veg if its offered (think dogs). If my 'friends' described me how you describe these folks personally I would kick you into touch, but to be honest I think this is a bit of a wind up isn't it.

[jomifl]

Retro, it's only a half wind up, what triggered this was that we had a friend visit us (at his request) and we had already arranged to go on a visit to a brewery. We could hardly have *** off and left him to fend for himself so we had to check up that vegetarian food was available at the designated eatery. My point is that if he had not been a vegetarian we would not have had to go to that trouble. We have another vegetarian frend who stays with us once a year, so we can only go to restaurants that provide vegetarian food. From a non-veggie point of view non-vegetarians are so much easier to entertain than vegetarians who's dietary needs have to be considered all the time. Do they eat eggs? fish? dairy? spread containing a little butter flavour? foods such as biscuits or cakes containing animal fats? drinks containing animal derived clearing agent? and so on ..there is no such thing as a standard veggie, they all have different 'needs'. As a friend of ours once said to his wife who was about to make a phone call 'stop, don't invite them, they are vegetarians'.

[woofgang]

err Jom, Whenever I have a new friend visit, I always ask them what they do and don't eat regardless of whether they are veggie, vegan or omnivore. people have likes and dislikes religious restrictions and allergies and its only polite to ensure that they can eat what you offer. If you aren't prepared to go to trouble for your guests then don't invite them.

[jomifl]

We have friends who have allergies and food intolerances too, I have no problem with that as it is outside their control and they are surprisingly apologetic considering that their dietary problems are not their choice. I have intolerances too, they just aren't food related :-)

[237SJ]

There are plenty of places where you can get good veggie food (for Lactos at least) Indian, Italian or a good veg meze at a Greek of Middle Eastern restaurant. You don`t have to go to a vegetarian place. If someone invited me to a vegetarian restaurant that is non-ethnic, I probably wouldn`t go.

[237SJ]

Reminds me of when I used to be in the walking club at work. One of the guys was a strict vegan but never imposed his opinions on anyone else which was good. We used to end the day`s walking with a pub dinner and he always came along. No problem at all. We certainly didn`t have to go to a place of his choice (which was just as well because we were usually in the middle of nowhere). I remember when everyone was having fish and chips and he had just the chips. Nobody told him they were cooked in beef fat. He said they were the best chips he`d ever had.

[Cloverjo]

When my son was a veggie we didn't restrict where we went to eat to accommodate him. All restaurants have a veggie option although not a great choice. If these people are coming to stay with you, and it doesn't sound like they're especially welcome - are you doing them a favour by letting them stay? - they should go along with wherever you want to go and make the best choice from what's available for them. If they like Indian, Mexican, Chinese, whatever, they can make their choice from what's on offer there.