It used to be that a vegetarian dining out in a restaurant meant poking a rubbery vegetable lasagna while others around you tucked into their delicious beef, chicken and fish dishes.

Thankfully those days are long gone, and with the number of vegetarians and flexitarians (those who substantially cut back the amount of meat they eat without fully being vegetarian) on the rise, chefs now realise the importance of creating inventive, appetising dishes that match, or even exceed their meat counterparts.

There’s no need for vegetarians to miss out on our £12 dining sale. We’ve picked five restaurants who have included particularly yummy meat free dishes on their sale menus.

Barca Tapas and Cava Bar, Glasgow

Barca in Glasgow’s Princes Square’s offers a huge range of meat free tapas dishes for vegetarian diners, all of which look delicious. The old favourites, patatas bravas, tortilla and pan con tomate (tomato with bread) are there, as well as a few left field options such as manchego frito (mild cheese fritters with smoked tomato relish) and Cabrales tostada (Spanish blue cheese with honey and walnuts on toast). Whatever you choose go for, vegetarian diners will be spoiled for choice with Barca’s tapas menu.

£12 for 3 tapas + dessert on the 5pm tapas menu at Barca Tapas and Cava Bar on 5pm.

La Bonne Auberge, Glasgow

Confession: we had to Google brik to find out what it was; turns out it’s a Tunisian deep fried pastry dish with a filling in the centre. La Bonne Auberge have put a brik on their sale menu and described it as such: Moroccan spiced carrot and chickpea brik, with feta and coriander, cumin roasted vegetables and honey mustard and lemon vinaigrette. We may not have been entirely sure what it was before but we are now convinced it sounds delicious.

£12 for 2 courses on the prix fixe menu + tea/coffee at La Bonne Auberge on 5pm.

The Drake, Glasgow

The Drake in Glasgow’s West End offers a main course from the a la carte menu with a glass of wine as its sale offer and the menu includes three meat free options, all which look delicious. Vegetarian diners can choose from: super food salad with beetroot, pearl couscous, Tunisian spiced carrots and broad beans; roast pepper, aubergine and cherry tomato linguini with parmesan and parsley; and Goan-style vegetable curry, flatbread and aromatic rice.

£12 for a main course on the a la carte menu + glass of wine at The Drake on 5pm.

Britannia Spice, Edinburgh

Britannia’s Spice’s sale offer of £12 for 2 courses on a la carte menu + sundry includes five inventive vegetarian main course curries as well as veggie pakora and samosa to start. We particularly like the look of the mughlai vegetables – vegetables mixed with coriander, almonds, cardamom and cooked in a creamy mild sauce, and the methi paneer chaman – cottage cheese cooked with fresh fenugreek leaves and chef’s selection of spices.

£12 for 2 courses on a la carte menu + sundry at Britannia Spice on 5pm.

Punjabi Charing Cross, Glasgow

Punjabi Charing Cross in Glasgow are offering a main course from the “favourite” section of their a la carte menu, along with poppadoms, spiced onions a starter and tea/coffee. The favourite section offers fourteen styles of curry, including bhoona, Kashmiri and tikka masala, and can be made with a choice of three vegetarian options: vegetables, Indian vegetables or paneer.

£12 for poppadoms & spiced onions, starter & popular dish on a la carte menu + accompaniments + tea/coffee at Punjabi Charing Cross on 5pm.

For more sale offers priced at just £12 with vegetarian options, check our £12 dining sale page.