As a long-term veggie, I often get frustrated by the lack of imagination and choice in most restaurants. While I am never tempted to expand my horizons at home and include meat or fish in my cooking, I often feel so annoyed in restaurants that I think maybe I should pick a meat dish. Then at least I may get an interesting meal with a bit of flavour, and I would also feel that I have received value for money.
But why should I? I have made a lifestyle choice that is increasingly popular, common, and even ‘trendy’ in today’s society. It seems to me that it is the restaurants that are being lazy with their menus, and it should not fall to the paying customer to make the chef’s jobs easier by accepting a bland or thoughtless veggie dish. I’m not even a very fussy eater, and I’m willing to try most veggie dishes that are on offer. I just don’t want my millionth risotto. Or yet another goats cheese tart. Or Penne Napoletana and the hundred ways of describing this dish that restaurants seem to have.
It is always re-assuring to know that I’m not the only frustrated herbivore in the world. Taste Festivals seem to me to be the ideal occasion for veggies to try new dishes, and for chefs to have a go at inspiring veggie options. According to this article though, apparently that’s not the case. I was disappointed though not surprised to read that of approximately 130 dishes available at Taste London, only 25 were suitable for veggies, and only 10 of these were savoury. Yes, I like pudding, but I also like to have a starter and main course before it…
Perhaps with the McCartney family urging people to have a Meat Free Monday I’ll have more choice in restaurants at least 1 day a week! No, the world isn’t being urged to turn vegetarian, but we are being asked to do our part in slowing down climate change. Stella McCartney recognises that “It’s an environmental conversation, not a vegetarian one,” and while I wholeheartedly agree with this viewpoint, I can’t help but be excited that as a vegetarian I may not be the odd one out in restaurants anymore.
In the meantime, there are a few restaurants in Glasgow that stand out for me as having interesting veggie options, and more than just the one! Mama San and Tapa Coffeehouse both have a variety of veggie dishes that roam free from your standard selection, and Gazelle on Argyle Street have a full vegetarian menu that I look forward to working my way through. So, slowly but surely it seems that restaurants are getting the message that vegetarians shouldn’t, and won’t, stand for second class dishes. I’m already looking forward to my next outing to one of the above…
