Restaurants that aren't Vegetarian-Friendly

I've been a vegetarian for 17 or 18 years though for the last few I have eaten fish, here in UK vegetarianism is perhaps more common and most restaurants provide a vegetarian option. Though in Tunisia I was offered chicken as the vegetarian choice! all the best urban

It's very frustrating. I'm a vegetarian too, and the first time I went to Applebees, I was completely shocked to see that there was NO vegetarian entrees at all. Not even a simple pasta dish! So I resolved to order only side dishes, yet there weren't any sides listed any on the menu! I waited until the waitress came around (10 minutes later) and asked her if Applebees offers side dishes only. She said yes, but that they're not listed on the menu. I was very disappointed by that. What kind of place doesn't list sides? (Answer: The kind of place that is willing to diminish customer choices in order to ensure that customers spend plenty of $$$!) And of course Applebees is not a lone offender. The same situation applies in many resturaunts, and it's terribly unfortunate. My best advice is to search online menu's before deciding where to dine (and spend your money). Some places are not deserving of our patronage.

I'm with you on that one, B. Mostly if I have to go, or want to go, to a restaurant, I'll go to an Indian one because there are always plenty of vegetarian dishes there (might be a problem if you can't eat spicy food though). Other alternatives are Turkish (felafel kebabs, or Turkish bread and hummus), Lebanese (similar to Turkish), Greek (Greek salad, if you can eat feta cheese). If I can, I'll avoid Thai, Malaysian, Vietnamese, Indonesian and Chinese (because they tend to put fish sauce and/or shrimp paste and/or oyster sauce in everything). Sri Lankan needs careful watching too, in case they put Maldive fish in (it's tiny red flecks of salty dried fish that they think of as a spice and put in just about everything, unless you specifically request that they don't). Italian can be a bit iffy - usually the risotto will have soaked up an animal stock instead of a vegetable stock, and most freshly made pasta will contain eggs (not a worry to you, but it is to me), and if you don't want loads of cheese on your food, Italian isn't the way to go. I wouldn't touch French restaurants with a barge-pole - very vegetarian-unfriendly. Mexican is very mixed, some better than others. I tried Mongolian once - that wasn't too bad - you choose exactly what goes into it, including the sauces, and they cook it while you watch. I find one of the best places to eat is one that has an all-you-can-eat smörgåsbord (or buffet) - where all the different dishes are separate, you can see what you're getting, and importantly, get your money's-worth out of eating there. There aren't very many vegetarian-only restaurants, and the few that are around seem to charge more for the privilege. All the different cuisines of the world are fine - but usually only if you prepare and cook them yourself at home - you know exactly what's going into it then. If you simply have to go to a restaurant, then it's wise (and also good etiquette) to telephone beforehand, to check what is available for you, and if nothing quite suits, you can ask if they will be willing to prepare a certain dish minus the cheese/egg/whatever. If they won't, then there's no point in going to that restaurant.