BBC Good Food

1-20 of 22 comments

• Lushious

  6 April 2010, 5:04PM

  Lushious

  I tried and failed - out for a big night and the next day my hands smelled rather meaty!!! Too many glasses of wine had been consumed to realise that I had succumbed to the biggest burger known to man. Only problem was that I was too drunk to relish the delight of eating it! I had to be reminded by my friend that I was no longer vegetarian!!!!

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• Cassandra Amy Rose

  6 April 2010, 6:50PM

  Cassandra Amy Rose

  I tried, but only for one week. I was ready go give up by the end of the week though, properly some-thing to do with the fact that not only was I cutting out meat but dairy products, sugar, products made with white flour, and (yes! of all things) fruit. (To sugary apparently;D)

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• Britta

  7 April 2010, 4:40AM

  Britta

  I don't eat meat any more but occasionally I miss bacon. It took me a long time to cut meat out all together but now I find lots of great recipes and have even more fun cooking than when I ate meat.

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• chesty

  7 April 2010, 8:49AM

  chesty

  I am a vegetarian, have been for years. Good quality restaurants are usually okay, but pub grub is usually atrocious. If I wanted pasta and tomato sauce, I'd have stayed at home. The other option is a 'vege' burger, made with cheese so cloying that you can only eat a tiny portion before feeling queasy. And yes, why should I pay the same price for pasta as people who are eating steak? Ah well, the cross I bear for being a sociable vegetarian!

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• Heather_20

  7 April 2010, 9:43AM

  Heather_20

  I used to be 'home-vegetarian' (only made and ate veggie meals at home) but whenever I went to restaurants, I found that I would have to order a meat dish, as it seems every restaurant offers goat's cheese tart or some other cheese-laden dish as the veggie option. And as a non-cheese eater (purely because I dislike the taste) I find it nigh-on impossible finding vegetarian dishes I like in restaurants.

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• MsVanDeKamp

  7 April 2010, 10:24AM

  MsVanDeKamp

  I tend to eat one fish and one meat meal a week, all the rest are vegetarian. As long as I know where I am going I can usually plan but when I was out with family just this weekend my stipulation was no meat or fish, and no cheese or pastry. It was not a pleasant dining situation for anyone involved!

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• Celeste

  7 April 2010, 4:16PM

  Celeste

  I have to agree, I have been a veggie for 3 years now. We seldom eat out because of the lack of selection for me and I refuse to pay the prices for �side orders� whether it is a garden salad or seasonal veg. Even though I am the only veggie in the family I still do all the cooking in the house (this always includes at least 1 meat dish a day). I can cook a better selection at home and incorporate a meat in there somewhere for the family, so everybody stays happy and probably healthier

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• Winteringham

  7 April 2010, 8:03PM

  Winteringham

  I have the same problem as Heather_20. I try to eat less meat and usually around half of my meals are veggie, but finding recipes and particularly eating out as a veggie is so difficult as i don't eat cheese or cream-based things. I seem to just make variations of tomato-based things, which gets a bit dull! It's health reasons I want to eat more veggie things - but replacing meat with cheese doesn't seem very healthy!

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• miniminx

  7 April 2010, 8:35PM

  miniminx

  i'm eating a lot more meat now i'm pregnant, but on previous meat-free diets i really enjoyed learning how to cook pulse dishes in particular and was surprised how much variety is out there after a little digging around. i was also lucky that in edinburgh there is a fantastic chain of health stores called real foods who operated a forum and recipe bank which gave me lots of great vegan cooking ideas. when eating out, i nearly always asked if we could go to an 'ethnic' restaurant - usually middle eastern or asian - as there was far, far more choice for vegetarians than british restaurants.

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• kmmcanderson

  8 April 2010, 2:09PM

  kmmcanderson

  it is obvious in many restaurants that the chefs aren't really interested in vegetarians - many will admit this, and I've been told by a chef in a very good restuarant that he actively wanted to discourage vegetarians and that was why they offered only one dish. apart from being overpriced and unimaginative, the worst thing about veggie meals in restuarants is the fact that they often don't include vegetables. I like vegetables - thats why i'm vegetarian. pastas with cheese or cream or tomato sauce, lumps of goats cheese and the aforementioned greasy veggie burger.... come on!

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• Laura

  8 April 2010, 4:47PM

  Laura

  I'm not vegetarian but do eat a lot of meat and fish-free dishes at home. One of the main reasons I couldn't become a vegetarian is because of the lack of choice when eating out, I don't like mushrooms, courgettes, peppers or blue cheese, and most vegetarian dishes i encounter contain one of these ingredients

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• KatyCooks

  8 April 2010, 8:34PM

  KatyCooks

  Funnily enough, unless I cook meat myself at home, I often opt for the vegetarian option in restaurants. The frequently poor quality of meat, and poor quality of the cooking in pubs and local restaurants, means I have more confidence in something vegetarian than a meat option. (I simply cannot stand tough, gristly meat.) Fortunately I love cheese and mushrooms!

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• janey

  9 April 2010, 10:19AM

  janey

  It was a noble idea for an omnivore and something that more of us foodies should consider for short periods in our life if only to help the environment.Just remember not to factor in a meal out if you are going to embark on a meat free journey. I think I could manage 40 days as long as there were some chocolate treats to console me.

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• Pauline

  9 April 2010, 12:30PM

  Pauline

  I love all food and often eat vegetarian dishes as well as meat. But restaurants and pubs really disappoint me. I've almost given up ordering vegetarain dishes when out because I've had so many vegatarian dishes that never mentioned cheese and are smothered in it. E.g. broccoli and pasta bake. - More cheese than anything else!

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• keavyo

  9 April 2010, 2:35PM

  keavyo

  I've been vegetarian for over 25 years and, in the main, the veggie options in restaurants have improved hugely since the mid-80's. My 'choices' often used to be between omelette and green salad! Now there tends to be a much better selection, even in 'chain' restaurants and pubs. Having said that, I agree that many restaurants still have a long way to go as far as the choice, quality and price of veggie (and especially vegan) food is concerned, but while so many chefs continue to view the veggie option as 'rabbit food' I doubt things will change. To all the chefs out there - I dare you to rise to the challenge and make the non-meat options so good, even the steak eaters will think twice!

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• Lollipop

  11 April 2010, 2:16PM

  Lollipop

  I've been a non-meat eater for 11 years. I just don't like it! My husband has never eaten meat and it makes him violently ill. I don't cook meat for my children (4 and 6) but I encourage them to try it so that they can make up their own minds when they are old enough to understand their choices. We often choose fish dishes in restaurants but have occasionally ended up with meat stock etc in the dish! We are lucky living near brighton as we have loads of choice but are always really shocked when we go to places such as the Isle of Wight and North Wales where we really have very little choice, However we always have more choice than our kids get on the children's menu!

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• Flickingthevs

  13 April 2010, 8:09AM

  Flickingthevs

  I've been veggie for a number of years and recently turned vegan. I rarely have a bad meal when I eat out (which is frequently), but that's because I wouldn't go to somewhere where they think so little of their customers that they would serve the sort of unimaginative nonsense that you're talking about - I may not eat meat, but my tastebuds haven't been disconnected, nor my brain along with them - any restaurant that's attempting to charge £18 for some veggies in tomato sauce is clearly trying to keep veggies out so why give them your money? I'm not sure what you're talking about here is a veggie/non-veggie issue here - surely it's a problem with sub-par restaurants?

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• Ava

  16 April 2010, 11:38AM

  Ava

  I've been a veggie for about 12 years and although I do get bored with the same old culprits - lasagne; spinach and ricotta pasta; gooey cheese - I think on the whole UK menus do pretty well for veggies compared to other countries, for example when I was told in a French restaurant that I wasn't allowed the cheese board as a main as they had decided it wasn't vegetarian. I agree with flickingthevs that you just have to be more picky about what restaurants you go to - there are some amazing vegetarian and even vegan restaurants in London - I use being veggie as an excuse to try them all out! Also agree with janey that it was a noble idea and could help save the planet too - more people should be inspired to cut down their meat intake.

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• Kimblebee

  19 April 2010, 12:51AM

  Kimblebee

  I have always been a decicive carnivore, however I went to a pub the other day with work and found myself blown away by a lovely roasted vegetable tagine, and to look across the table and see my friends complaining of undercooked steak or overly chewy steak pie I was quite pleased with myself for voting the vegetarian option. Usually my eye wanders streight over anything on the menu that has a little green "V" next to it so this may have been a one off or an incredibly lucky day. Either way those little V's will no longer be invisible to me and will certainly become an option.

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• Toing Owen

  19 April 2010, 5:02PM

  Toing Owen

  I became a vegetarian after watching a programme and i suppose it has made me feel happier that i am not harming any wild animal for my food!

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