Vegetarian Holidays

Hugh Hefner

From last Monday to yesterday I was in Venice. What do you think of when you think of Italian food? Pasta? Pizza? Olive oil on bread? Sounds vegetarian enough, right?

Well during our 5 nights on holiday, my parents and I went to restaurants every evening, and usually for lunch too. I tell you, it's not easy finding things to eat as a vegetarian in Venice. This isn't helped by Venice being a big, fish city.

Many places had no vegetarian starters (most only had one). Most restaurants had only one listed, vegetarian main course (twice it was "Spaghetti With Tomato Sauce"). At one place I had to ask them to adapt their omelet to leave out meat.
Granted, the vegetarian friendly dishes that Venice had, were done well, but the choice was so limited!

We had two tourist guide books with us. Both had expansive food sections. Out of both books, their was only one restaurant listed as vegetarian. Well, we went their on the final night and it was by far the most enjoyably meal I (or my meat eating parents) had during the whole week. Now, half their menu was meat dishes, so it wasn't a "Vegetarian Restaurant" as we would understand it, but the food, both meat dishes and otherwise, were excellent.
I'm pretty sure, from the atmosphere, style and staff of the restaurant, that it was owned by an entrepreneurial, non-Italian who came to Venice and saw a gap in the food market.


All this made me appreciate the selection of food vegetarians have here in Dublin. Have any of you ever had any difficulty with your diet in foreign lands? How do you think Dublin compares to other places in this regard? Is there somewhere far better?

The Dump

you should definitely pick a resort on how easy it is to find food.

Peanut

I think Dublin/Ireland is fine usually, although a lot of that could be just being used to knowing what's what. However I do think in terms of Europe, the UK & Ireland are two of the most veggie friendly countries. Switzerland isn't bad either.

It all boils down to how picky you are going to be. If you're vegan then you're going to be screwed no matter where you go, however even if you're (just) vegetarian, you will most likely have no idea if the cheese etc. is veggie or whatever, so that makes things difficult. I've tried to only eat veggie cheese etc. on holidays but it really makes things hard. I think you have to compromise to an extent.

A good idea is to check happycow.net before you go somewhere, and find out a few places to go and visit when you're there. It also makes the trip more interesting as you have a few specific places to aim for. I generally found Italy fine, more so than Spain at least. London is a great place for veggie food.

Tar.Aldarion

Hugh Hefner wrote:

From last Monday to yesterday I was in Venice. What do you think of when you think of Italian food? Pasta? Pizza? Olive oil on bread? Sounds vegetarian enough, right?

Well during our 5 nights on holiday, my parents and I went to restaurants every evening, and usually for lunch too. I tell you, it's not easy finding things to eat as a vegetarian in Venice. This isn't helped by Venice being a big, fish city.

Many places had no vegetarian starters (most only had one). Most restaurants had only one listed, vegetarian main course (twice it was "Spaghetti With Tomato Sauce"). At one place I had to ask them to adapt their omelet to leave out meat.
Granted, the vegetarian friendly dishes that Venice had, were done well, but the choice was so limited!

We had two tourist guide books with us. Both had expansive food sections. Out of both books, their was only one restaurant listed as vegetarian. Well, we went their on the final night and it was by far the most enjoyably meal I (or my meat eating parents) had during the whole week. Now, half their menu was meat dishes, so it wasn't a "Vegetarian Restaurant" as we would understand it, but the food, both meat dishes and otherwise, were excellent.
I'm pretty sure, from the atmosphere, style and staff of the restaurant, that it was owned by an entrepreneurial, non-Italian who came to Venice and saw a gap in the food market.


All this made me appreciate the selection of food vegetarians have here in Dublin. Have any of you ever had any difficulty with your diet in foreign lands? How do you think Dublin compares to other places in this regard? Is there somewhere far better?

I was told Britain is much better, inparticular wales as that's where she lived.
They sell quorn in the local newsagents and the person said they had went to a music festival where you had to go to a special tent to get non vegetarian food. :eek:
She's not a vegetarian.

As for food, I hate most foods anyways so i would rarely, if ever, eat out anyway.
On holiday, buy and cook food.

Quorn...Blueh!!!!
I am deeply suspicious of anything that masquerades as a meat substitue.

I have to say I got some pretty great veggie food in Barcelona this year, A good few organic places with really fab fresh produce at reasonable prices.They have this fab falafel bar fast food chain called Maoz and you get your falafel in a pitta with a bit of lettuce and humous and then you have a self service salad bar where you get to pick and mix to your hearts content.
Absolutly fantastic!

But then when I'm on holiday I make a point of picking out veggie places to eat in advance, because I never usually get to go to specifically veggie restaurents in Ireland.

Peanut

lol
I am considering planning a european tour based on Maoz falafel outlet locations :-p ..already been to Maoz paris,barca & london.

Also I try to find the local Govindas around the place. happycow.net is invaluable for finding all of this out, and it's usually reasonably up to date (as in, the place still exists when you go to try and find it, well most of the time..!)

Best place so far though is 'tibits' in Zurich. Big buffet style counters with various different styles of food, all veggie, so you take what you want on a plate or a take-out tray, then pay by weight at the till.
But for a fast food type chain, Maoz is awesome, I emailed them asking when are they going to open in Dublin :-p

Macha

Whats the name of that restaurant in Venice, Hugh? My & my boyf heading over there in a few weeks.

We went to Paris last summer and the choice was awful (altho I warned him as Id lived there before). One entire street of restaurants had not ONE veggie option, except as usual, the Indian. They seem to be one of the few countries that understands the concept of vegetariansim.

Oh and we were pleasantly surprised when we went to Riga & Vilnius earlier this year, they actually had a few fully vegetarian restaurants.

Hugh Hefner

It's called La Zucca. The closest water-bus stop is S. Stae. But make sure to book a reservation at least two days beforehand. Be warned that they only have their menus in Italian and German, so you may need your waiter to translate. The waiters there are very good though.

Shabadu

This is a bit worrying as myself & the feller were considering Venice & Florence for our honeymoon and he's veggie.

I'll definitely take a note of that restaurant though, cheers HH.

Macha

Hugh Hefner wrote:

It's called La Zucca. The closest water-bus stop is S. Stae. But make sure to book a reservation at least two days beforehand. Be warned that they only have their menus in Italian and German, so you may need your waiter to translate. The waiters there are very good though.

Cool thanks! I think we're staying around that area. Fortunately I speak Italian - Italy is one of the hardest places in Europe to find someone who speaks English

Hugh Hefner

Really? Everyone we talked to (in the service industry at least) we found to have a sufficient amount of English. Maybe cos' we were in the city?

Macha

Hugh Hefner wrote:

Really? Everyone we talked to (in the service industry at least) we found to have a sufficient amount of English. Maybe cos' we were in the city?

Well obviously when you're in one of the most touristic and visited cities in the world, there are going to be a larger proportion of people who speak international languages, eg English. But if you go down the south or even among a lot of people in Rome, it's quite rare to find someone who can say more than "hello" or knows some lyrics from a U2 song or something

sweet-rasmus

my sister has been to amsterdam, and she informs me that it is a very vegetarian friendly place.

seamus

I've found that the UK and Ireland tend to be the most veggie friendly places in Europe. That said, I wouldn't call myself well-travelled in Europe. The biggest problem we've had on the continent is the "I'm vegetarian.", "Oh that's fine, we have a lovely salmon main course for you".

In particular, small towns in Europe and some of the more developing countries simply don't cater for vegetarians. I remember getting the same thing three nights in a row in Dubrovnik. It was essentially a plate of vegetables.

Your best bet is to find a veggie guide, or a Lonely Planet guide. They should be able to point you to the veggie restaurants.

Tar.Aldarion

Maybe stalk their native fora.
I was not impressed with Italy for food at all, blergh. I did think the countr was lovely though.
Although saying that, about the food, I am incredibly picky and can't eat in most restaurants anywhere.
The fish thing is annoying as you pointed out Seasmus and why is it always salmon. -_-
I'll be going to Dubrovnik for about three days too this summer
Inter railing is going to be hard. I will come back much thinner.

I suggest you get a said guide or check out places on the internet.

sportswear

the best place i have ever been to for being a vegitarian is india.
its amazing.

there are far far more veg dishes on the menu then meat, and the food is exquisite (although full of nasty bacteria that give you the runs)

they don't have any beef (cows are sacred and roam the streets freely - if you knock over a cow or hurt it you will be openly beaten on the streets)


its class.

bobbi

I found it hard to get veggie food in lanzorote last summer going to thailand for 6weeks anyone have ne advice?I'm a lil worried bout it.

Peanut

The first result on a google for vegetarian thailand looks useful.

sportswear

thailand is easy. assuming you are keeping reasonably to the beaten track. veg food everywhere. generally is in SE asia. comes with the buddism

DAEDULUS

god damn veggies, this is anti-darwinism!!!!! DO YOU WANT YOUR CHILDRENS CHILDREN TO HAVE TO EAT FOOD WITH NO TEETH!?!? :P

Tar.Aldarion

Gums ftw.

Shabadu

DAEDULUS wrote:

god damn veggies, this is anti-darwinism!!!!! DO YOU WANT YOUR CHILDRENS CHILDREN TO HAVE TO EAT FOOD WITH NO TEETH!?!? :P

Banned for a week. A smiley at the end of your post doesn't mean you can flout the charter.

Conar

Moonbaby wrote:

Quorn...Blueh!!!!
I am deeply suspicious of anything that masquerades as a meat substitue.

I eat quorn quite a bit.
I think that its just great for things like veggie bolognese, and chilli con carne (without the carne). I think the texture of quorn is cool as it adds something to these veggie meals that veggies simply can't!

BTW Veggie hotdogs from Tesco rule!!!! (Not sure if they're quorn though)

As for Thailand. I was over in Koh Samui last month and the food was great. Lots of stuff to eat! Plenty of Italian cooking too if you're not fond of asian cuisine.