Christmas presents for a vegetarian/vegan

Einhard

Hey,

My dad is both a vegan/vegetarian (not quite sure even he knows which for sure!) and notoriously dfficult to buy presents for. So I thought I'd change tack this year and get him something to do with his diet/lifestyle/whatever you want to call it. So I'm looking for any recommendations for gifts in that category- can be restaurant vouchers or, er, I don't really know what else it could be! But that's why I'm here!! :pac:

Thanks in advance.

flikflak

A food hamper? Get a wicker basket from Ikea/Heatons or somewhere like that then hit the health food shop/supermarket.

You could include chocolates, biscuits, beer/wine, cheese (vegan or not depending on his diet), crackers, olives, pate, tea, coffee and plenty of other things.

A bit of cellophane wrapped around it with a big bow on top. Job done.

DellyBelly

Maybe runners for walking or jogging? I presume you can get non leathered ones (no animals involved) but I'm not sure

Zombienosh

I second the idea of making your own vegan hamper, could easily be done and you can make it personal. You could also include some calenders or donations of some animal related charities etc.?

Einhard

Thanks for the ideas. I might look into the food hamper one. The only thing though, is that he's absolutely awful when it comes to cooking or even having a diverse diet. If I were to hand him a basket of vegan foodstuffs, it'd probably go to waste. Also, he's not into it because of concerns for animal welfare so calendars etc probably wouldn't impress him that much.

Are there any really good vegetarian restaurants around?

Raminahobbin

We can recommend something if we know where you're based :pac:

--LOS--

I'm just a bit confused, are they even vegetarian or vegan? If they don't care about animals then theyre probably not avoiding animal products like clothes or male grooming type products or stuff like sweets that are hard to get vegetarian. So what do we recommend, you already ruled out food!

Einhard

--LOS-- wrote: »

I'm just a bit confused, are they even vegetarian or vegan? If they don't care about animals then theyre probably not avoiding animal products like clothes or male grooming type products or stuff like sweets that are hard to get vegetarian. So what do we recommend, you already ruled out food!

I told ye he was hard to buy for!! :pac:

He likes to say that he eats a vegan diet- ie no dairy or fish etc.

I didn't rule out food, just food that he's have to cook himself. Restaurants might be a good option. He's based in Kilkenny, but would travel to Dublin often enough.

Perhaps some vegetarian cooking classes if there are such a thing?

--LOS--

Einhard wrote: »

I told ye he was hard to buy for!! :pac:

He likes to say that he eats a vegan diet- ie no dairy or fish etc.

I didn't rule out food, just food that he's have to cook himself. Restaurants might be a good option. He's based in Kilkenny, but would travel to Dublin often enough.

Perhaps some vegetarian cooking classes if there are such a thing?

lol ok :P

I like the food hamper idea, that wouldn't be stuff he'd have to cook himself and you could include stuff like dairy free mince pies and dairy free cream and chocolate etc. I'm not familiar with Kilkenny, dunno about veggie/vegan places there anyone? (just looked on happycow, not many places listed) But Cornucopia would be a good option for Dublin, they do vouchers on their site.....http://www.cornucopia.ie/shop/?product=voucher


Ruuts and Shuuts run vegan food courses in Dublin........http://homevegan.org/courses/
You'd know better if he'd be into that or not.

Otherwise, cookbooks?

Hani Kosti

I second Cornucopia, tasty food

henryporter

Isn't Kilkenny halfway between Cork/Dublin? Then there's Cafe Paradiso in Cork City or Gort Na Nain about 20 minutes outside Cork towards Kinsale. You can stay in Cafe Paradiso (they do dinner/B&B deals), and Gort Na Nain is a B&B that also does dinners.

Was in Cornucopia on Friday last and both the selection and quality wasn't great - I was there about 12:30 so they had all dishes but none of them were too appealing (a curry, a hot-pot, a pasta dish, a stir fry and something else less memorable). Given the price they charge I would expect a higher quality (it bordered on Govindas standard TBBH).

Arbiter of Good Taste

henryporter wrote: »

Isn't Kilkenny halfway between Cork/Dublin? Then there's Cafe Paradiso in Cork City or Gort Na Nain about 20 minutes outside Cork towards Kinsale. You can stay in Cafe Paradiso (they do dinner/B&B deals), and Gort Na Nain is a B&B that also does dinners.

Was in Cornucopia on Friday last and both the selection and quality wasn't great - I was there about 12:30 so they had all dishes but none of them were too appealing (a curry, a hot-pot, a pasta dish, a stir fry and something else less memorable). Given the price they charge I would expect a higher quality (it bordered on Govindas standard TBBH).

When I was in uni (mid 90s), Cornucopia was a bit grotty and catered for the student set. Has it become more upmarket since then?

henryporter

Arbiter of Good Taste wrote: »

When I was in uni (mid 90s), Cornucopia was a bit grotty and catered for the student set. Has it become more upmarket since then?

Apparently - the dining room was extended both sideways and upstairs. Lunch for two (main with 2 salads, a bottle of water, and a cola) came to about €36 - ouch!

Arbiter of Good Taste

henryporter wrote: »

Apparently - the dining room was extended both sideways and upstairs. Lunch for two (main with 2 salads, a bottle of water, and a cola) came to about €36 - ouch!

Yeah, we definitely didn't pay anything like that the last time I was there!

braddun

buy a tablet or laptop

--LOS--

Arbiter of Good Taste wrote: »

When I was in uni (mid 90s), Cornucopia was a bit grotty and catered for the student set. Has it become more upmarket since then?

Ye you could not accuse it of being grotty now, there's a nice dining room upstairs and often guitar music certain nights of the week.

I do find it a bit expensive though for somewhere to eat during the day. But it is always very tasty but I do avoid the stir-fry type dishes because I go there to eat something I don't eat at home!

Tar.Aldarion

I wouldn't eat there too often with the price, when there are simpler cheaper vegan things in town but it usually has a few very good dishes. The simpler dishes do tend to be a bit lame for the money, as everything is priced the same. Salads don't change as often as they should but are nice. That being said I've eaten a lot of great meals there, it is definitely somewhere nice to eat when in town and your father would enjoy it. They also have started making vegan cheeses which are so nice, if he is into that kinda thing. Upstairs is very nice for a sit down meal, I saw they made complementary raw crackers and hummous/paté for people upstairs when i was in a few days ago, some people didn't turn up so it made it's way into my meal and these were excellent.

If he popped in while they were playing music I'd say he would really enjoy it too.

bedlamaticable

If he's not great at cooking how about a cook book for some inspiration? Cornucopia have one as do The Happy Pear which are both Irish.
I'm not sure if it's still going but there used to be vegetarian cooking lessons advertised in Govinda's by Katyayani’s.

AdFundum

If you want to get him cooking, the 'Oh She Glows' cookbook is very nice. Lots of beautiful pictures. It's based on this blog of the same name but it might be a little too late to order it.

Regarding restaurant vouchers for Dublin restaurants:

The Farm (on Leeson and Dawson Street)
Ecrivain (on Baggot Street) have a vegetarian tasting menu - no good if he is a vegan.

Does he have space to grow some of his own veggies? A grow your own veggie starter kit would be a great present.