Indian Restaurants/Pat

[Guest guest]

I stay out of restaurants for the most part except those that advertise as

having vegan foods since I find that many don't think a thing about adding an

ingredient that is not vegan because they don't realize it. How do I ascertain

with certainty?

linda

" Whatever you do will be insignificant and it is very important that you do it. "

Mohandas Gandhi

 

linda's Growing Stitchery Projects: womyn47

-

Pat

 

Had a nice Indian lunch out yesterday at a new Indian restaurant in town

(tipped by a list

member who recently visited it!). Since it was only lunch, I did eat lightly:

pakoras, plus

pilaf, dal, dry potato and cauliflower curry, a mushroom and pea curry, and of

course

the cold salads, raita, pickles, chutneys, breads, etc. without which the meal

would have

been incomplete. Heaven help me when we go for dinner. Delicious!

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

> I stay out of restaurants for the most part except those that advertise as

having vegan

foods since I find that many don't think a thing about adding an ingredient that

is not

vegan because they don't realize it. How do I ascertain with certainty?

 

Well, you're talking (in the subject line at least) *Indian* restaurants.

They're likely to be

lacto-vegetarian. But of course you can ask. Certainty? That's a different

thing. You don't

really know, after all, that restaurants that advertise themselves as providing

vegan foods

aren't going to slip up now and then - unless they are vegan restaurants pure

and simple.

I guess there's a certain amount of trust involved in these kinds of cases. If

you've asked,

and if you've been reassured, and if the restaurant *says* it provides *vegan*

foods (and

seems to know what the word means, as they must or they wouldn't know to use it,

I'd

think), then I'd probably order something that was the kind of thing I'd *spot*

a non-

acceptable food in - or smell it.

 

I check menus ages ahead of time and then phone up before booking to make sure

that

nothing has changed. That's also when I ask explicity if they can supply a

vegetarian meal

and what would it be. Once there, I also ask the waitperson - and of course most

of them

think that poultry and fish are vegetables, but not all - and then I ask about

the very thing

I am going to order and ask them to ask the chef to make sure it is free of meat

or chicken

stock, etc. If it's on the 'vegetarian' part of the menu, the answer should be

yes, but I ask

anyway. (When I'm going through one of my vegan phases, I ask the appropriate

questions

about eggs and dairy of course.)

 

When the meal comes I don't dig in right away but wait until I the aroma reaches

me - I've

spotted meat and cheese that way. If it looks okay and I can't smell anything

wrong - then

all's fine and I taste and if it's still fine I smile appreciatively and eat.

(Otherwise, I ask

again about what's in the dish.) I praise the food if it is passable, I praise

the waitperson if

they haven't been obnoxious or horribly clumsy, and oh yes I tip well.

 

My philosophy in a nutshell: ask ask and ask again and *then* enjoy. If I make a

mistake

then I make a mistake. It's easier to live with my mistakes than it is with

paranoia. But

that's just me.

 

Tough ain't it!

 

Best love, Pat

[Guest guest]

> When the meal comes I don't dig in right away but wait until I the

aroma reaches me - I've

> spotted meat and cheese that way. If it looks okay and I can't smell

anything wrong - then

> all's fine and I taste and if it's still fine I smile appreciatively

and eat. >

> Best love, Pay

 

Once while my wife was paying the pizza delivery guy, I SMELLED

pepperoni across the room. When I said something and the guy reassured

us they were cheese pizzas. I opened one of the two boxes and there it

was, a pepperoni pizza. The guy was shocked!!!

Jim