hi me and my hubby are opening a pub soon and are looking for some help at what would be a good vegetarian option. We think you must get tired of the common options and are trying to think of something a little different and exciting but also of appeal to the majority. we are just having a small menu which will all be home made,




thanks for any help Chris and Ali.

Hi there, can I first ask what country you are in? Also could you give an idea of what other food you are planning to serve? I would love to be able to go to a pub and eat similar to what others are eating.

As long as it's not a frozen veggie burger, I always appreciate whatever's on offer. (Actually, I appreciate the veggie burgers too, but something different is always nice...)

The most exciting meal I had at a bar recently was a vegan "meatloaf" sandwich with marinara sauce. Not only was it DELICIOUS but it was something I'd never tried or seen on a menu before.

Also, if there's only one veggie option, it's a good idea to make that option vegan, or at least easily veganizable (i.e. something where a vegan can easily just ask for no cheese, or whatever.) It's frustrating as a vegan when a restaurant has clearly made an effort to cater to vegetarians, but still has nothing for me.

Fried pickle chips are insanely popular at a restaurant near me. Click here for images.

Hummus & pita bread is always a good staple. And if you are going to stock pita bread, you might want to consider adding falafel to offer falafel wraps (just add lettuce, tomato & hummus).

Good luck with your restaurant!

I also want to add that if you do fried items such as the fried pickles, french fries, onion rings, etc, please have a fryer just for vegetables. Vegetarians do not want their food fried in the same oil as meat. That's very important to us.

The pub that I frequent with my boyfriend offers a portabello mushroom burger and vegan shepherd's pie. Both are delicious. I also remember seeing a recipe somewhere for vegan fish and chips (I believe they use tempeh), which sounds very yum.

Totally agree that a hummus plate is a great idea. That's something even omnivores will like and can be a great option for vegetarians or vegans.

What is this fried pickle you speak of and how have I not been exposed to it? I want!

those chips sound really good. i would definitely order them

did you guys know that not all beer is vegan too? I don't drink beer, but I just thought it was wine we had to worry about.

(I love this site, I was just introduced to) http://www.onegreenplanet.org/foodan...aken-as-vegan/ scroll down to #9 about the beers

hi all thanks for replies,
the mushroom burger sounds like a good idea and also the shepherds pie.
we are in the uk and the menu will be small but homemade.
with steak and ale pie
a steak
ham egg and chips
salmon steak
scampie(not homemade )
lasagne ( thought roasted veg lasagne good but common)
and a couple of other things and speacials too.
will try and make veg option vegan too as that sounds a good idea,
as may not be much vegetarian choice want it to be appealing so at least not disappointing

If you have *two* veg options that's nice too, and sometimes a vegetarian may have an aversion to peppers or mushrooms or some particular ingredient. If one of the veg options is a pasta dish like penne (this is one the menu at on of our locals), then it may appeal to non-vegheads. You can also have the option to "add chicken" or make a veg bolognese and a meat one, etc. Some of the options at our veg-friendly pubs near here are veg chili, veggie burgers/chips, veg curry with rice, risotto (though this is so overdone that I think most veggies are sick of it ), mash with veg sausages. A good, moist nut/lentil loaf with gravy and chips or mash would be wonderful. Goulash/ratatouille with rice is easy peasy too.

Can I ask whereabouts you're located? I'm in Oxford, but we travel around every now and again.

^ Agreed re:2 options. I really hate mushrooms. Theyre the only vegan food i will NOT eat. If the only veg dish at a resteraunt was mushroom i'd just have chips. Its happened before - portabello burgers and mushroom risottos are popular.

also Id recommend making something easily veganisable. Such as have vegetable fajitas, and it can be ordered with no cheese/sour cream to be vegan.

Since you plan to make pies anyway, if you made sure the pastry was vegan you could do non meat pies also. http://www.aliveandcooking.com.au/re...t-meat-pie.php I use this basic recipe all the time to make pies and just tweak the seasoning a little.

and it's always good if the people working there know the ingredients in the veggie dishes or if you have a printed card with the ingredients.

The veg option so often turns out to be lasagna, or else something fussy and weird that invariably has goats cheese in it.

I'd like to see a pub whose veg option is a translation of traditional pub grub - "shephards" pie, "bangers" and mash /chips and, of course, the British staple diet of curry - there are plenty of veg/vegan options for these. (BTW, brown lentils work well in a shep pie, also way cheaper that a lot of the fake minces which are often not vegan).

I don't know if there is a minimum throughput required in order to make such meals economically viable, but marketing them as low fat will I'm sure help sales. Don't forget a nice soup.

One thing that most outlets fail to do is to give the customer confidence whether something really is veggie - its surprising some of the things that aren't, such as Worcester sauce or shavings of Parmesan cheese that you might dress a salad with. Also, is that vegetable soup really veggie or is it based on fish / chicken stock ? Or a dish has cheese in it, well not all cheese is vegetarian. Simply adding one or two words to the description can clear matters up, even if I didn't like the answer ; an otherwise veggie-looking option that is described as having animal derived cheese would, whilst be disappointing, also give me more confidence that other items on the menu that were labeled as vegetarian really were as the proprietor has clearly thought about the issues.

TTFN,
Jon

thinking a veg hot pot or shepherds pie perhaps topped with sweet potato but not keen on the soya protein type "meats" but will try the brown lentils that where mentioned i think.
also we often have large mushroom burger type things with cheese though will need to check on the cheese we use.
dont want to start saying too much Nuke but will think about it if something might appear vegetarian but it isent.
and we are between gretna green and lockerbie.
might mention exactly where when we are more sorted. . . and our choice upto your expectations.... would like 2 choices for you but may not be possible to start as keeping menu small and food waste to a minimum if we are quiet to start.
again we are hoping to do all fresh and homemade within reason.
all advice greatly received though.

I don't know how possible this would be but why not just have regular pub food and have vegan versions? Or like for almost every menu item you offer have a vegan version as well? Like, say you have a burger then just have a veggie burger too. Or if you have like mac n cheese offer a regular version as well as a vegan version. That way omnis and vegans can't get pretty much the same food.

if youre not sure, theres always veggieboards : D

even if you can't put a full veg*n meal on there at first, having a separate fryer for the fries (if you offer them) is a big thing. there's been so many times when i've gone to a place with no vegan items and i would have loved to have fries but they're made in the same oil as the seafood.

pssst...chips

lol i was thinking about using chips instead of fries

If I could find a pub with vegan curry fries/chips, I'd be there every night.

But I think most of them are made with mayo.

What has the mayo in it, the curry? I've never heard of that before.

Agreed on the mushrooms. I despise them. I get so sick of seeing portabello burgers/steaks on the veggie option portion of the menu. I agree on having hummus on the menu. That's something both veg*ans and non-veg*ans can enjoy.

Others have already come up with good ideas for veg*n options, so just wanted to add some more general advice: something all vegetarians/vegans really appreciate is a menu with little symbols to indicate whether a dish is vegan (v), lacto-vegetarian (lv), ovo-vegetarian (ov), or lacto-ovo vegetarian (lov). (Also a good idea to label dishes that contain common allergens such as nuts and maybe wheat.) The same goes for the beer - it is rare that pub staff is able to tell me whether their beer is suitable for vegetarians or vegans. So finding this information and educating your staff on the matter (or in the very least keep a list handy) is something cheap you can do to improve your veg-friendliness.

Also note that not all cheese is vegetarian as some brands have animal rennet which is a product made from stomach enzymes of cows and pigs. Non-animal rennet exists (vegetable, microbial, genetically engineered microbial rennet) and is used in a lot of cheeses.

Another thing, in this age of The Internet - make sure to set up a web site or some kind of presence on the web where you can put your menu with the labelling I mentioned above.

The curry sauce in the last couple of places I've asked at has been mayo-based. Basically mayo + some curry paste they import.

Dude, that is freak nasty. Someone needs to hook you up with some real curry. (Must say, one of the perks of living in England...you're never more than 20 minutes away from a curry house )