Vegging Out: a Vegetarian's POV on Dining Out

Me: "What do you have that's vegetarian on the menu?"

Waitstaff: "Uh, we've got some special appetizers, healthy salads, and a few noteworthy seafood options."

Me: "I don't eat seafood…any entrees that can be vegetarian?"

Waitstaff: "Hmm…we've got a couple entrees right here that might work for you." points to a very basic item that I could probably make just as fine, if not better, at home

If you're vegetarian, chances are that you've had at least one of these not-so-pleasant dining encounters when grabbing a bite to eat. If you're vegan, this is better than other encounters that you may have had. I've been a vegetarian on-and-off over the past couple years, and I must say that it makes dining out an overall more complicated experience. While it's significantly improved from a couple decades ago, there's still a lot of room to make the restaurant industry and dining experience more inclusive. I decided to write this post to document my experiences with dining out as a vegetarian.

But before we dive in, it might be helpful for some background on why I'm vegetarian. I grew up eating chicken and fish throughout my childhood, but I've experimented with different phases of being vegetarian as of late.

The 3 phases of my vegetarianism:

• The first came when I was 16, where I decided on a whim to be vegetarian. It may have had to do with my overall fitness goals of losing weight at the time, and overall it worked. I was staying strong for 5 months…then I went to an Indian buffet with fresh, charred, juicy, marinated tandoori chicken. Needless to say, I broke with no regrets.

• The second was in college. I was exploring different religious and spiritual systems within the realms of Hinduism, and I felt that being vegetarian best fit the path for me. I stayed vegetarian for 2 years with no real urge to go back, despite numerous tempting Indian buffet visits. After 2 years, I got into bulking through the gym; I made the decision to go back to eating meat to make the bulking process easier from a diet structuring standpoint.

• The third (which is still going on) happened roughly a year ago. I started reading about Ayurveda, which is an Indian school of traditional/holistic medicine. I was fascinated with Ayurveda's teachings about the unique nuances with each person's body constitutions. In short, Ayurveda emphasizes that each person has a unique body constitution that manifests itself physically, emotionally, and socially, and we should live an individualized lifestyle and eat a personalized diet according to what works best with our unique body constitutions. As I was understanding more about what foods work with me, I began to notice that meats tend to leave me more lethargic and heavy, with my digestive system working twice as hard. I made the choice to shift to a vegetarian diet, and I've stuck with it since.

What I want as a vegetarian dining out:

Beauty in simplicity. The classic Dan Dan noodles that never disappoint a vegetarian

At the highest level, it's not too complicated. I want to feel the flavors and palates unique to the cuisine, featuring a balanced meal that contains vegetables, proteins, and carbs. Take one of my favorite dishes: Dan Dan noodles. Part of why I like this dish is because it spotlights the Sichuan cuisine's spicy and numbing taste by using noodles as the base carb source and vegetables (green onions, cilantro, cabbage, etc.) as toppings. While eating out, I'm not always too picky about a perfectly balanced meal. It's fine to have something like cacio e pepe that only features pasta and an oil/sauce. But the most important part is highlighting the unique flavors and palates in a filling meal.

What I don't want as a vegetarian:

Planta Restaurant. Top-notch ambiance, top-notch meat mimicry

I recently went to Planta, which is a successful vegan-friendly restaurant chain around the US. Even though I had a very easy time picking menu items that were friendly with my vegetarian diet and the food was not too bad, I left feeling quite dissatisfied with my experience. Here's why

I cannot stand the alternative proteins industry that make vegan/vegetarian options that try to mimic meat as closely as possible. For people who have been vegetarian their whole lives, they are likely unfamiliar with the texture of meat. Take Beyond burgers or Impossible burgers for example. These burgers bring forth a food that looks, feels, and tastes very much like a real beef burger. This thicker, rubbery texture can turn away a lot of us vegetarians. Not only that, but these hyper-processed foods are masking the true tastes of the base ingredients they're using (i.e., soy, peas, potatoes, cauliflower, etc.). I wasn't sure what exactly I was eating with half of the items at Planta, and food shouldn't be so unrecognizable that we can't identify the base ingredients.

Maybe this is personal, but I'd like to eat whole foods that highlight the true taste of the ingredients with as minimal processing as reasonable. The entire alternative protein industry tends to fail at spotlighting the natural flavors and textures of the ingredients that they're using. I get that the intent is most likely to appeal to folks like me who once used to eat meat and have shifted to being vegetarian, but there's no denying the hyper-processed, lab-engineered, almost artificial nature of these types of foods that can defeat a health-conscious vegetarian foodie's interest in alternative proteins.

Cuisines that do good with real vegetarian options:

In my experience, here are some of the cuisines that generally stand out for their vegetarian-inclusiveness.

• Desi/South Asian - South Asian cuisine tends to be as good as it gets for a vegetarian. A lot of the unique flavors come from the intricate blend of spices that form the base of most gravies and dishes. Take malai kofta for example. The malai base is made of tomatoes, onions, and nuts in a smooth puree, topped with cream to thicken the rich texture. The kofta is the protein, which is typically made of potatoes and paneer. However, restaurants can make malai chicken, malai mutton, malai fish…you get the point. Keeping the bases and changing the proteins is quite common across South Asian cuisine. I don't need to eat meat to get a true taste of South Asian culture.

• Thai - Thai food is really known for its sweet coconut essences, bold tamarind, rich curry pastes, and aromatic herbs. Similar to South Asian cuisine, I've noticed a lot of Thai restaurant menus that feature the same dish with different protein options. Take Penang Curry for example. It spotlights the popular coconut milk, zesty lime essences, basil leaf aroma, and fruity palm sugar for a sweet kick. Most of the time, I don't need to go out of my way to hunt down a vegetarian option at Thai restaurants because of the popularity of tofu as a protein source, not to mention that most dishes are often naturally rich in vegetables.

The classic Thai Penang Curry with its aromatic lime and coconut

• Mexican - I'm personally not the biggest fan of Mexican food, hence why you haven't seen me talk about it much on this page yet. However, I'll give its flowers where it's due. A lot of the flavor palate for Mexican cuisine comes from its spicy, savory sauces that can easily be topped on anything from chips to burritos to bowls. The way that items are stir-fried also features the rich spices. Most Mexican dishes that I've ordered come with beans as a strong protein source, lettuce and tomatoes as a side of vegetables, and a carb source in the form of rice or tortillas.

• Mediterranean - Touted to be one of the healthiest cuisines, Mediterranean food is both healthy and vegetarian-friendly. The classic falafel and pita just scratch the surface. Eggplants are really common across Mediterranean cuisine. Take the Iranian dish, kashk badenjoon, for example. This rich, creamy dish takes fried eggplant, whey, and crispy onions to form a thick dip that pairs well with several carb sources. Across Mediterranean cultures, chickpeas and fava beans are often incorporated across dips, bowls, pastas, and rice dishes. The rich saffron, walnut, parsley, dates, olives, and more bring a distinctly delectable taste that is often featured across vegetarian and meat dishes alike.

Kashk Badenjoon, the Iranian creamy eggplant dish

Special shoutout: Hops Burger Bar's Nutty Patty

I learned about this North Carolina-based burger joint when I was in Chapel Hill. I tried the Nutty Patty as their vegan burger option. Simply put, it was unlike any other burger I've ever tasted. They didn't try to emulate the meaty, juicy feeling of a typical beef burger. I couldn't pinpoint exactly what ingredients they used, but I could taste some almonds and potatoes. The texture was most interesting; the burger would fall apart easily from the brittle, soft mixture of vegetables and nuts. I refuse to eat any Beyond Meat or Impossible Burgers at burger joints after witnessing this masterpiece.

The beloved Nutty Patty from Hops Burger Bar

What restaurants can do to accommodate vegetarians/vegans:

Vegetarianism, veganism, and plant-based diets are on the rise around the world, with roughly 22% of the world being vegetarian and 5-8% of the US being vegetarian. Restaurants don't need to completely flip their menus, suppliers, and recipes upside down to be more inclusive of a plant-based diet. They can simply be flexible with substituting items in/out to accommodate different diets. Many times, customers may not be aware that they can substitute items, so it could be helpful to indicate with a symbol that items can be made vegetarian or vegan. Restauranteurs can also include a couple extra items in their weekly sourcing supply to increase their vegetarian menu options. Chances are that these vegetarian ingredients cost less and are relatively easier to prepare and store compared to the more expensive meats that can be more complicated. The best part: a customer's willingness to pay for a vegetarian option of a traditionally nonvegetarian dish is likely comparable, despite the cost of producing the vegetarian option being considerably less.

In an increasingly sustainability-focused and health-conscious era, it's pivotal for restaurants to adapt their businesses to make room for a more plant-based population. And shell-fishly, I'd like to not spend hours fishing for a feast.