Veggie restaurant that isn't necessarily healthy

Locomotion

Hi,

Just wondering if anyone would be interested in a completely vegetarian restaurant that wasn't focused on fat free, low salt, 100% organic types of meals?

What I mean is, would you be interested in an vegetarian restaurant that for example you could go in and order Steak and Chips? (Quorn steak of course)

Or you could get Spaghetti Bolognese, Chilli or Meatloaf (all made with Quorn mince)

Or how about Sizzling Chicken Fajitas? (Quorn fillets or quorn pieces)

Beef Stroganof? (Quorn Beef Style Pieces)

Maybe it could even do breakfast and serve you some of those Quorn Rahsers with Linda McCartney Sausages, fried eggs, hash browns, beans, tomato, mushrooms and toast?

I have been cooking for a long time with Quorn and my girlfriend (former meat eater) and I have created all of her former favourite dinners using the Quorn substitutes for meat. Now these meals aren't neccessarily packed with salad nor are they particularly healthy (they're healthier than their meat equivalent versions but not healthy in the usual Veggie sense) but they taste fantastic.

I personally have never eaten meat in my life but I would love to be able to go into a restaurant and order Steak with Pepper Sauce and Sweet Potato Wedges or to go into a Cafe and order a full Irish Breakfast without it having to consist of things that used to be alive!

Would anyone else be interested in such a restaurant / cafe?

A lot of London cafes have started to stock themselves with Vegetarian meat substitutes. They serve vegetarian sausages in loads of breakfast places now and two weeks ago when I was over there I had a lovely pub dinner of Bangers and Mash with Onion Gravy and a pint of Guinness just because they decided to start using Quorn Sausages.

Do you think there would be a market for it in Dublin? And by that I mean a full restaurant that served all the usual stuff that meat eaters get in a restaurant except everything on the menu would be vegetarian?

Let me know

who007

yeah I'd go for that def!

ztoical

I use to go to this place called veg city in new york all the time - it did all the classic american diner foods - burgers, hot dogs, philly cheese stake, etc but with no meat. Loved that place.

heggie

yeah it would be good, even wetherspoons pubs in the uk serve quorn things.

MsFifers

No.
Personally I think of Quorn of over-processed, flavour-enhanced cardboard, so its not something I would particularly be interested in ordering in a restaurant.

I don't really cook with it either. (But I'm not 100% vegetarian anyway! I treat myself with organic/free range meat every now & then).

Slaphead07

I ate a few times in Zen Burger in New York where they do all the usual fast food stuff except using soya and tofu (no quorn involved). It doesn't rely on the whole "organic/low fat"angle but is by default anyway. http://www.zenburger.com/menu.html

Actually I found a cheap and cheerful Chinese there which did all it's meals with a soya alternative if desired. Lovely it was too! There was a small chain of veggie places that did a huge range of soya chicken/beef et al.


In short there is a market for a fast food type place doing veggie food but it's hard to judge if it's big enough.

Emerald Lass

I think it would be nice to have a choice - you don't always want to have the same type of thing, and most of us crave 'junk' food at some time or other. not sure about the over use of processed soya personally, cos I could kinda do the same stuff myself at home - the mostenjoyable thing in a restaurant for me is if I get something I enjoyed that I can genuinely say I couldn't have made myself at home - otherwise what's the point? thats my biggest pet peeve about eating out - I don't mind paying for a nice meal, but if its in a restaurant I want to feel like I got something I wouldn't have got at home or from a freezer.

Aoifums

Much as I love junk food, I can't stand imitation meats. Plus, I if it's all Quorn stuff then that totally excludes lacto-vegetarians and vegans. And anyone with an egg allergy who gets dragged to a vegetarian resturaunt.

Plus, I love going out and eating food that I don't know how to make, or lack the effort to make. Over processed convience meals aren't that nice when you could be eating something made from scratch.

sweet-rasmus

Locomotion wrote:

A lot of London cafes have started to stock themselves with Vegetarian meat substitutes. They serve vegetarian sausages in loads of breakfast places now and two weeks ago when I was over there I had a lovely pub dinner of Bangers and Mash with Onion Gravy and a pint of Guinness just because they decided to start using Quorn Sausages.

Hold on, you said you have never eaten meat, but are you a veggie? That pint of Guinness in there confused me.

rockbeer

Oh no, not the old "Guinness isn't vegetarian" argument again!

Personally I'd love somewhere to get a decent veggie breakfast. It's good to eat healthily, and I do most of the time, but every now and then a serious fry up is in order. I also dislike the way 'vegetarian' has become synonymous with 'healthy' - they're two entirely different things, or at least they should be.

Nature Boy

Yes yes yes yes yes! I would live in said restaurant if it existed. I wish vegetarian restaurants would cater for unhealthy people like me! I think a cafe would be best that does a good veggie fry.

Nature Boy

heggie wrote: »

yeah it would be good, even wetherspoons pubs in the uk serve quorn things.

Yeah they do a (nice) veggie breakfast with Quorn sausages for like £1.50 or something!

taibhse

Yes probably, when I went to Glastonbury last year, I was in heaven. They had great veggie breakfasts with quorn sausages, veggie kebabs etc. I'd say there would be a market, you might even get meat eaters in there, maybe dragged along by veggie friends

No.....fake meat disgusts me.

pq0n1ct4ve8zf5

There probably is a market for a restaurant which serves big-dirty-nyommy veggie options, but, in this country anyway, I don't think a purely big-dirty-nyommy veggie restaurant would have a big enough market.

pq0n1ct4ve8zf5

sweet-rasmus wrote: »

Hold on, you said you have never eaten meat, but are you a veggie? That pint of Guinness in there confused me.

My pathologically vegan neighbour (seriously, lovely woman, but the amount of times she says the word "vegan" per minute is ridiculous) tried to convince me that Guinness changed their recipe years ago and is now completely safe for veggies and vegans I don't even like Guinness from what I remember so I never looked it up

raah!

I'd definatly go to one of those restaraunts, concerned about my health is the last thing I am. But it seems alot of vegans/vegetarians are really concerned about nurtrition, excessively so. Which is partly justified , by the no meat, but I think there's a difference between "vegetarian" and "health freak" just a big overlap.

I haven't eaten any quorn yet unfortunatly .

sweet-rasmus

Juniper Rancid Technique wrote: »

My pathologically vegan neighbour (seriously, lovely woman, but the amount of times she says the word "vegan" per minute is ridiculous) tried to convince me that Guinness changed their recipe years ago and is now completely safe for veggies and vegans I don't even like Guinness from what I remember so I never looked it up

odd indeed!

Weyhey

I would definitely be on for it. I don't really care about health when I go out for a meal as real veggie options are few and far between (I feel so sorry for vegans). It's usually a wee miracle if they are tasty too.

I like some fake meats (veggie sausages, veggie mince because they don't really look like meat but I can't seem to do veggie bacon/chicken/fish).

I still dream of the veggie breakfast I had in Tibo's in Glasgow www.cafetibo.com last year. Two veggie sausages, two yummy baked tomatoes, slices of veggie haggis, mushrooms, beans, scrambled eggs with herbs and two thick gorgeous slices of brown bread with a pot of tea all for £6.50. Heaven.

Aoifums

Weyhey wrote: »

veggie ...fish...

Veggie fish... Really? And where can you get it???

-lala-

Wouldn't go for it. Not a fan of over-processed fake meat, also the whole quorn thing leaves out vegans. There is so much nicer veg*an food out there than veggie sausages, etc.

Weyhey

Aoifums wrote: »

Veggie fish... Really? And where can you get it???

Yep. Never tasted it though. Can't remember which healthstore I've seen them in but check out www.redwoodfoods.co.uk

Aoifums

Weyhey wrote: »

Yep. Never tasted it though. Can't remember which healthstore I've seen them in but check out www.redwoodfoods.co.uk

Yeah, I found them and was delighted that they had fish fingers. But they don't deliever to Ireland and I haven't found anywhere that does. Haven't found any shops stocking them either. Fish fingers are the only meat I miss, and I would love to have them.

Slaphead07

Aoifums wrote: »

Fish fingers are the only meat I miss, and I would love to have them.

the Hopsack in Rathmines (Swan Centre) stocks them.

Aoifums

Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

And to get back to the original point, maybe I would eat in the resturaunt if they did harder to get mock-meats. Like not Quorn Mince that you can get in every Tesco, but a fish burger would be nice.

sweet-rasmus

i've picked up those 'fish fingers' in la sante, the health food store in the old shopping centre in dun laoghaire. my cat thought they were a must have!

Nature Boy

Aoifums wrote: »

Yeah, I found them and was delighted that they had fish fingers. But they don't deliever to Ireland and I haven't found anywhere that does. Haven't found any shops stocking them either. Fish fingers are the only meat I miss, and I would love to have them.

I think Down to Earth on George's st sometimes has them

Aoifums

sweet-rasmus wrote: »

my cat thought they were a must have!

Oh... Does that mean they're not so good?

Tar.Aldarion

No they were lovely in my opinion, her cat couldn't tell they were not fish. He acts a certain way around fish and fish alone!

As for the restaurant, I would eat there a lot.

sweet-rasmus

yes, at the prospect of fish, my cat wants a taste. fish style fingers received a thumbs up! http://www.goodnessdirect.co.uk/cgi-local/frameset/detail/412156_Redwood_Making_Waves_Fish_Style_Fingers__6___215g.html

Aoifums

Oh right. I thought you meant they were so bad that you had to give them to your pets. Thats were all the inedible food goes in my house.