dazuk

This is probably not applicable to many on this forum but anyway;
I dont eat meat/fish etc, havent for 15 years so I found it a real struggle to find any decent vege products in the supermarkets in oz. The restaurants were not exactly imaginative in their offerings either. In the UK a chinese or indian restaurant would offer loads of nice vege options, not in OZ though!!

oh and the curry houses were crap anyway!

BookBear

Aussies love their meat. So many people over here are amazed that I'd only ever eaten 5 steaks before I came here (at 21).

You're right there isn't the greatest choice in most restaurants. If you were going to eat out with someone else who doesn't eat meat then there's a restaurant on Rundle St, called Clearwater Cafe I think, that's been talked up by many of my friends. There's alos on on Hindmarsh sq I think, and on Hindley St.

It's a shame about the lack of Indian restaurants, but we're lucky, there's a great one on our street. There are so many good thai/malaysian/chinese etc, that I rarely miss Indian.

downunderpom

'Mrs Downunderpom' is a vegetarian, and we've had a hell of a job feeding her! Have you noticed how even things like frozen chips have beef tallow as the fat....?

Also, the Aussies seem to think that vegetarians eat seafood. No! The number of 'vegetarian' foods we've found which have 'oyster sauce'..... It's a joke!

Anyway, we don't eat out (except chips from Maccas, and what have you), and we make all her food from scratch.

Oh for a Tesco's! that's about the only think we miss from the UK - the range of Tesco's veggie food, and the stir fry sauces.

(BTW - I'm not a veggie, so don't have this problem.)

Ceri

The vegie food here is really limited.. I eat fish for this reason. I don't eat meat at all.. haven't done for about 15 years (gave it up in my early teens). I eat fish purely for health reasons because of the lack of vegie food. The supermarkets have a very small section, not bacon, not saugsages, tofu, a few bean burgers (which I think taste horrible). The not bacon and sausages are ok.

Cheers

P.S you can get vegie oyster sauce in some supermarkets.. depends on the shop. I tend to buy the "normal" one as I eat fish.

Also watch out for the biscuits, a lot of them contain beef fat here

dazuk

Funny that u mention the chips! The first day in Oz i met my girlfriend(now wifes) dad, hewent to the local chip shop and got a chip meal, i spat the first one i eat out, the look on his face!!!!

I could tell straight away that it was fried in lard(tallow), they stopped doin this in the uk 30 years back, well apart from up t north. Yep and the supermaket oven chips are the same, apart from CANOLA chips. Also donots are uaually fried in beef fat 2, i even went to a chip ship once that sold vegeburgers and guess what?? Yep they fried them in lard!!! Logic hey!

No quorn, decent vegeburgers/sausages or ready made meals in supermarkets. I cook from scratch 95% of the time, but hey sometimes after a hard hard days work u want a vege ready made meal from a supermarket, unfortunately in coles or woolies thatt mwnas beans on toast!!! LOL

A real eye opener and another reason why i love being back in the UK

downunderpom

Pescaterian, huh? We take handfuls of vitamins / minerals each day, to make up for any food deficiencies. I've noticed that the quality of veggies here in Sydney is pretty bad. We've been writing it off to the drought affecting the crops, but I think it may be something fundamental. Coming back from the mountains each weekend we tend to stock up from the stalls at the side of the road. Much better quality, and grown in a cooler climate. Maybe that's what it is - the stuff you get in the supermarkets is grown hot?

And I have to disagree with the 'veggie oyster sauce'. If it has oyster in it, then it's not vegetarian. If it doesn't have oyster in it, it may be vegetarian, but isn't oyster sauce!

dazuk

also forgot, maccas in oz fry chips in lard!!

sorry, read it in one of their leaflets.

One more moan, i hated always having to ask the chip shop guy what he fried them in !!

FAT was the usual reply, like yeah i thought u used water! Most had to go qand look at the massive tin and 50% of the time it was lard UUUURRRRGGGGHHHHHH

Oh well back in UK now eatin lovely vege curries, chinese, pasta, quorn oh and proper non lardy chips!!!

Hot chips??? No f?>kin chips!!!

BookBear

Woops, thought you were someone else who lives in Adelaide, hence the recommendations!

downunderpom

Shit! There goes the Maccas! Oh well, home made chips it is!

Thanks for the head's up, Daz.

BookBear

That, and the fact that there are 24.7g of fat per serve of large fries!

downunderpom

Mrs DUP had one of those on Saturday... She's NOT going to be happy!

BookBear

I got that info from www.mcdonalds.com.au It was my first visit. However much I hate McDonalds I have to say that their site is really pretty good. You can drag your menu choices onto a tray and it will calculate the 'nutritional' value.

dazuk

if it wansnt for the saniratium range of sausages and burgers I dont know how I would have survived my wifes familly BBQs, still they thought I was a right whingin pom when i objected to them dumpoing then in the blood and guts of their steak fat on the barbie!!

I agree with the statement that ozzies think if your a veggie u must eay seafood, my wifes mum, " u cant come 2 stralya and not eat lobsters, prawns etc" , just what do u eat then???

Oh well, fast forward 20 years, hey i mback in the UK!!!

dazuk

ingredients for fries from the maccas aus site

Potato, Edible Tallow, Dextrose (derived from wheat), Mineral Salt (450), Antioxidant (320).
Note: French Fries are cooked in McDonalds Shortening, salt added.
Contains gluten

downunderpom

Ugh! I don't think I want to eat them myself, now! Not only 24.7g of fat, but 11.6g of saturated fat! And the 5.5g protein.... must be animal fat. 56.1g carbs, means that it's a third fats.

Well, Maccas just lost TWO customers!