I lurve food, and especially enjoy eating out.

Hubby is a very strict vegan (I like cheese too much to become vegan) and so he won't eat anywhere that sells meat so we tour the UK visiting really nice veggy places to eat.

Vegetarianism is becoming more popular in the UK with more veggy spots opening up which is great.

What's the veggy restaurant/cafe situation like in Canada?

Is there a reasonable presence of veggy eateries or are veggy's frowned upon like in France?

- No offence to anyone French/ French loving - they are very passionate foodies though veggy's generally don't go down too well.....

Just wondering.. It might well sway where we choose to live!!!

Cheers

K

k

You'll be fine in the big cities, but elsewhere you'll likely struggle.

Beef is very cheap out here though, so maybe you should reconsider that particular lifestyle choice!

As bazzz said, no problem finding vegetarian food in bigger places, but as to vegan, that might be harder. And if your hubby refuses to eat in a place that sells meat, you will be eating at home a great deal indeed.

OTOH, there must be some ethnic minority in Toronto that runs vegan restaurants, I just don't know which.

are veggies frowned upon like in France?

- No offence to anyone French/ French loving - they are very passionate foodies though veggy's generally don't go down too well.....

Just wondering.. It might well sway where we choose to live!!!

Cheers

K


hi
you are right about the french frowning upon vegetarian
i am french (studied in UK ,worked in UK,met OH ,stayed in UK!) every time i'd go back to France .i'd have comment about being a vegetarian and how strange etc...

we have been in PEI for 7 month ,i suppose being a vegetarian here is quite common
nothing is said about it!
where are you thinking of going?
vee

Hi there

like you I'm a cheese eating vegetarian.(much to the annoyance of my redneck Canadain father-in law).

When we moved to Montreal in 1999 it was really hard to find veggie alternatives in the supermarkets. I think things have improved since then. We were stone cold broke the whole time we were in Montreal so I don't know about eating out in that city.

We live in Toronto now. One place I can recommend is:

http://www.commensal.ca/toronto-vege...estaurant.html

Another thing I would say is read the labels on everything you buy you'll be amazed how many things have animal products included, especially vegetable soups. I miss the UK labeling system where you could tell at a glance if a product is suitable for vegetarians. Canada is a bit behind the times in that respect.

Vegetarian restaurants are common place on the west coast - Vancouver, Victoria and many of the smaller cities and on the Gulf Islands. And non-veggie restaurants most often have vegetarian items on their menus (the vegetarian-ness of those items can be questionable depending on the restaurant).

Though this is not a strictly vegan or vegetarian restaurant it is mostly. They often have a couple of seafood items. It's a great restaurant - healthy, delicious, good service and good local beers and wines. http://www.rebarmodernfood.com/

It's a bit of a misnomer to talk about "good local wines" when you live in BC.

I personally find it difficult to find decent veggie food in Nova Scotia. Maybe in Halifax it's better but there are only a few options of veggie burgers etc., in Sobey's and Atlantic Superstore and some of them aren't particularly great tasting.

I also double check ingredients on things because there doesn't seem to be a "suitable for vegetarians" symbol and some items you think would be veggie contain meat extract.

Also, the vegetarian concept seems to have missed a lot of Nova Scotian's (that I have met anyway)..I have met those that think it is ok to bbq my veggie burgers with their hamburgers ; just take the vegetables out of a meat stew and feed you that; or at a well known sandwich chain if you order a meat sandwich and a veggie sandwich they use the same gloves, knives and surfaces to prepare the meat sandwich as they do the veggie