(no subject)
Teeny, tiny rant I have to get off my chest:
Vegetarians do not eat chicken fat/beef fat. They would not be vegetarians if they did. Vegetarians do not eat fish. Pescetarians eat fish.
I am sick and tired of restaurants labeling things as "Vegetarian" when they are indeed not. This mostly happens in Asian restaurants... even the "fake" chinese ones we have here (apparently in the Atlantic provinces, we do not have authentic chinese food).
The not-so-bad:
Chinese restaurant lists "Vegetables with oyster sauce" under the vegetarian items. I can clearly see that it contains oysters (which are not vegetarian) and so I avoid it.
The bad:
Chinese restaurant at the mall has "Vegetarian Stir Fry". Yay! When I get up closer to the menu board, I notice that in fine print it says "May contain chicken/beef fat." If it contains chicken/beef fat it is NOT vegetarian. It is a "Vegetable Stir Fry." I opted for lebanese food instead. More vegetarian friendly. It is difficult to sneak meat into hummus, tabouli and falafal.
The ugly:
Japanese restaurant chain has a dinner special: miso soup, salad, choice of sushi. Two of the dinner specials are listed as "vegetarian" and contain vegetable maki. I ordered it on two occasions. Love the misco soup. The other day, I went to the same chain. Instead of getting the combo, I opted for misco soup and two maki from the "vegetarian" section. The waitress ask if I was vegetarian. I said I was. She told me that the miso soup has fish flakes in it and she likes to let vegetarians know that before they order. For the love of all that is holy, why would you include the miso soup in a combo that is listed as vegetarian?!
What's done is done. I learned my lesson. Whenever I go into an Asian restaurant, I should probably ask what has fish/chicken/beef in it and what doesn't since I am just realizing that they use these things a lot in their cooking (and that they like to lie about it on their menus).
Correct me if I am wrong:
Apparently in the UK, it is quite common for restaurant items and grocery items to have a Vegetarian/Vegan stamp on things. Someone I know brought in some chocolates from Scotland and even the chocolates had a "Suitable for Vegetarians" logo on it. Why can't we do that here? We put "Caution: Hot!" on coffee. We put "Allergy Alert: Contains Nuts" on packages of PEANUTS. Why can't you start putting "Suitable for Vegetarians" on things? Especially if you're going to put fish in soup that contains soy broth and tofu?