Best places to visit for a vegetarian family

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Japan - unless fish isn't ok.
Tons of rice, noodle, veg options

It's hard in Japan if you don't speak Japanese (or read Japanese) - if you can find someone to help you navigate a menu, that's good; but otherwise you end up just sort of ordering the same thing over and over because you feel reasonably ok that you aren't accidentally ordering meat

That was my experience, anyway - if you go to restaurants with English menus I assume it'd be much easier! Def worth trying, though - Japan is a great place to visit.

I've eaten extremely well in Middle Eastern countries

I know you said not India, but as a vegetarian it was truly heaven traveling in India. I ate so so so many good things.

After a week in Japan I was screaming out for fruit and vegetables. We found one chain that did massive salad bowls but otherwise I was surprised by the lack of vegetables.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Taiwan since it has a lot of Buddhists. Also UK, it surprised us to have curry on UK flight, also we ate India fast food restaurant when we visited London. We are vegetarian family of 3 except DH.

Yeah I was surprised by how veggie-friendly Taiwan was. It was great!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The only place I've consistently heard of issues is Western China, from a friend who.lived there. She said there were degrees of meat so someone might understand you don't eat beef or pork but still serve chicken.

Thailand and Cambodia are also tricky for strict vegetarians because of the prevalence of fish sauce in everything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Japan - unless fish isn't ok.
Tons of rice, noodle, veg options

How is eating fish being vegetarian?

I ate at a Japanese restaurant and told the waiter I couldn’t eat meat ( vegetarian), I was offered crab stick sushi, they told me it’s not meat nor real crab so I ate it, it turned out to be made of fish. It’s best to stick to cucumber/avocado roll and vegetable tempura, also tofu (without fish flake).

[Anonymous]

Another vote for Taiwan here. Many Taiwanese practice a branch of Mahayana Buddhism, where many abstain from eating any sort of meat (including fish). Some Mahayana Buddhists are Vegetarian all the time, while some others observe it on certain days. If you go there, it is worth knowing simply what the character for "Buddhist Vegetarian," which you will see on restaurant menus and on some restaurant signs (if the whole restaurant is Buddhist Vegetarian). In bigger grocery stores you will see a section specifically marked with this character for Buddhist Vegetarian (note that in the USA, if you go to 99 Ranch, which is a Taiwanese chain, you will see a Vegetarian frozen section, for example).

Now, some people may ask why other countries with a lot of Buddhists--like Thailand-- don't have as many Buddhist offerings. That is because the Buddhism practiced in Taiwan is different from Theravada Buddhism, which is practiced in Thailand. Generally, Theravada Buddhists don't get involved in dietary restrictions.

[Anonymous]

PP here. There is also a character for "pure vegetarian" and that means Vegan. So if you are vegan, remember this.

You can also save those phrases on your phone "I am vegetarian" etc. and show to any restaurant.

Also, Taiwan does have a big industry in fake meats. So if you go to a vegetarian restaurant or you see something tagged vegetarian or vegan and it looks like it has meat, it is often fake meat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Japan - unless fish isn't ok.
Tons of rice, noodle, veg options

How is eating fish being vegetarian?

I ate at a Japanese restaurant and told the waiter I couldn’t eat meat ( vegetarian), I was offered crab stick sushi, they told me it’s not meat nor real crab so I ate it, it turned out to be made of fish. It’s best to stick to cucumber/avocado roll and vegetable tempura, also tofu (without fish flake).

^ This is the problem I also had eating in Japan. It leads to what I think of as "defensive eating" = basically you end up getting the same couple of things over and over because you feel reasonably sure that you can eat them, when it's too hard to navigate the rest of your choices. I've done it, so so many times, and I don't regret going to all the places I went to where I did have to eat like that. But it's def not what I'd recommend for someone who says they are a vegetarian family looking for places where they will be able to travel comfortably. In Japan, I wasn't always traveling comfortably - and I did have to live with some uncertainty about whether the food I was eating was actually vegetarian.

Again: I'd 10000% recommend traveling in Japan. But it's not a place I'd pick for a family looking for a comfortable time eating a vegetarian diet, unless they were happy being quite restricted in what they ordered and tried.

A tip, if you do go: 7-11 in Japan has a great prepared food section where you can pick up stuff like tofu sushi. Good for little snacks or light meals on the go! But odn't eat on the subway.

[Anonymous]

Japan is easy! There are a lot of soy and tofu products, plus endless ramen which can be vegan if you ask for soy based broth. Japan also has veggie sushi and tempura. If you eat eggs and dairy, you truly have nothing to worry about in Japan. Google Translate is great for communicating with servers or translating supermarket labels.

[Anonymous]

The Middle East has a decent amount of vegetarian food (hummus, falafel) but I've only been to Israel. They don't slip meat in their food via chicken stock and the food is labeled kosher or dairy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Japan is easy! There are a lot of soy and tofu products, plus endless ramen which can be vegan if you ask for soy based broth. Japan also has veggie sushi and tempura. If you eat eggs and dairy, you truly have nothing to worry about in Japan. Google Translate is great for communicating with servers or translating supermarket labels.

Eh, Asia has a different definition of vegetarian. They think fish is OK. They also think vegetarian means no meat but in liquid form or as a by-product (like stock) is OK.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Japan is easy! There are a lot of soy and tofu products, plus endless ramen which can be vegan if you ask for soy based broth. Japan also has veggie sushi and tempura. If you eat eggs and dairy, you truly have nothing to worry about in Japan. Google Translate is great for communicating with servers or translating supermarket labels.

Guarantee you ate a ton of dashi and didn’t know it.

[Anonymous]

I’m pretty much a vegetarian and have never had an issue. Fish is pretty easy everywhere I’ve gone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m pretty much a vegetarian and have never had an issue. Fish is pretty easy everywhere I’ve gone.

How can you be a vegetarian if you eat fish?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Japan is easy! There are a lot of soy and tofu products, plus endless ramen which can be vegan if you ask for soy based broth. Japan also has veggie sushi and tempura. If you eat eggs and dairy, you truly have nothing to worry about in Japan. Google Translate is great for communicating with servers or translating supermarket labels.

Eh, Asia has a different definition of vegetarian. They think fish is OK. They also think vegetarian means no meat but in liquid form or as a by-product (like stock) is OK.

This is not true across the board in Asia (which is a large and diverse continent). In Taiwan, vegetarians do not think fish is ok, for example, because the type of Buddhism they practice encourages giving up all flesh of creatures of any type.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Japan is easy! There are a lot of soy and tofu products, plus endless ramen which can be vegan if you ask for soy based broth. Japan also has veggie sushi and tempura. If you eat eggs and dairy, you truly have nothing to worry about in Japan. Google Translate is great for communicating with servers or translating supermarket labels.

Guarantee you ate a ton of dashi and didn’t know it.

Yep your “soy based broth” (lol) is made with dashi in addition to the “soy base.”