Places to go for Vegans in Stafford.

Lunar Scorpion

Anarchy in the UK
Food at Wetherspoons (The Picture House and The Butler's Bell)

Portion of chips
Jacket Potato and Baked Beans without butter and salad dressing
Side salad without creamy dressing
Jacket Potato (without butter)
Happy Monkey strawberry & banana smoothie

Curry Club...
Sweet potato, chickpea & spinach curry with extra poppadums
Large onion bhajis
Vegetable samosas
Extra poppadums & mango chutney
Bombay potatoes

The following is also vegan as far as I am aware:
Organic tomato & basil soup
Houmous and Roasted Vegetables Flatbread *

* Only available at The Butler's Bell; Houmous and Roasted Vegetables are also available as Jacket Potato toppings there.
 

United57

Well-Known Forumite
Even in big cities its difficult to eat out as vegan I'm informed.

Would a veagn / vegitarian restaurany cafe do well in Stafford?

I note the new word flexitarian creeping in to the English language!
 

tek-monkey

wanna see my snake?
Are there enough vegans to warrant one? Not being funny, but I think very few none vegans would visit. What percentage of Stafford residents are vegan I wonder?
 

Wormella

Well-Known Forumite
I'd like to think decent quality food would win out over a label on a cuisine, but I suspect that's not the case. Since there is a scarcity of veggie and vegan restaurants even in large cities I'm guessing it wouldn't do too well here.

However quite a lot of Thai food is vegan (not so many curries due to the high usage of delicious, delicious ghee) as is Chinese food.

I'm always amazed we don't have more in the why of Malaysian or Oriental restaurants in Stafford.
 

Lunar Scorpion

Anarchy in the UK
Even in big cities its difficult to eat out as vegan I'm informed.
It's not that difficult in Birmingham - there's at least a couple of veggie places to go in the city centre and as far as I know at least another couple of cafes and a pub elsewhere. There's also plenty of ethnic cuisine restaurants that are vegan friendly.

There's City Bar in Wolverhampton and probably plenty of other places.
 

redstar

Well-Known Forumite
Just my 1 euro worth, my wife is a vegan so our meals out etc are limited.
I would like to put on what 'madam' has to eat, BUT if any dishes are NOT
100% VEGAN that she orders (and happily eat) that would limit her more!

Tis a difficult one, and something I dont concern myself with.

I did have an issue withall this VEGAN stuff, but you support the loved ones in
your life, dont ya?

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
 

henryscat

Well-Known Forumite
Wetherspoons have a habit of changing their menu, so worth checking periodically - I've been caught out by vegan dishes vanishing from the menu!! They have a menu checker thingy at http://www.jdwetherspoon.co.uk/home/food/dietary-requirements

As for other places... Malabar are very good if you have a natter before ordering. Last time I went dishes I had were done in oil anyway. Most curry places will substitute ghee and use oil. Narvana were ok too on that score.

I've also been to Chinese at Acton Gate for take always and they're fine with quiz questions on ingredients, though you have to ask them not to give you prawn crackers!!

Pizza Hut is fine if you have pan base (not Italian) and ask for no cheese. If ordering online it's dead easy. Pizza Express will do same.

The lack of veggie/ vegan choices in Stafford is disappointing. Anywhere offering veggie choices is restricting its market by not offering a vegan option, all it takes is a little thought and doesn't involve extra cost either. There is a distinct lack of enlightened thinking. They also forget that veggies/ vegans often eat out with people who aren't, so having a less inclusive menu makes no sense.
 

Lunar Scorpion

Anarchy in the UK
Maybe we could also add what we'd like to see on menus here?

I'll start... You can't go wrong with all day breakfast - facon (fake bacon), sausages*, scrambled tofu (instead of egg, obviously), mushrooms, baked beans*, plum tomatoes*, hash browns*, chips/potato wedges* maybe, fried bread and toast* with vegan spreads, pates and jams etc.
* My personal preferences
 

henryscat

Well-Known Forumite
Veggie breakfasts are a fantastic example of where eateries exclude vegans. All that is needed is a veggie sausage made without egg, an option not to have egg, not cooking mushrooms in butter, and any margarine with toast is dairy free. All of that is easily achieved without detriment to cost.

Similarly with other meals.... The number of times places offer veg chilli with Quorn mince in it - again not necessary. Substituting Veggie Mince, which is cheaper and tastes nice, would make it vegan. Using egg pasta / noodles rather than wheat also does for a lot of dishes that could easily be vegan. Loads of places offer veggie burgers, but they contain egg, yet loads of egg free veg burgers are available.
 

That-Crazy-Rat-Lady

Well-Known Forumite
As a vegetarian one of the best (and worst) placed to go is the Hollybush in Salt!
Sometimes you can go and they have numerous tasty options, but other times its a really poor selection of just one or two dishes (and both can be similar).
They don't have a fixed vegetarian or vegan menu and I've left (more than a few times) because they didn't have anything I liked, yet they have a set menu for meaty eaters. I never know what I'm going to get!

One of the best places is the Greyhound nr Sandon, they have 7 or 8 delicious veggie and vegan options and its really really good food!

Luckily I have a very understanding family (and family in law) who often ring ahead or check online if a place will cater for me before booking a table. But I've been caught short sometimes and end up with a plate of chips!

(But don't get me started on eating abroad eh!)
 

That-Crazy-Rat-Lady

Well-Known Forumite
Excellent!

On a school trip to Italy the chef at the hotel we were staying at said:

Chef: 'What is vegetarian? You eat meat yes?'
Me: 'No'
Chef 'Yes you eat meat'
Me: 'No'
Chef: 'You eat fish'
Me: 'No'
Chef: 'Yes you eat fish'
Me: 'No!'

The only other food they has was the packets of crisps they sold at the bar - needless to say I was sick of salt and vinegar by the time I got home, and about half a stone lighter!
 
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