NOT all vegetarians want to eat in purely veggie restaurants. Here Marissa Burgess, who has been vegetarian for 19 years, picks out five places to go with your meat-eating friends.
WHILE Manchester may not be wallowing in purely veggie restaurants, there are plenty of establishments that are friendly towards non-meat eaters. Gone are the days when the announcement of a vegetarian at the table was greeted by a wince and an awkward éeréwe could do you an omelette?é
An area of town where getting a veggie meal has never been a problem is Rusholme. Given the Indian sub continentés leaning towards vegetarianism all the restaurants here offer veggie versions of their curries. But because of the prevalence of veg food ités hard to know which one to dine in. The Punjab was formerly an entirely veggie restaurant but the veg menu is still the strongest in Rusholme. The speciality here is the dosa or Indian pancake which can be filled with potato, mushroom or paneer (Indian cheese). Plus thereés plenty of excellent vegetable and paneer curry options.
Dimitris has always been the place to head to please both the vegetarian and their meat-consuming friends. They serve a myriad of Mediterranean tapas half of which are veggie tit bits including spicy chick peas, tabbouleh, stuffed vine leaves, stuffed peppers, hummus and pitta and butter beans in tomato. The experience is completed by being served in the ésunniesté surroundings in Manchester. If it wasnét for the chill Manchester breeze you could almost imagine you were by the Med.
Down Chorlton way is Idaho , a haven of kitsch Americana. It has a small but imaginative menu of which half is veggie. Options include the delightful sweet potato enchiladas and veggie sausage with lentils and chilli butter. In addition they have a massive selection of beers from all around the world.
In Chinatown, Little Yang Sing has to be the best choices for veggies with an amazing 40 dishes available. The banquet has many varied options, ités not just your regular stir fried mixed veg here. Thereés curried potato cakes and fruity spring rolls and for those that like it thereés plenty of fake meat options with diced faux goose and fake ham and croutons.
Japanese isnét as difficult to eat veggie as you might think, at least not in Wagamama anyway. Their vegetarian provision won them the City Life award the year they opened. Every type of dish, whether ités noodle soup, steamy fried rice or katsu curry, is replicated for non meat eaters. For dessert try the wasabi chocolate cake, the mixture of the Japanese horseradish and chocolate has to be attempted.
Can you recommend somewhere to go where the menu has a good choice for vegetarians?
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I went to eat at Isinglass, Flixton Rd, Urmston on Saturday night- fantastic! I, a vegetarian, went with two vegan friends and their three year old and we ate ourselves into a very happy stupor.
All the ingredients are sourced from Cheshire (the superlative courgettes that we ate on Saturday had come directly from Dunham Massey) and the menu changes every 2-3 months to use the new produce. The style is English but, with a deft hand; a spinach soup tasted of freshly picked spinach but with a velvety texture, the vegetable terrine was almost too pretty to eat, and the baked half of Burland Green cheese accompanied by a fesh green salad and oat and nut 'crumble' was so good that I nearly didn't find a corner for the deliciously light chocolate brownie with vanilla clotted cream.
This is simply a great restaurant regardless of your eating preferences but, to find such good vegetarian food in a "standard" restaurant was just lovely. It was a joy to discover, for example, that the veg special was vegan friendly and thus available to our whole party. They cater for everyone, including children- there are high chairs and even a box of toys.
I love going to Tampopo in Albert Square. Its a similar setup to Wagamama's but it has been established a lot longer. The restaurant is small but cosy, with long benches stretching across and in close proximity to the chefs where you can watch them cooking with the occasional burst of flames. The menu is pretty simple but exciting. There is a mixture of veggie, vegan and meat dishes which come from Thailand, Japan, and Vietnam (there might be more but I can't remember!). The dishes represent quite traditional ones found in the country of origin and I found them to be reasonably authentic. They were tasty and really good sized portions, especially the soup dishes. They also run special lunch time offers and the service is speedy. I'd recommend you go if your into South-East Asian cuisine.
Sola, the former deluxe in the Contact theatre has just opened with really good vegetarian/vegan food.
They are also trying to find vegan wine??
Tom.
Had thai curry at sola bar which is within the contact theatre on oxford road. Buzzy atmosphere. Spoke to chef and everything made from scratch. Also seasonal with a good ethos and understanding of produce.
The Royal Orchid in the centre of Manchester is fab for Thai loving veggies. They have a huge choice of dishes for everyone, and a seperate extensive veggie menu. You'll be spolit for choice. Perfect for mixed groups of veggie/non veggie.
Lovely atmosphere - friendly staff. My fave restaurant at the moment.
Excellent Restaurant for both carnivores and vegetarians, choose from individual Starters or enjoy the 'Eat as much as you like' option for only B#10.00 per person.
Choosing from a selection of fresh vegetables with the option of adding various red and white meat dishes along with many types of fish. Adding a touch of spice or sauce then watching and waiting in anticpation for your concoction to be cooked on the huge barbeque before being served in a bowl with chopsticks!
Extremely reasonable, value for service with an Excellent Friendly, Easy-going and Relaxed atmosphere.....
The Rice Bowl, on Cross Street, is a gorgeous place to eat. It's right in the heart of Manchester and has an excellent choice of veggie food, along with a delicious array of meat dishes. I would recomend purchasing around 3 or 4 starters prices at around B#3 each. The food is fresh and very tasty, the staff are welcoming and you rarely have to wait long for a mouthwatering meal.
A fantastic vegetarian organic cafe deli juice bar.Tucked away,down a narrow dirt track, surrounded by open fields peace and tranquility, it is a rare find indeed. Friendly staff and owner. The salads are devine picked fresh from the organic herb farm, they are made up of fresh mixed salad leaves, herbs, flowers. It is worth a visit. readers would love it.
Tri Thai in Faulkner street in China Town has a good veggie selection and great smoothies.,
the cedar tree
thomas st
m4
(lebanese)
fantastic fresh cooked lebanese food - bring your own wine
kind of weird decor, but the food's the thing
veggie heaven + loads of serious meat too
Tampopo offers just as good a range of vegetarian dishes as wagamama's, with a better value for money and, more importantly - twice as tasty!!
Earth Cafe (www.earthcafe.co.uk/) in the Northern Quarter has some of the best organic veggie/vegan food in the city.
The Basement is also a good place for well proced tasty vegan food (thebasement.clearerchannel.org/)