Anyone thinking of opening a veggie restaurant?

[James]

I know I've been on about this before but I'm sure that anyone thinking of opening a restaurant round here could make an absolute killing (no pun intended) with a veggie place. If I had the time and money I'd do it myself!

Lordship Lane is such a destination for eating out now - we seem to have just about everything except a veggie place. Given the Crouch End/Stoke Newington demographic round these parts (not to mention the posh kids from the village) and the current obsession with healthy eating there simply MUST be a market for it.

Any takers? Go on, I'm fed up with trekking across London. I want to stay here and support something local!

[Keef]

Mrs Keef would be right there with ya James!!!!

Of course I'd be eating ribs and buffalo wings in the tex mex, but it's a start ;-)

[wee quinnie]

I would so love it if a veggie restaurant opened down LL. Or a place like Provender (Forest Hill). I am not saying that LLs eateries do not cater for veggies, but there is a definite lack of anything original. The usual offering is

either

risotto (yawn)

or

extremely bread flavoured veggie bangers and mash.

I know they are not all like this (Green and Blues menu looks quite good) - but overall the existing options aren't that exciting.

[shaman]

Have suggested this before myself the organic cafe in Greenwich not bad but really something like Mildred's or Food for Thought would be brilliant most people with the money still stuck in the seventies idea of veggies being no imagination, small minoriy hope it happens cant get anything decent around here in the evenings.

[James]

Imagine that - a local Mildred's. That would be brilliant.

[Thomas]

Hi James (and everybody else).

A few days ago I posted a message on this site about a healthy/organic restaurant, and had a number of people comment that it should include vegetarian meals. This is something I am currently working on and hoping to get it set up asap! From the replies I received on my post, there are a number of other people currently thinking about the same idea... (so I don't think you will have to wait very long before something arrives to the area!)

I just have a question : what are peoples opinions on a restaurant which has a large vegetarian menu (but not necessarily a totally veggie restaurant?).

As I have said on my post, the restaurant I am working on will be aimed towards the Dulwich area, and I believe that involving the area as much as possible is the best way to work on this type of project, so all comments (whether good or bad) will be a HUGE help!!

I appreciate all messages.

Kind Regards.

Thomas.

[Eileen]

yes please we really do need a decent non-meat restaurant. Only hope that it also caters for those of us who don't want to overeat on cheese instead of meat, and also has imagination beyond every dish having vegetable peppers or hot spices in it, and most salads ruined by raw onions. I know they taste nice but some digestions can't take them, and for some reason vegetarian food seems to attract them all the time now, and it becomes desperate for a vegetarian. How wonderful it would be also if at least some restaurants offered wholesome and tasty brown rice instead of the white rice which tastes of nothing and has little nutrition either. My ideal woudlne arestaurant that has also trained in the macrobiotic approach to food. A real understanding of balanced nutrition and delicious tastes, and now much better packaged for the mainstream. That would be occasional heaven.

[spadetownboy]

i dont mind going to veggie restaurants as long as theres a nice big rump steak to go with my onions and mushrooms. joking aside i,ve been to a few and as eileen has pointed out they can be a bit repetative menu wise. a better option would be to go for a non-meat restaurant ie allowing fish to be cooked there,my better half is vegetarian but will eat fish not meat and whereas when we,ve been to totally vegetarian restaurants i have been a bit stumped espicially as i dont eat cheese(cant stand the stuff)i am partial to a bit of fish.probably got a better chance than totally no meat at all.

[shaman]

Heard rumour that a trad turkish place may open either that or greek would offer good selection Gaby's does wonderful selection of veggie dishes alongside the dead animal lines, not sure what nationality they are sorry being going there for years.

[Chantoozie]

Thomas: I think a purely veggie restaurant would go down a storm because, as everyone's saying here, there are already meat restaurants a-plenty on Lordship Lane. so I don't think you'd lose any meat-eating custom: you'd get both pure veggies, and meat-eaters who fancy a change from the current LL fare.

[Thomas]

Chantoozie : Thank you for the advice! :))

[georgia]

A veggie restaurant on LL would be great. Good luck to you Thomas!

[snorky]

as a veggie, I support his, but bear in mid that it would have to be very special given that pretty much everywhere offers some half decent ( if uninspired )veggie food of some kind.

[James]

I think a lot of meat-eaters have a prejudiced, outdated idea of vegetarian cuisine. They should go somewhere like Mildred's to discover how varied and interesting veggie food can be. A friend's meat-loving dad recently went there for dinner and didn't realise it was vegetarian until she told him - he was enjoying his meal so much that the thought never occurred that he was missing out on something. It is not necessary to supplement a vegetarian diet with fish to make it interesting.

The vegetarian options currently available on Lordship Lane are pretty poor (apart from perhaps the Indian restaurants). I am SICK of token offerings like mushroom risotto and ready-meal quality veggie burgers.

Spadetownboy - you don't seem to realise that whereas you can go to any restaurant on LL us vegetarians have virtually nothing!

Thomas - go for it! I think it's clear that there's enough demand for either a fully veg or veg-with-fish place round here. Good luck!

[figgins]

Thomas, a veggie restaurant on the lines of Mildred, Carnevale or Eat & Two Veg would be very popular if done well. I too am sick of bad veggie burgers, boring risotto, expensive pasta and... worst of all... wait for it... ***** goat's cheese. Just because I'm a veggie doesn't mean I eat nothing but goat's cheese! If I ran a veggie place its motto would be NO GOAT'S CHEESE

The veggie options in the Upland are not necessarily "imaginative" but they are rather good. My motto would be Keep it Simple. Veggies seek out places with nice veggie options (plural) and will return to places that do veggie food well. As I say, I think we can live without crazy experimentalism, as long as we get, you know, nice food.

Best of luck!

[snorky]

Rule of thumb with veggie food is

Fat is not a poosr substiture for substance - so may places offer a lazy veggie option that invariably includes deep fried or more likely Cheese based dishes - in the belief that the mouth feel of the cheese will hide the unimaginative glop below it. This is a the sign of a poor and lazy chef.

You can eat veggie on LL, but it will have cheese in it somewhere usually

A veggie dish that has thought behind it does not need to revert to such diversiony tactics and should be proud to have texture & taste

[greynolds]

As a passionate avoider of all things with a pulse, I'd love to see a decent veggie restaurant in ED. Good luck Thomas, I'l be in there all the time if it opens.

To grab that black shop next to William Rose would be particularly well received. :)) Let the battle commence!

[James]

Btw if it helps my partner is veggie too and so are quite a few friends - would definitely get everyone to give it a try Thomas!

[gaynor]

Well James, at the DRUM we have fabbie goats cheese, roasted pepper and onion tart, wild mushroom tagliatelli amongst other nice things to eat - we even have mushroom and tarragon sausages which come with apple mash and veggie gravy - come and try. We also do eggy bread with streaky strips and maple syrup - is there anything you like in particular?? Let me know - i'm the Chef.

[SeanMacGabhann]

Gaynor - I like the invitation to try new recipes

I'm no vegetarian but I can vouch for the quality of your cooking - fantastic meal I had at the Drum

[Eileen]

Gaynor wrote: Well James, at the DRUM we have fabbie goats cheese, roasted pepper and onion tart, wild mushroom tagliatelli amongst other nice things to eat - we even have mushroom and tarragon sausages which come with apple mash and veggie gravy - come and try. We also do eggy bread with streaky strips and maple syrup - is there anything you like in particular?? Let me know - i'm the Chef.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I am sure these are really tasty. But can I make a plea to be able to get plain cooked wholesome vegetables as well with such dishes? I often find the kinds of food offerd to me as vegetarian not well balanced, and it usually gives indigestion unless accompanied by some decent vegetables which are not covered in sauce (especially not with a dairy base of some sort).

[TillieTrotter]

Nice on Gaynor. I second the fact that youre a great cook(tu)

[James]

Gaynor my mouth is watering

[JoeChuff]

Veggie restaurant is definitely a good idea for LL - I'm a meat-eater but my girlfriend is a veggie (in fact, every girl i've dated for the past two years has been a veggie, it's an epidemic - although on the bright side, taking them to a vegetarian restaurant for a date would be a good way of appearing sensitive), and she has such little choice in European restaurants (and I resent paying for her rubbish veggie meals ;-)). I'd advise that you include fish, to make meat-eaters happier about visiting. Maybe you could even throw in rubbishy token meat dishes, to get your own back! "Yes sir, we do cater for meat eaters. Turkey drumsticks or spam fritters?"