Fast forward to Vancouver, I’m going to school seven days a week and being a student, meat’s a luxury I can rarely afford. Instead I live off brussel sprouts and perogies – a Ukrainian dumpling Canadian students everywhere have a love affair with. I probably had more variety to my diet than that but I can’t remember what it could be. That is until I moved in with a vegan chef.
She opened my eyes to a new, animal-free way of eating and I felt amazing. Meat always left me feeling a bit dirty but not anymore, not with this veggie-tastic way of eating. It’s easier to be a hard core vegan in Vancouver as it’s an expected way of being. So there I was, on the Vegan path and then I found myself in England.
Now I don’t use the title of Vegan as it carries with it connotations and choices I’ve not made and I don’t want to seem hypocritical. I wear leather. I wear wool. I use honey on occasion. I like animals but don’t LOVE them. The list is long of all the food and product rules I’m breaking if called vegan so I say strict vegetarian. What makes this choice even harder is that I have a few unusual allergies. Lettuce, spinach and celery. It’s a source of amusement for many. “A vegetarian allergic to salad? You don’t know what you’re missing.” In fact I do! I dream of salad – on more than one occasion I’ve woken up after spending my REM sleep time tucking into a large green salad with all the fixings. I want to cry when I realize it’s not real...
So with these restrictions installed, I embarked upon the restaurants of London. There is a lot said about the bland and boring British diet. In London and the rest of the large cities in the UK (and some of the small ones too), I am thrilled to say there is a huge range of restaurants serving food from around the world. Even tiny shops will have a range of hummuses so I’ll never be left completely hungry. I do have to say when travelling, this option can wear thin as three days of hummus on the trot is not something I’d normally choose to do. But overall, it’s not too bad Being that I’m not a real vegan, there is always something I can eat.
Unfortunately though, it is rare that I have a choice in what it is I can eat when out especially a healthy one as I can’t have salad. British pubs on a whole are usually the worst for me. And French food? I don’t even bother. I will have to make an exception to the pub comment with an odd admission – Lloyd’s and Wetherspoons – though not known for their gastronomical delights – give me at least 3 or 4 choices. Hallelujah for them...and for me! But the number of times I’ve been out and had to have a selection of bland side dishes as a main, would surpass all the fingers on my hand.
The first time I had to do this, I was with my friend’s parents who were over from Canada. They wanted to go to Argus Steak House so go there we did. I shouldn’t have been surprised that there would be nothing for me but there really was nothing. This experience happened once in Calgary when I was left eating a cold Chinese Takeaway in the car before joining the rest of my friends in a house of meat, meat and more meat. But that was Calgary and this was the metropolises of London. And in the restaurant with my friend’s parents, I scanned the menu and the only option was side dishes of boiled potatoes, tomatoes, and broccoli at almost £4 each,
I didn’t want to offend my friend’s dad by ordering nothing so I went for it. Our dishes appeared and three small bowls were sat in front of me. A tomato cut in half, three boiled new potatoes and a few broccoli florets. All for the low price of £12. Amongst the medium rare steaks gracing the table, my mini meal was by far the most expensive. Her Dad paid saying he should take me out more often as veggies ate cheap. I didn’t have the heart to tell him otherwise.
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