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| We're often asked how we decide which
restaurants and cafés get included on the list - so here
are a few definitions and guidelines to help you understand
our criteria for listing. |
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| How we define
a Vegetarian restaurant |
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A vegetarian does not eat food containing
animal flesh. This includes any form of bird, sea creatures
and pork. The Australian Vegetarian Society defines vegetarianism
as:-
“the practice of living on products
of the vegetable kingdom, with or without the use of eggs and
dairy products, but excluding entirely the consumption of any
part of the body of an animal as food (including chicken and
fish).”
A restaurant is considered to be vegetarian within our guide
if all the food served conforms to the above definition. |
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| How
we define 'Vegetarian-Friendly' |
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In the light of the large number of vegetarian
friendly restaurants now on our listing, we would like to explain
how we define "vegetarian-friendly".
In general, a restaurant is considered to be vegetarian friendly
if it offers a range of dishes - both entrees and mains - that
are tasty and innovative.
However, the definition can also include a restaurant which
may only offer one dish, but that dish is changed regularly
and also meets this criteria of being tasty and innovative.
In smaller centres, any restaurant which offers vegetarian options
may be acceptable.
Restaurants which offer an unchanging tedious dish, or assume
that vegetarians eat chicken or fish, are not eligible. Salads
as the only non-meat option are also not acceptable unless they
are truly taste sensations. |
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| Buyer Beware! |
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| Although we would like all those on our "friendly"
listing to conform to strict vegetarian guidelines, the list
would shrink considerably if we did that. We are aware that
many vegetarians follow a diet that is not as strict as for
others, and we do not want to limit our list unnecessarily.
It is therefore for you as the diner to ensure that the meal
meets your own requirements. |
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| Take particular
care with |
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Dairy products
It is very important to note that most traditional (ie: non-vegetarian)
restaurants in New Zealand offering vegetarian dishes with dairy
products will use cheeses containing an animal rennet, and the
varieties of yoghurt and sour cream that are used may contain
gelatine.
Meat by-products
Ensure the menu item does not contain meat by-products such
as a meat stock or use animal fats during cooking. Chips are
often cooked in animal fat (Watch for Watties pre-prepared chips
- used in many restaurants, these are pre-fried in beef fat).
It is important to check these issues with individual
restaurants (note that not all "vegetarian" restaurants
use vegetable rennet cheese - check with restaurant staff if
you are concerned). |
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| Keeping the
list growing and current |
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If a restaurant no longer exists, please
tell us, or if you feel the vegetarian options provided were
inadequate (or worse, non-existent) then we also definitely
need to know - and as soon as possible.
If you find a restaurant which you think meets the criteria
for vegetarian or vegetarian friendly, it helps a lot if you
can get one of their business cards (if they have one). This
gives us the details we need, and requires minimal effort on
your part. Don't worry if you only have their name (check your
Visa or bank statement if you don't even have that) - the white
pages can give us all the extra details we need.
We rely on diners to pass on details of new restaurants. We
hope to include your comments on our website shortly. We will
consider removing or changing the status of any restaurant if
we receive an unsatisfactory report. |
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