Vegetarian restaurants in Vienna, Budapest, & Prague...Any recommendations?
My boyfriend is a vegetarian (somewhere between a ovo-lacto & vegan). I am not as committed to the cause like he is as I am sure looking forward to some pork knuckle or a schnitzel. Does anyone have any feedback on restaurants where we can get the best of both worlds? I wonder if there are restaurants that take traditional food and turn it into a vegetarian dish. Like a tofu schnitzel (does it even exist?) or hungarian goulash with mock meat. Any one have any recommendations? We are going to Vienna, Budapest, Prague & Rothenberg.
Kelly
Gulfport, Fl USA 10/10/09
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Check out Happy Cow for a long list of vegetarian eating all over Europe.
"Travel Notes: In Europe most products have E-numbers in their ingredients list. These are products that are approved by the European Union, but one cannot be sure what those products are because only a number is given. Some products are synthetic, others are from plants, or dead, or alive animals. Here is a list of numbers to avoid when you are a vegan: All numbers begin with E- (see what these numbers stand for at: www.food-info.net/uk/qa/qa-fi45.htm): 101, 101a, 120, 153, 161b, c, f, g, 252, 270, 280, 281, 282, 283, 302, 322, 325, 326, 327, 341a, b, c, 375, 404, 408, 422, 430, 431, 432, 433, 434, 435, 436, 470, a, b, 471, 472, a, b, c, d, e, f, 473, 474, 475, 476, 477, 478, 479, 481, 482, 483, 485, 491, 491, 491, 494, 495, 542, 570, 572, 585, 626, 627, 629, 630, 631, 633, 634, 635, 640, 901, 913, 920, 921, 1105, 1518"
You'll have no more trouble finding a vegan or ovo-lacto menu than you will here. As for tofu schnitzel, pardon me while I collapse laughing (not meant unkindly). Look, you get traditional foods in a traditional manner. Ditto you get vegetarian food in a vegetarian manner. Vegetarian food in Western Europe I've found to be more than excellent as there is a long tradition there. As for mock meat in Prague....
Trust me, I laughed too, when I wrote tofu schnitzel as well. This is our first adventure with my boyfriend being a vegetarian (he wasn't the last 2 years we traveled). I think finding and deciding on a restaurant to eat is a difficult part of our trip. We either can not decide, or we are too intimidated to walk in, or not too sure what is on the menu. So now, we have even a bigger factor to throw into difficulty; he's a veg head now. I will be eating the real thing, but he may just have to live off of bread, cheese and beer. He is not worried about it, like I am. So I was just currious if there were a veg restaurant that made traditional local fare but in a more animal friendly manner. I know NYC has a few eateries where they take a traditional meat dish and make if with some kind of mock meat.......Not sure though if they do a tofu schnitzel but I may have to send them the idea.......
You asked for a recommendation - how about finding another boyfriend. I digress...
My husband and I really liked the Hollerei restaurant in Vienna, near the Miedling u-bahn station. It's one of the participants in the Vienna city card program and they gave us 25% off our bill. There was a goulash-like dish that was really delicious. They didn't replace the meat with any fake stuff, just served it without. It was a charming place.
Right outside the gate of Rothenburg (Restaurant and Rothenburger Pfannkuchenkuchel at the gasthof Zum Rappen) I had a great pfannkuchen soup. It's the pancake like things, shredded up, and in a soup form. It was neat.
In Prague, I'm sure you'll find something, but I don't recall any veg meals that I had there. I haven't been to Budapest yet so I can't help with that.
Have fun! Try not to exist just on beer and bread and cheese! :)
As Steve has mentioned, the Happy Cow website provides links to the world's veggie restaurants. It's been a long time but I had a very memorable veggie meal in Vienna thanks to them.
I have gone on the Happy Cow website and have printed up a list of veg head friendly restaurants. But that is just a list. I was wanting some first hand experiences with vegetarian restaurants in relatively meat crazed countries. So the more recommendations of specific restaurants, the better!