Best veg eating out spots + a giveaway

Shravan started this weekend and as much as we cook at home, there are times when we just want to go out for a meal. When you’re doing a vegetarian fast, it automatically seems like your eating out options are limited. Well, fear not! I am here to share with you my favourite places to find delicious vegetarian meals.

No meat!

I know there are many definitions of vegetarian but when I say vegetarian, I am referring to the Hindu definition. After all, Hindus have been vegetarian for millennia so technically we should trust their definition of the word. Vegetarian for Hindus means not harming any animal life, therefore no meat, poultry, fish, eggs and animal products where you had to harm the animal to get it - like gelatin and lard. So milk is fine.

That’s my definition and it's ok if your definition of vegetarian is different to mine. But regardless of where you are on the scale of vegetarian, you will probably enjoy my list of places to eat at where your veg meals are tasty and not just a salad or meat dish side.

And yes, judging from the title, one of these restaurants have something tasty to give away. Can you guess which one without immediately scrolling all the way down to the bottom? 

Simply Asia

I had a moment in my life when I realised that I actually loved Thai food. I just hated the common stuff like the Thai curries that are loaded with my least favourite ingredient – coconut milk. Simply Asia was the restaurant that made me realise this. Since then, my husband has to restrain me from wanting to eat there every week. I love this restaurant when I’m fasting because their entire menu can be practically made vegetarian. Most of their dishes come standard with chicken or beef. Just ask them to replace it with tofu or soya and you’ve got yourself a meat-free dish. All the ingredients are listed so if you can watch out for dishes which contain oyster sauce or fish sauce.  Whatever you order, don’t forget to have the Chocolate Spring Rolls dessert.

You can find this Thai deliciousness at Kyalami on Main Shopping Centre.

A photo posted by Lutfiya♡ (@lutfiya_shaik) on May 30, 2015 at 11:03am PDT

Nu Health Food Cafe

I wrote about Nu when they first landed in Johannesburg. They made tasty healthy food accessible. I eat here a lot – whether I’m fasting or not. Their menu caters for vegans, vegetarians and those just wanting to eat healthily. I most like that their ingredients are responsibly sourced and they make healthy eating taste nice. I definitely recommend  a multi-grain wrap called The Fixer made with broccoli, lentils, feta, flaked almonds, radish, chia seeds, pea shoots, lemon and olive oil dressing. The ingredients may not sound appetising but I assure you that it is absolutely delicious.

The only place you can find Nu Health Food Cafe in Johannesburg is the Waterfall Corner Mall.

A photo posted by nü (@nuhealthfood) on Jan 1, 2015 at 2:27am PST

Piza e Vino

I started my fast with the Black on White pizza from Piza eVino. From their range of vegetarian pizzas, this one is my favourite with black mushrooms, olives, garlic, feta and cheese. Then again, anything on their crispy thin wood fired oven base would taste great. 

The Piza e Vino that I frequent the most is at Carlswald Decor Centre.

A photo posted by Piza e Vino (@piza_e_vino) on Jun 26, 2015 at 2:42am PDT

Rocomamas

Rocomamas doesn’t just make good burgers, they also have an amazing vibe making it a great place to join friends for lunch. Just because you’re going veggie, doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy that vibe. All their burgers come in a vegetarian option with the same delicious toppings (minus the bacon).   

I go to all the Rocomamas but the one I prefer is at Pineslopes Boulevard.

A photo posted by RocoMamas® (@rocomamas) on Jul 14, 2015 at 2:59am PDT

Shayona

If you’re serious about your fasting where you won’t dare step into a restaurant that serves meat, then Shayona is definitely for you. Their entire menu is pure vegetarian meaning my Hindu definition of vegetarian plus they don’t use onion or garlic in their food. The Indian buffet menu changes every day. They have an extensive a la carte menu that offers Western-style dishes but I recommend the curries and you have to order a paratha to go with it. No other restaurant makes parathas like they do. I’ve also tried and failed miserably. 

Shayona is quite a drive for most people living in the Northern suburbs but every Guji will tell you that the drive to Mayfair will be worth it. 

There you have it: some of my favourite restaurants when I’m giving meat a miss. Now some exciting news: whether you're on a vegetarian diet or not, Simply Asia in Kyalami has offered me 4 meal vouchers valued at R100 each to give away to 4 of my readers. I'll select a winner from each of my social media: Facebook, Twitter, Blog Subscription list and blog comments. Winners must be able to redeem their vouchers via the Kyalami branch of Simply Asia.

Enter via the Rafflecopter widget. Goodluck!
  

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Why you are probably wearing the incorrect bra size

For a women’s day event, Barclay and Clegg were offering free bra fittings. I thought this would be great to try out. With my small boobies, I’ve always worn a 32A bra. My whole life, I thought that my breasts are small, therefore I’m an A cup. Here’s a huge misconception that everyone is made to think about cup sizes.

With me getting fatter and bulging out of the A cups, I’ve resorted to a 32B which I was still sceptical of cos my 32B’s didn’t sit quite right. After I was whisked away to a private fitting room, the lovely lady who examined me claimed that I am actually a 32C. What!!! I cannot believe that it’s true that most women walk around wearing the incorrect bra size and I was one of them. She very quickly brought in a bra in my size and my God was I impressed with how well it fitted. She explained to me just what a bra should be covering, i.e. my cup size, and why I thought the B cups were too big.

This pic clearly explains why cup sizes are not independent of band sizes. The same cup can be very different boobs when you take into account different band sizes. 

A photo posted by Brava Lingerie (@bravalingerie) on May 19, 2015 at 10:34pm PDT

After being all proud of my C cups (which I probably had all along and just squeezed them into A cups), I decided to do some bra shopping. While I was choosing the bras I wanted, I overheard a woman trying to figure out her size with her friend. Her friend’s advice was to take her pants size and then estimated that she was a D cup by looking at her. That’s how people out there are buying bras!

A photo posted by @julianalondonuk on May 19, 2015 at 2:53pm PDT

So my good deed for women everywhere this Women’s Month is to spread some awareness on this and some tips on how you can check whether you are indeed wearing the correct sized bra. If you don’t feel like going to a store to get fitted, check out this really good video that I found that explains how to measure yourself at home.

  

If you can't watch the video, there's a great website you can use to read more on how to measure yourself. And if you enter your measurements, the tool on the website will calculate your bra size for you. Hop on over here http://brasizecalculator.tk/.

I feel so empowered knowing and wearing my correct bra size. Not only do I feel great but my I think my clothes fit better too. Have you ever had a bra fitting? What did you think of the experience? Were you also surprised by the outcome? 

Indian dining etiquette

When it comes to choosing food to eat, Indian is no doubt my favourite cuisine. I just love the addition of spices prepared in so many ways to transform simple ingredients into delicious meals that you cannot get enough of. I love the deep fried snacks, the softness of rotis and other breads. It amazes me how many people share my love of Indian food and yet know so little about the etiquette that comes with eating it. Western table manners seem to be common knowledge. We all know how to set a table, which utensils to eat with what, how to pair different food items and when to eat certain foods. So here’s my guide to getting people up to speed with Indian table manners.

Everyone knows the Western formal table setting

Hows this for an Indian "table" setting

Eating with your hands

I eat almost all my food with my hands. I am met with surprise and disbelief at how I do it. It’s pretty easy when you were raised eating with the cutlery you were born with – your hands. People think that eating rice with your hands is just not possible. My response is that Indians farmed rice long before the concept of cutlery was introduced to them so they’ve mastered the art. When eating with your hands, it is restricted to your right hand only. Your left hand is kept clean so that you can dish more food from the clean spoons in the serving dishes or to grab your drink with. Indian food is soft enough to break food into small morsels and scoop it together with your fingertips only. This is super important! Even though you’re eating with your hands, only your fingertips ever get stained with food. Eating with roti or any other bread is even easier. Break off a small piece of the bread and use it to pick up some curry with your roti. You shouldn’t even get your hands messed with the curry when you eat roti.

Cleaning your hands

Because you’re eating with your hands, you want to make sure that your hands are clean. All Indian restaurants and households are very accommodating for anyone wishing to use the bathroom to wash their hands before food arrives. In some restaurants, I actually ask for a finger bowl before eat. After your meal, the Western concept of just wiping your hands on a serviette is considered unclean. And to be honest, it’s a lot more hygienic to wash your hands afterwards too.

A photo posted by Asha Shiv (@foodfashionparty) on Aug 3, 2015 at 6:51pm PDT

Courses

Indians usually serve one course. It could be a variety of curries, rice and breads. Eat to your heart’s desire. Sometimes, dessert will be informally served. So all those starters you see at an Indian restaurant’s menu is more of our snack list. In an Indian household, those starter dishes will be served at tea time and not as an appetiser from the Western concept of a 3 course meal.

A photo posted by Julie Bahn (@juliefeliz) on Aug 4, 2015 at 7:01pm PDT

The only deviation to this is the Gujarati meals. I love this more so in a formal setting. My husband’s family serve a sweet appetiser to waken the taste buds. It’s then on to a roti course where whatever bread served is eaten with a curry – generally a dish that is more dry-ish than gravy-ish. On to my favourite course – the rice course served with a gravy-ish curry. To end the meal: dessert.

A photo posted by Bri Dimattina (@bri.dimattina) on Aug 4, 2015 at 6:59pm PDT

Some Indian households will serve a number of curry dishes. Again, it’s not really the Western concept of tasting everything that’s on the table. You’d probably be fine eating a maximum of 2 or 3 curries. Just be sure that you dish a little so that you can finish everything on your plate. If you like more food, dish a little more on to your plate. (See why you need to keep that left hand clean now.) It is rather rude to waste food. Even if you’re in a restaurant, dish from the main serving dish on to your plate. If you really can’t finish everything, DO NOT put food from your plate back into the main serving dish. That’s when jutha comes into play.

A photo posted by Karine Larose (@karinenrose) on Aug 4, 2015 at 3:56pm PDT

Jutha

This is the concept of touching a utensil or food to one’s mouth or saliva. It’s considering unhygienic to drink from a glass or bite into an apple and then it with someone else. So if you’re eating with your hands or even a spoon, it’s touched your mouth and putting it back into your food is contaminating your meal. This is fine if you’re the only one eating but if you can’t finish your food someone else might not be too keen on wanting to eat your contaminated remnants. Keep the food that you are not eating clean.

A photo posted by Fafa (@retro_afro_food) on Aug 2, 2015 at 2:04pm PDT

Mixing your food

There are a lot of Western meals where you would mix your food together before eating – like pasta and sauce. There’s no need to do that with Western food. Just eat from one corner mixing a little bit of curry with your rice. If you’ve got a number of curries on your plate, it’s nice to keep them separate so you can taste each one.

A photo posted by Mae RodC (@lapetitedame17) on Aug 4, 2015 at 7:30am PDT

A predominantly vegetarian cuisine

A lot of Indians are vegetarian and the ones that aren’t restrict themselves to vegetarian meals on religious and celebratory occasions. As such, if you’re invited to an Indian household for a feast don’t be that rude ignorant person that asks for the meat and looks on disapprovingly at the delicious beans curry served. Learn from this and be an informed person and decline the invitation if you really can’t handle a meal with no meat, poultry, eggs or fish.

A photo posted by Anamika Sharma (@mad_cookingfusions) on Jul 25, 2015 at 6:27pm PDT

A guest’s respect

When visiting an Indian home, you can be guaranteed that a host will go out of their way to prepare a meal for you even if you pitch up unannounced. However, it is considered rude for a guest to just assume they will be getting a meal. So when visiting, be sure to bring something with you – even if it’s just a packet of biscuits. The host will greatly appreciate it if they don’t have something that they easily offer for welcoming snacks to go with tea.

A photo posted by ChristieSuh (@chhristiee) on Aug 5, 2015 at 1:15am PDT

A host’s hospitality

Hosts want to have people over for a meal even if it’s modest food that is prepared. Respect that by eating enough and compliment the chef. Don’t be surprised if the host forcibly dishes more food for you or packs a container of leftover food for you to take home. The host just wants to make sure that you are well fed and enjoying yourself. If you don’t wish to eat more or take any food home, politely decline. 

A photo posted by Shwetha (@shwethashetty3) on Aug 1, 2015 at 1:12am PDT

The social side to it

Remember that dining is a social activity. Eat slowly and savour your food. Talk to your fellow diners. And if you’re done first, don’t be in a rush to leave the table. Wait for everyone else.

I was hoping to find a video online showing how to eat with your hands but I found this instead that I thought was quite funny about why Indians eat with their hands.

And with that, I think you are sufficiently armed with enough information to enjoy an Indian meal the way it was intended. And if you’re ever invited to an Indian’s home, you’ll do great to impress and not offend them.