Melbourne food and weather

Melbourne is the only place where fashion is determined by the daily weather forecast. I got it wrong all 5 days this week. Had my overcoat on for the first two days while it was pleasant and the next two days went to office in just my suits and it turned out to be freezing cold. Friday, i had my sweatshirt and jacket on when i walked out of my home it was pleasant so removed my jacket but a few minutes later it became cold enough to wear my jacket again. Jacket on, Jacket off, Damn you unpredictable melbourne weather.

Being a vegetarian, i am always asked how have do you survive in Australia? Australia is known for its meat and BBQ but it also has the widest range of international cuisine and Melbourne is the food capital of Australia. Every international cuisine at least have a couple of good vegetarian dishes. In the beginning i was reluctant to go beyond the 1000's of indian restaurants in melbourne but being in a group of mad foodies, i was forced to explore and i have developed a liking for them so much that i take them out to these restaurants now. Some of the my options are

Mexican - My personal favourite, you can start with nachos, tacos and move on to burritos, fajitas, Enchiladas for the mains.

Tasty and cheesy Mexican food

Thai - Red Curry, Green Curry, Satay Veges and Stir Fry Veges.

Italian - Funghi ripieni, Bruschetta for entree and for main choose any of the veg pizzas, pastas and risottos.

Japanese - Vegetarian Tofu Don, Vegetarian Teriyaki Don.

Chinese - Dumplings (Steamed or Fried),Tofu and Stir Fry Mixed Veges.

Indonesian - Satay veges.

Sri Lankan - Veg Kottu roti, curries.

Persian - similar to indian, you get curries and aloo palak.

Singapore/Malaysian/Vietnamese - roti, curries, noodles and fried rice.

African - Surprisingly had plenty of veg options, you can choose shiro.

Middle Eastern - Falafel is my saviour while my friends relish the kebabs.

Greek - Vegetarian Souvlaki is my only option.

Korean - you need some luck to find a good veg dish.

You also have options of veg sushi and fake meat soy dishes which i don't have the stomach to try out.Also you have the sandwiches, burgers, pizza's and pasta's in most of the other restaurants.

I have had a couple of embarrassing moments with food. The top one was a team lunch in a pub, the menu was circulated a couple of days ago and only option i saw was a pumpkin risotto but wanted to have pasta i saw an option of marinara pasta. This one had no mention of any meat/seafood so i googled marinara sauce and found that it is a tomato sauce used by sailors for long journeys. When the food came, i was shocked to see shells, shrimp and squids in my plate. I learnt it the hard way that marinara meant a mixture of sea food.Should have guessed why would sailors be vegetarians. Had a total blonde moment but the waitress changed my food and gave me the world's first vegetarian marinara pasta and added some salad as a compliment. The more common one is egg is vegetarian, had to send back my order a few times for not mentioning quite specifically.

If you are quite specific about being vegetarian remember a couple of things.

1. Tell them no egg, no meat and no sea food. Some cuisines egg and sea food are vegetarian.
2. Always check the food before you eat and incase of any doubt don't feel shy to question it.

Overall, Melbourne is a food friendly, veg friendly place and i have even had instances where the restaurants modified their menu to make something vegetarian for me. Well if you are looking for good breakfast options, the cafe menu leaves you with literally bread, baked beans and fruit salad when you remove meat and egg.The other place i was discriminated for being a vegetarian is during blood donation, after a couple of donations i was told my iron content is a little above normal and so they wont take my blood as iron content in vegetarians are low and takes a longer time to re-generate.