What to order at a restaurant?

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Permalink Reply by Chris on June 13, 2012 at 8:27am

With your or family (or others) tell them "I just feel better and have more energy when I eat this way". 

As for restaurants I'm not sure what the menu is like for restaurants in France.  I've only been to Nice/Monaco and that was for just one day.

I don't eat out very often but when I do I tell others that I am there to enjoy their company and for me the food isn't very important.  And I encourage them to enjoy their meals.  If I have accepted their invitation to join them, I don't feel it my place to judge and criticize their choices (just as I expect them to respect my choices).

Good luck

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Permalink Reply by Lustu Cru on June 13, 2012 at 6:37pm

Thank you. I agree with all of you!

I also think it's too soon to say I'm raw and I also hope for visible changes on my body!
Last week I ordered a vegetarian salad at a restaurant and it was almost all cooked: cooked green beans, cooked corn... bad luck! haha

Bu now I'm learning to cook delicious raw dishes so I think I will soon be able to invite my friends at home instead of going to the restaurant :)

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Permalink Reply by Anna on June 13, 2012 at 7:15pm

Yeah I'm in the same boat as you! Will be easier to just have people over then to go out!

...and i've decided i wont tell people about this...too many questions will be asked/ too much fuss made!

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Permalink Reply by Nerada on June 13, 2012 at 7:35pm

Tell your friends about your new lifestyle, don't hide it. When people ask questions, don't be annoyed by them, them asking questions is normal, they are concerned. Just answer honestly, and maybe lend them your 801010 book (if you have it), or any other information on the HCRV lifestyle. After a while, the questions will stop and they will accept your lifestyle. You might get some comments once in a while, but people will get used to your new eating habits.

My first visit to a restaurant when I just started was easy, cause they had a giant salad buffet in the middle of the restaurant. For only 3€ you can fill up your plate as often as you want, and they had a huge selection of fresh veggies. Yay!

The last time I went to a restaurant was not that easy. It was on holiday and we went to a fish restaurant... There was nothing on the menu that didn't have any form of fish or dairy in it, so I asked the waitress if she could whip up some nice vegan salad for me, without any oil or sauce. Turns out that her best friend is a high carb raw vegan as well! She knew exactly what I was looking for and made me a wonderful big salad with a little fruit salad for dessert. Loved it! :)

Just tell the people at the restaurant what you eat and can't eat, or print out a list beforehand. They will be understanding and do their best to create a wonderful dish for you. I didn't have any bad experiences yet :)

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Permalink Reply by Anna on June 13, 2012 at 8:39pm

Oh that's such good advice Nerada :)

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Permalink Reply by Lustu Cru on June 14, 2012 at 7:03pm

+1 :)

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Permalink Reply by Minium on June 14, 2012 at 12:03am

I love the idea of printing a little card with all you will and won't eat and give it to the restaurant's chef. I can't remember where I saw this idea but I thought it was very smart. I'm going to make my own.

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Permalink Reply by Jade on June 16, 2012 at 12:36pm

If just a plain salad bores you, here are some other options I've actually gotten, depending on what type of restaurant it is and what they have on hand: 

-Mango/cilantro lettuce wraps.  Originally they were shrimp lettuce wraps, but I modified the ingredients with "plus this, minus that"

-Avocadoes & pico de gallo together with some lettuce, other veg

-Fresh chopped bruschetta, with red bell pepper slices instead of bread

-Tabbouleh can be made without cous cous.  In fact, it's better this way :)

-Fruit salad...just ask what they have on hand. 

Ask for limes, lemons, cilantro, basil, etc. to add flavor to any salad or otherwise bland dish. 

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Permalink Reply by Esra on June 16, 2012 at 1:39pm

First of all, when I go out, I don't have any expectations :p. Most places don't have the greatest salads (and I'm talking 0.5lb of greens, 4 tomatoes, etc. - the way I make 'em!), and the fancier the place, I find, has the worse salads, because they're full of "fancy" non-veg ingredients. So since I go with no expectations, I'm often actually really happy with what I get!

I always order *exactly* what I want in my salad, so there are no surprises. I have tried the note thing (where you write on it what you want) and some places don't take that too well, although I should try it more often.

So I look through the menu, and if there is an almost raw salad, then it's really easy, I just tell them not to put *insert non-raw items*, and if I see they have fruit on other part of their menu I ask them to put that in the salad as well.
If there are no almost raw salads (like "house salad") then I just tell the server that I want a salad, and that I will tell them what I want in it! Then I list off ingredients (which they have in their menu), and that always works too, and I get exactly what I want. I have never been disappointed. My salad always comes out super colourful, and people I'm with always keep looking over and tell me how good that looks.

Another tip, if you can order last, do that, that way everyone is preoccupied thinking about what they just ordered.

The longer you do this for though, this becomes really easy, as everyone around you gets used to it (yes, that time will come!), and you'll feel super comfortable getting what you want :).

Oh yeah! Don't forget to eat before you go, because whatever they're going to give you will not fill you up.

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Permalink Reply by Nathan on June 16, 2012 at 1:40pm

I've been thinking about this, and I think what I'm going to do next time is bring a bag of dates and add them to a salad.. or just eat them on the side. Simple, compact, and you get still get a lot of calories.

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