I have noticed that the major restaurants do not seem to cater for vegans. I thought that sending this letter would be a good way to find out whether I have misunderstood and also raise awareness that staff cannot always answer questions like these, which makes it very difficult to know what to eat. Maybe they’ll add things to their menu. What do you think?
Hi.
I am vegan & I wondered if there is anything on the menu that I can eat?
I am not sure if you have a stock of soya milk so that I could purchase a tea/coffee.
Also do you have any vegan desserts?
Lastly, are the pizza bases are vegan. If they are, I imagine that could order a cheese free pizza. Would I be correct?Do I have any other choices?
Please advise so I am aware of what i can eat if i dine at ___________.
I am sending this becuase staff are not always aware of what vegan means nor do they know of all the ingredients used, in order to be able to advise in store.
Thanks
I hope to hear from you soonHeena
7 Comments
Heena Modi · August 27, 2008 at 1:22 pm
Sarah (Sarah_Bridges@papajohns.co.uk) wrote
Dear Heena,
Thank you for your recent email.
I can confirm that our pizza bases are suitable for vegans.
Please do not hesitate to contact me should you require any further information.
Regards,
Sarah Bridges
Customer Services | Papa John’s (GB) Limited
+44 (0)1932 57 4371 | http://www.papajohns.co.uk
Heena Modi · August 30, 2008 at 2:03 pm
feedback@gondolagroup.co.uk sent me this.
They are the Gondola group (http://www.gondolaholdings.com/). They own Pizza Express, Ask and Zizzi.
Dear Heena,
Thank you for your enquiry.
Although we do not actually have a vegan pizza on the menu, it is possible to create your own from the ingredients we do have in our kitchens and all our pizza are made to order and can be ordered without the items that render it unsuitable i.e. pesto, cheese etc.
Our pizza bases are completely free of animal and dairy products and are 100% suitable for vegans, as is the oil used to lubricate the pans prior to cooking. Our famous tomato sauce is made up of tomatoes, salt, pepper, fresh basil and oregano. Unfortunately we don’t have a vegan cheese in the business but you can leave the cheese off any pizza of your choice.
If you fancy creating your own vegan pizza – use the tips above and then choose toppings from our extra’s menu which has a large variety of fresh vegetables such as onion, peppers, artichokes, spinach, rocket, capers, olives, jalapeno’s, pine kernels, sultana’s, tomatoes & mushrooms.
Avoid our dressings; they often include anchovy, cream or cheese.
Unfortunately none of our desserts are suitable for vegans.
Always explain to the waiting staff and/or manager on duty of your dietary requirements and discuss any questions you have with them.
I certainly hope this information helps and if I can be of any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Regards
Katrina Lister
Quality and Safety Co-ordinator
Suraj Shah · September 1, 2008 at 1:37 pm
Excellent – great work Heena – does this mean we’ll be eating out more?
Alpa Shah · September 20, 2008 at 3:56 pm
Can you trust the restaurants whom you make enquiries with?
Something to keep in mind when you go to an ‘Indian’ vegan place
Having visited a very good restaurant in Suburban Mumbai we ordered Jain Subzi along with combination of NAN & Roti. In a few seconds the managers of the restaurant who was known to me from many years approached me and requested me to cut NAN from our order as it was not sa JAIN food, i inquired to him that how was that possible as it’s only made of MAIDA.
What he clarified with his professional ethics was just shocking, here are the details :-
1] NAN, KULCHA & RUMALI ROTI CANNOT BE MADE WITHOUT EGG in it.
It is absolutely impossible for any one to make them without egg in a hotel. It will not be that soft and elastic through out the day and shall start to
crack in some time.
2] He also clarified that as been registered a Vegetarian Hotel he can’t bring in eggs so the get the Atta made in ready form from local bakeries who prepare it for them and supply to all restaurants.
3] He also said that even thought all restaurants owners shall deny this but it is a fact and that others do not say it so as to not loose business. In fact they turn a blind eye on what the bakery staff add to the atta mixture.
4] He also stated that he been experience for soo many years in as a restaurant manager in many hotels does not know any single outlet that could give you VEGETARIAN NAN, KULCHA or RUMALI ROTI.
5] He also stated that he now clarifies it to all his clients as he feels that it is against his ethic’s to not provide details to the customer.
6] Only Plain Roti is the only item that a normal Vegetarian or a Jain can consume in a hotel.
All this stated above is 100% true and I request you to pass it on to your vegetarian and/or Jain friends.
Heena Modi · September 20, 2008 at 3:59 pm
I had no idea.
Thanks Alpa.
It just goes to show we don’t really have a clue about what we eat when we’ve not made it.
Thanks or passing the info on
Heena 🙂
Heena Modi · September 25, 2008 at 3:24 pm
Pizza Hut replied with: –
Dear Miss Modi,
Your reference is 000197683A
We have information available on our website, which you can access at
http://www.pizzahut.co.uk/restaurant/dietary-requirements.html
A full list of our ingredients can be found on our website at
http://www.pizzahut.co.uk/restaurant/pizza-ingredients.html
Sagar · February 11, 2009 at 10:27 pm
Pizza express now state on their menu that many of their pasta dishes can be made vegetarian if the parmesan (actually Grana Padano) is removed…(prior to this, any
dish with parmesan was not labelled as vegetarian, even if it did not contain any other non-vegetarian dishes) because it contains rennet from calf.
Why? ‘Parmesan cheese’ cannot be vegetarian – because of the fact that in the EU in order for it to be legally called Parmesan or “Parmigiano-Reggiano” – it must come from
the Northern Italy area where animal rennet is used.
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