Vegetarian Food in Paris, BO in Swiss and Vienna

Can't help you in Paris, but your choices in Switzerland would depend on whether or not you eat dairy products. If yes, you can easily find fondue or raclette without any meat. If no, you can usually get roesti without any meat or cheese, +/- an egg on top.

Hi Mala,
I too am vegetarian and found no problems in the Berner Oberland region. I believe that the vegetarian choices are better in the major towns like maybe Interlaken. From my experience even McDonalds has a vegetarian burger (I did not check it on my trip last year but it was available on a previous visit). There are also indian restaurants that cater to vegetarians. Failing all I just eat bread and butter :-) but I can't see it being a big problem. Even at the Jungfrau there is an indian restaurant and also several other restaurant there that had vegetarian selections. You should be fine.

What do you eat in your hometown when you go out to eat? It will probably be similar here. Pizza with mushrooms and veg, risotto with mushrooms or asparagus, potato dishes, big salads, pasta with tomato sauce or cream sauce, or go ethnic, with falafel or eggplant dishes, lentils or other beans. All of these cities will have Asian or Indian restaurants along with regular vegetarian restaurants. Since I was a vegetarian for a really long time over here, I do think it is easier over here than in the US. Being a vegetarian is very popular here, especially with young people. So, restaurants cater to it. Even McD's used to have a fairly decent vegetarian sandwich. Any half-way decent place will have at least one or two options on their menu as a main dish. One can always order ala carte too.

Guess i should have rephrased my question...I am not concerned abt not finding veggie food..i was able to find indian restuarants all over that have veggie food...
We would like to taste the local food / entrees and stuff without meat and I was wondering if there are any popular recommended restuarants where I can also find vegetarian options.
When we went to madrid, some locals pointed us some speciality restaurants that catered to vegeterians as well and It was probably some of the best food that i have had in my life.
thanks all for letting me know of some dishes that i can order with no meat

Hi Mala,
I misunderstood your question. I am afraid that I have never been able to enjoy much of the local cuisine in the countries you mentioned. I have found them all the be very meat based and just to be safe I took the easy way out and ordered stuff I knew for sure were vegetarian.Usually pizza or pasta. I had the dickens of a time in Spain some years ago but after a few days there the restaurant at the hotel we were in did fantastic vegetarian dishes for us after realizing our dietary restrictions. Perhaps the restaurants you visit may be willing to modify some of their local dishes. Good luck.

I would also add that, at least in the German-speaking countries, seasonal vegetables are often featured on the menu. The most notable example that I can think of is asparagus in the springtime. I'm not a vegetarian, but I ate some delicious meatless white asparagus dishes. Now if someone can tell me where I can find white asparagus soup in the US, I would be very happy indeed.

I forgot to mention... sometimes if you order dumplings or spaetzle as a "side", you may find the serving large enough to be a meal by it itself. Of course, spaetzle is usually cooked in copious amounts of butter, and I don't know if you eat dairy...

If you like mushrooms, then you might enjoy trying all the different kinds that are often available here on menus. My favorite is Pfifferlinge (chanterelle) or steinpilze. Austernpilze (oyster mushrooms) are also delicious. Any noodle or rice dish made with this is soooo good. When I used to go with friends I would just ask the kitchen to make me a vegetable platter. Often my friends would be jealous cause it looked so good. There are so many vegetables that are popular here on menus that you would seldom see in the states. Wirsing which is sort of like kale is often served sauteed, big white raw radish spirals will be served at beer gardens, spinach is popular as are brussel sprouts, broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower. Any of these served with potatoes or rice or spätzle, or dumplings is going to be delicious, especially if they have a nice hollandaise or bernaise sauce.

In Paris I had a vegetarian couscous in a North African restaurant - yummy.