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Thread: vegan in Milan

  1. #1
    Manzana Manzana's Avatar
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    Question vegan in Milan

    Hi everyone! I am going to Milan with work today and I am dreading not being able to eat anywhere... anyone out there can give me some tips???

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    Default Re: vegan in Milan

    Order a large insalata (un grande insalata misto per favore) and then pick any veggies that are preserved sott'olio - you can choose from zucchini (courgette), melanzane (aubergine), funghi(mushrooms), peppers (not sure how this is referred to - peperoncini usually refers to chilli but is probably something similar), pomodoro/i(tomatoes) - all are delicious and if you can eat bread there should be plenty of that at the table anyway.

  3. #3
    baffled harpy's Avatar
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    Default Re: vegan in Milan

    There are members in Italy so you should hear from them but in the meantime...

    I haven't been to Milan for any length of time unfortunately but other places I've been to in Italy finding vegan food isn't too much of a a problem. Restaurants often have a vegetarian antipasto which consists of the veg. in oil that Robert mentioned (sometimes on a table from which you can help yourself) and there is usually the odd pasta dish that is OK. Pizzas are usually made to order so you can ask for one without cheese.

    http://www.happycow.net/europe/italy/milan/ looks quite hopeful. Have fun - how long are you going for?

    Edited to add that I think the word for (sweet) pepper may be "peperonata".

    Sorry, I meant "vegetable antipasto" rather than vegetarian, but anyway you won't be able to miss it if it's there on the table You don't need a personal assistant in Milan do you ?

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    driftingAway piggy's Avatar
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    Default Re: vegan in Milan

    hi, i'm afraid i can't point you to any restaurants in particular, but as robert said, try getting veggie antipasti or side dishes (contorni di verdure), such as sott'oli and roasted veg, salad, chips.
    like harpy said, lots of resataurants have a buffet like place where you can choose the veggie starters (antipasti) for yourself...so if you can manage to find one of those places, that's great.
    as for pasta dishes, one should always be able to get a simple pasta and tomato sauce (pasta e pomodoro), or maybe even something fancier like pasta e funghi porcini. problem is, the fresh pasta used in restaurants usually contains egg, so you'll have to ask for one without(senza uova).
    sweet peppers are called pepperoni.
    also, pizza without cheese is a good bet (marinara)
    Piggy

  5. #5
    baffled harpy's Avatar
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    Default Re: vegan in Milan

    Quote piggy View Post
    the fresh pasta used in restaurants usually contains egg, so you'll have to ask for one without(senza uova).
    ISTR hearing that spaghetti is normally made with just semolina - is that not right, piggy? Anyway, seems a good idea to double-check.

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    Default Re: vegan in Milan

    Home made or fresh pasta of the type you would encounter in restaurants in Italy will normally have been made from egg and flour.

    Commercially prepared dry pastas and 'fresh' pastas are made from flour and water.

    Just ask as some restaurants do use the latter over the egg pasta. My Italian is not great but I think you would try something along the lines of requesting 'pasta l'acqua' and state firmly 'non pasta con uovo' - it is basic but with some mimicry am sure they would follow.

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    driftingAway piggy's Avatar
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    Default Re: vegan in Milan

    i think spaghetti in particular tends to be eggless, also because in my experience usually the commercial dry ones are used. other pasta types are more likely to contain egg. anyway, it can vary quite a lot from place to place , so one really has to ask. the 'better' the restaurant is, the more likely the pasta is fresh/homemade and with egg
    Piggy

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    driftingAway piggy's Avatar
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    Default Re: vegan in Milan

    so how did it go?
    Piggy

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    Manzana Manzana's Avatar
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    Default Re: vegan in Milan

    Well, the first day I went to this supposedly vegan friendly restaurant... and although they were fascinated by my veganism, they were not v good at making vegan meals... I was first given egg pasta filled with cheese (they assured me it had no cheese) after i tried it I sent it back (with my mouth full of cheese... yuk)

    Then they brought me what I am almost certain was egg pasta (but they again assured me it was vegan)... I ate it and felt sick on the way back to the hotel.... (Is this normal? I honestly felt sick, it was not a mental thing, it was physically sick till Ithrew up... maybe I ate some dairy without noticing??)

    The second day and up till now it has been amazing cos I have just stuck to bread, grilled veg and yummy salads

    thank you all for your advice

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    Default Re: vegan in Milan

    Glad after the first few issues it has settled down. Italy is really a great country to be vegan in, as they have such a wonderful selection of vegetables and salads to choose from. Only catch is you really need to have some of the language in order to circumvent the odd menu-bound waiters that you will come across.

  11. #11

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    Default Re: vegan in Milan

    Quote Manzana View Post
    The second day and up till now it has been amazing cos I have just stuck to bread
    Unfortunately, in northern Italy, bread is often made with "strutto" (piggy lard)...

    Next time ask to the waiter about the kind of bread the restaurant has and you ask "pane senza strutto" (lardless bread) hope that they have that kind of bread.

    Many times the waiters don't know the ingredients of the bread...



  12. #12
    Manzana Manzana's Avatar
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    Default Re: vegan in Milan

    I wish you hadnt said that!!!!

    Well, I am happy thinking my bread was lard free... (and I tried my hardest to avoid animal products!)

  13. #13

    Default Re: vegan in Milan

    Hi,

    In a couple of weeks time I'm going to Milan with my sister for 6 nights- can anyone recommend a place to stay, preferably budget hotel or possibly self-catering? Also, any recommendations for vegan eating would be great.

    Thanks a lot
    x x x

  14. #14
    baffled harpy's Avatar
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    Default Re: vegan in Milan

    Lucky you, I really liked Milan. We went a couple of years ago and stayed at this one

    http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_R..._Lombardy.html

    We found it was fine though like everything else on Tripadvisor it has had mixed reports.

    Here are some notes I made at the time about restaurants but I wouldn't assume they are still there given the rate at which veggie restaurants come and go! Same applies to the ones on Happycow - check first before making a special trip.

    Natura 8+ Via Dell'Unione 3 (20122), near the Duomo - vegetarian-friendly self-service lunch place with salads, pasta and rice dishes plus freshly squeezed juices.

    Pizzeria Summertime (I think that's what it was called) via Vincenzo Monti 32, Milano, near Santa Maria delle Grazie (church featuring Leonardo's Last Supper) - had replaced a defunct vegetarian restaurant we were looking for; nice pizzas, dauntingly large but manageable because v thin.

    New Delhi, via Tadino 1, near Porta Venezia - reasonable Indian, made a change from pizzas - this one was kindly recommended by someone on the forum

    Warsa, via Melzo 16, again near Porta Venezia - popular Eritrean place. Vegetarian platter is apparently vegan. (Decor features animal skins etc though :-/)

    A lot of bars have a "happy hour" which counterintuitively isn't to do with cheap booze but involves an all-you-can-eat buffet. I didn't try this but it sounded as if they might include nuts and stuff so a veg*n might do all right. You can get pizzas made without cheese although unless your Italian is good you may have to take the bases on trust.

  15. #15

    Default Re: vegan in Milan

    hi harpy,

    thanks a lot for that , i'll hopefully check some of those out, if they're still there.

    yo-yo xx

  16. #16
    baffled harpy's Avatar
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    Default Re: vegan in Milan

    Have a great time, yo-yo, and please let us know how you get on.

    There are some interesting looking places on HappyCow but how many of them are still there is anyone's guess. I think I told them about the ones that I found were no longer in business a couple of years back... I didn't take my own advice and tended just to go and look without phoning first - it's one way of seeing the town!

  17. #17

    Default Re: vegan in Milan

    yeh when I looked on there I was really surprised at how many vegan places were listed. perhaps wrongly I assumed they weren't all there, I just couldn't believe there were so many all in one city!! but maybe I'm wrong. Yeh I'll do what you say and ring ahead.
    thanks again.
    yo-yo xxx

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