Tips on eating out on special diets

It's a lot easier than you think to find a restaurant that can cater to your diet. I noticed that every restaurant has at least one vegetarian/vegan option on their menu.

As a vegan, I never had trouble eating out. 2 weeks ago, for instance, was Chinese New Year and, to celebrate, I went out to dinner with my Mom and brother. My brother chose to have a hot-pot dinner. But since they're not vegetarian, we asked the waitresses to make our meals separate, so they used a divider to help avoid cross-"contamination" between the meat in their meals and the veggies in mine.

Left: My brother and Mom's dinner where they put their lean meats and seafood (not seen in this pic). Right: Me and my mushrooms :)

Hot-pot is used for instant cooking in restaurants where the customers can  cook their own meals.  

Here are some tips that you would find helpful whenever you're out with friends and family:
1. Go on the restaurant's website to check their menu before deciding to go there. This way, you'll be sure if the place has something that you can eat and you'll know exactly what to order.
2. Once you order, make it clear to the waitress/waiter about your dietary needs. 
3. Be careful when you go to ethnic cuisine restaurants or when you order vegetable dishes. I've noticed that sometimes different cultures have different definitions of "vegetarian". In some Asian restaurants, they put meat-based stock in what they call "vegetarian" noodle soup. I once ordered a dish that was labeled "vegetarian" on the restaurant's menu and noticed bits of bone marrow in the bowl. I spoke to the chefs about it and they said that all their so-called vegetarian customers still consider meat-based stocks to be vegetarian! When you go to such restaurants, don;t forget Tip #2  and make sure they either use veggie broth or water in your soup instead.
4. Make sure that the dishes are specifically labeled before ordering. Almost every restaurant nowadays would label their dishes.
5. Find something that caters to your diet that everyone can share, such as an appetizer or side dish. This would make your meal more enjoyable.

My favorite noodle, vermicelli. This thing literally takes just 10 seconds to cook in the hot pot.

I hope you found these tips helpful, and if you have any other tips that I've forgotten to mention, please share them!