Raw foods at a cooked restaurant

[Rufassa]

My wife and I live in Memphis (yeah bar-b-que capital\deep south:mad:) and there are no raw food restaurant. We have started to eat a diet that I refer to as 100% "proper" raw foods meaning that we don’t obsess over every ingredient in a dish as long as it is raw in all noticeable regards. So we will eat salsa despite the vinegar used not being raw but want eat sushi because the rice is obviously cooked.

With that being said I have the following question. We eat out quite a few times a week and would like some ideas about where and what we can eat outside of our normal routine. I would like to know what raw dishes standard restaurants carry. What we eat so far is:

Mexican

Guacamole
Guacamole salads
Salsa
Japanese

Seaweed salad
Cucumber Salad
House Salad
Thai

Papaya Salad
Vietnamese

Kimchi

Can someone please inform me of some other options that I may be overlooking.

[RawHeaven]

Hi Rufassa, honestly when I first went raw I was preparing most of my food at home anyway even though there are plenty of raw food restaurants in the Bay Area. I think the list you have created is pretty good. You & your wife have SUPER WILLPOWER. No joking. When I was just learning I lived in San Francisco, one of the restaurant meccas of the world. Just take your pic of what kind of global food you like and you will find it here. There have to be a million Thai & Japanese restaurants alone. If I went near a Japanese or Thai restaurant there is no way I would've stayed raw. I didn't really think about going as I was really into learning how to prepare the gourmet raw stuff. If I did find myself in a cooked food restaurant socializing with friends or whatever, I would personally just stick with a house salad without the dressing or drink water with lemon. Sometimes the chef would accomodate a special request for a super raw salad. I also got in the habit of carrying avocados and fruit with me that I could add to salads or just munch on them. I hope you get more ideas. Congratulations on becoming Raw. Blessings.

[rawchic]

At sushi restaurants I always ask them to make me rolls without rice. They usually look at me like I'm nuts, but have always been willing to do it. My fav is nori with cucumber, avocado & asparagus.

At Mexican, I always ask for a plate of veggies to dip in the guac instead of chips.

Greek salad is good, minus the feta.

I find Italian & Indian to be tough - not usually a lot of options.

Whenever I'm someplace where the salads are limited, I look at all the entrees and see what veggies they come with. For instance, if there is a steak with asparagus, I know I can ask them to add raw asparagus to a salad.

[Springtime]

Restaurants i've been to have always been very helpful and friendly when i've asked for a plate of plain vegetables, or a salad with "everything in it!"

If i was to go to a bigger event or a family celebration in a restaurant, i would call or visit the restaurant at least one week before the event to discuss an option (and give them enough time to place an order for the fruits and veg at their trader).

Most restaurants have loads of different vegetables in the kitchen, so just talk to them!

[Rufassa]

Hi Rufassa, honestly when I first went raw I was preparing most of my food at home...

That’s kind of the point. We both have busy work schedules so we don't like to spend every evening in the kitchen, especially not to make those gourmet meals. We make a few on Sunday to eat on through the week but that’s about it.

She, and me to a much lesser degree, is not comfortable going completely simple so salads with no dressings and a plate of raw veggies from the back want cut it in many cases. Plus if it takes no preparation then we could do that at home. She seems to have this need for diversity now that we are raw, even though our options weren’t much better vegan, so I am trying to find with some creative options that we have not yet considered to help her stay committed.


At sushi restaurants I always ask them to make me rolls without rice. They usually look at me like I'm nuts, but have always been willing to do it. My fav is nori with cucumber, avocado & asparagus...

She brought up the sushi with no rice but I quickly though of that as a waste of money. But maybe I should reconsider; do they give you more veggies when they make it that way.

[RawHeaven]

That’s kind of the point. We both have busy work schedules so we don't like to spend every evening in the kitchen, especially not to make those gourmet meals. We make a few on Sunday to eat on through the week but that’s about it.

She, and me to a much lesser degree, is not comfortable going completely simple so salads with no dressings and a plate of raw veggies from the back want cut it in many cases. Plus if it takes no preparation then we could do that at home. She seems to have this need for diversity now that we are raw, even though our options weren’t much better vegan, so I am trying to find with some creative options that we have not yet considered to help her stay committed.

I completely understand. Everyone approaches this from a different place and you need to find what works for you. I totally respect this and admire you trying to find creative ways to bring this way of eating into your life. I just wanted to mention I was busy myself and didn't have a lot of time to make the raw foods either, but it was important for my health to do so. I enjoyed it also, it was somewhat of a meditation for me. There are plenty of really simple raw foods you can make just with a blender that are very satisfying. When I say raw gourmet I spent maybe an hour or two making them. I wasn't making a lot of elaborate, time consuming dishes. The time that you would take to travel to a restaurant, find parking, order a meal, wait for a meal, consume gas and drive home again would equate to the amount of time it would take to prepare the raw foods I was making, enjoy them and clean up.

I experienced a lot of trauma in my body, so my journey on this path was more centered on regaining my overall health. I was highly motivated and I think this helped me in the transition process in terms of where I wanted to take this and I was simply just there and committed. It's difficult to describe because I am no longer in the same place. Now I sometimes fall off course because I have forgotten what it feels like to be in that much physical pain. And I can see why so many struggle at first when I didn't. Becoming raw was like a golden light for me and I willingly walked into it.

I truly wish you well as your transition! What I love about Raw is there is always so much to look forward to as you (and your body) heals, expands and grows.