Ten years ago: True. Haven't been there since, may have improved.
Not super hard, but you always need to ask, can't rely on the menu. Hong Kong has the same issue: A dish may be "fried vegetables" and it turns out the beef is implied.
In Fukuoka we went to a restaurant and tried to explain that I didn't eat meat. "Not even fish?!" ... finally the cook had to come out and talk to us and I think I got some tofu thing.
It's weird. There are so many dishes that look like a perfectly reasonable vegatarian dish (talking HK now), but it's like by compulsion some form of meat needs to be added. A lot of the times a salad is the only vegetarian thing (and you can't rely on that either -- chicken is popular in salads, and shrimp).
I usually go out with my omnivore wife, so I order the meat thing and give the meat to her, the theory being that her meat need is a constant and giving her my meat will reduce her other meat consumption. :-)
Not super hard, but you always need to ask, can't rely on the menu. Hong Kong has the same issue: A dish may be "fried vegetables" and it turns out the beef is implied.
In Fukuoka we went to a restaurant and tried to explain that I didn't eat meat. "Not even fish?!" ... finally the cook had to come out and talk to us and I think I got some tofu thing.
It's weird. There are so many dishes that look like a perfectly reasonable vegatarian dish (talking HK now), but it's like by compulsion some form of meat needs to be added. A lot of the times a salad is the only vegetarian thing (and you can't rely on that either -- chicken is popular in salads, and shrimp).
I usually go out with my omnivore wife, so I order the meat thing and give the meat to her, the theory being that her meat need is a constant and giving her my meat will reduce her other meat consumption. :-)