Vegan or vegetarian: what is the difference, and what it means on a menu
A vegetarian eats no meat and no fish. A vegan eats nothing that comes from an animal at all, so also no dairy, no eggs and no honey. That is the whole difference, and it stays simple until you are looking at a menu. Our kitchen is vegetarian and every dish can be made vegan, so this is a question we answer at the counter most days.
What does a vegetarian not eat?
Meat, poultry, fish and shellfish, and anything made from an animal that had to be killed for it. That second part is where people get caught out: gelatine, stock made from meat or fish, anchovies in a sauce, and the animal rennet used to make a lot of cheese.
Most vegetarians do eat dairy and eggs. Some leave out one or both, and that is a personal line rather than part of the word.
What does a vegan not eat?
Everything a vegetarian leaves out, and also everything else that comes from an animal: milk, butter, cheese, yoghurt, cream and ghee, eggs, and honey. A vegan meal is made from plants and nothing else.
In practice the hard part is not the obvious things. It is the dairy and egg that turn up where you would not look for them: butter in a sauce, milk powder in bread, egg in pastry or brushed on top of it, yoghurt in a dressing.
Where it gets confusing
- Cheese. Not all cheese is vegetarian, because a lot of it is made with animal rennet. Our halloumi and our yoghurt are made without it. Neither is vegan, because both are dairy.
- Sauces and dressings. On a Levantine plate the dairy is almost always in the sauce: a garlic sauce on a yoghurt base, a yoghurt tahini dressing. The dish around it can be entirely plant based while the sauce is not. The same is true of hummus, which is vegan in its classic form until something with dairy goes on top.
- Butter and ghee. Some kitchens finish rice, bread or hummus with butter or ghee instead of oil.
- Honey. Vegetarians eat it and vegans do not. Our desserts, the pistachio date balls and the pistachio tahini halva, contain no honey and are vegan as served.
Vegan, plant based and "vegan options": what the labels mean
Plant based means made from plants. On a pack or a menu it is usually used to mean vegan, but not everyone uses it that strictly, so read the label or ask. "Vegan options" or "vegan friendly" on a restaurant means some dishes are vegan, not that the kitchen is. And "vegan on request" means a dish is made vegan when you ask, usually by leaving out or replacing one thing.
Can a vegetarian kitchen cook for vegans?
It can, and it is a better starting point than a meat kitchen with a vegan dish on the side, because there is no meat or fish in the building to begin with. Ours works like this. Most dishes on the menu are vegan exactly as they are served, and they carry a filled leaf. The rest contain dairy as standard, carry an outlined leaf, and a numbered note says what the kitchen replaces. That is what "vegan on request" means on our menu, written out in full.
Vegan as served, for example: Traditional Falafel, the Makali and Zaatar sandwiches, every hummus plate, baba ghanouj, falafel balls and stuffed falafel. Vegan on request, with the non-dairy dressing: the three fatteh bowls, Falafel Crunch, Garden Harvest and the Batata sandwich. The Halloumi sandwich is vegetarian, because halloumi is a cheese; ask at the counter and the kitchen will tell you what it can put in its place.
Vegan is not the same as allergen free
A dish that is vegan has no dairy in the recipe. That is not the same as a guarantee for someone with a milk allergy, because kitchens share equipment. Ours handles all of the allergens listed on the menu. Equipment and utensils are shared between dishes, so we cannot guarantee that any dish is completely free of an allergen, even when an ingredient is left out on request. Please tell our staff about any allergy before you order, and they will check the specific dish with the kitchen.
Is vegetarian food halal?
Not automatically. Halal is about more than meat: it also rules out alcohol, and some people check for animal rennet and gelatine. A vegetarian kitchen that serves no alcohol and uses no animal rennet has nothing in its food that would not be halal. That is what halal by composition means, and it is a different thing from certification. We do not hold a halal certificate and we will not tell you that we do.
Is vegan healthier than vegetarian?
Neither word says much about how healthy a plate is: chips can be vegan. A fully vegan diet needs some attention to a few nutrients, vitamin B12 above all, and that is a conversation for a doctor or a dietitian rather than a kitchen.
Vegan and vegetarian food in Rotterdam
Nabäti Eatery is on Keizerstraat 168 in Rotterdam Centrum, about five minutes on foot from Rotterdam Blaak and a short walk from the Markthal. It is a vegetarian restaurant in Rotterdam in the full sense, with no meat and no fish in the kitchen, and a Jordanian one, cooking falafel, hummus, fatteh and the rest of the Levantine table. If you came for falafel, the classic recipe is vegan too, and the short version of what we cook is on our page about falafel in Rotterdam. The rest of our vegan options in Rotterdam are marked on the menu with the same two leaves.
Before you order
If you eat vegan, look for the filled leaf, or the outlined one and say so when you order. If you have an allergy, tell the counter so the kitchen can check the dish rather than the menu. See the full menu, dish by dish, or come to Keizerstraat 168 in Rotterdam Centrum and ask.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between vegan and vegetarian?
A vegetarian eats no meat and no fish. A vegan eats nothing from an animal at all: no meat or fish, and also no dairy, no eggs and no honey.
Do vegetarians eat eggs and dairy?
Most do. Some vegetarians leave out eggs, dairy or both, but the word itself only rules out meat and fish, and anything made from an animal that had to be killed.
Is cheese vegetarian?
Not always. A lot of cheese is made with animal rennet, which comes from calves, and that makes it unsuitable for vegetarians. Cheese is never vegan, because it is dairy.
Is honey vegan?
No. Honey comes from bees, so vegans do not eat it. Vegetarians generally do.
Is vegetarian food halal?
Not automatically. Food with no meat, no alcohol and no animal rennet or gelatine has nothing in it that would not be halal, which is halal by composition. That is a different thing from certification.
Can vegans eat at a vegetarian restaurant?
Usually, and often more easily than at a meat restaurant. At Nabäti the kitchen is vegetarian, most dishes are vegan as served, and the rest can be made vegan by replacing the dairy.
