You need to be able to ask for a risotto made with the mushrooms from this steak dish at the bottom of the menu, and the cheese from this crabmeat appetizer up here, plus some green onions and a squirt of Worcestershire. For a skillful kitchen, it's nothing to do something like that. But they won't unless you tell them, because the chefs are not likely to be vegetarians themselves. But they do know how to make food taste good. Some of the best vegetarian meals come from ethnic cuisines with a long history of vegetarianism.
Indian restaurants can provide a seriously good and widely various meatless meal.
The India Palace's lunch buffet, for example, recently provided me with a blend of various beans in a sauce that's as creamy as red beans, but with a different flavor. The creamed spinach with homemade paneer cheese, the spicy vegetable stews, and the fascinating, subtle taste of basmati rice all add up to a very good and filling meal. Italian restaurants are also uniquely qualified to go vegan. The pasta connection is obvious. But if the place follows Italian tradition rigorously, it will have an immense assortment of other vegetable dishes.