SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Being a vegetarian or vegan in Yellowknife can be an adventure, or at least a lesson in compromise.

Before coming to Yellowknife, Dwayne Wohlgemuth, 28, was a strict vegetarian for three years.

Kim Luong, owner of the Vietnamese Noodle House, a popular haunt for Yellowknife vegetarians, shows two of her most popular veggie dishes: vegetable stir-fry on rice and vegetable vermicelli. - Lauren McKeon/NNSL photo

After that, he ate a bit of meat with his family on the odd occasion - Wohlgemuth grew up on a farm and his vegetarianism could become a sticky subject at home - but he said he has eaten a lot more since moving here two years ago.

Wohlgemuth still won't buy meat for his own kitchen creations, but it's a different story when he goes out to restaurants.

"Just try finding a meal on the menu with beans," he said. Or lentils, he added. Both, in addition to being responsible for the infamous vegetarian passing of gas, are staples of the traditional vegetarian diet.

To compensate, he has started eating more popular Yellowknife fare: fish, or even caribou. Wohlgemuth said eating vegetarian, for him, is more about being environmentally responsible and sustainable than any particular aversion to meat. In other words, he gives the OK to local game that's both plentiful and native to the area.

Still, Wohlgemuth does draw the meat line.

"I'll never, never ever have a beef steak," he said.

David Shadbolt, 62, who moved here last March after a stint in Gjoa Haven (where he shipped staple food up with him), said being a vegetarian in Yellowknife isn't all that bad.

Shadbolt, who's been a vegetarian since the 1980s, said it was more difficult then - especially in Germany where being a veg-head was "weird to say the least."

Shadbolt added that after 10 years of letting no animal product touch his mouth he has, like Wohlgemuth, begun to eat dairy and fish.

He said eating vegetarian is all about being happy with the basics like rice, lentils and whatever vegetables are available - and cooking your own meals.

Shadbolt, 62, has started a monthly vegetarian potluck for veggies and carnivores alike. He said about 16 people were attending the potlucks before a brief hiatus. Shadbolt is looking to start them up again in August.

Sometimes it isn't problems with getting veggie food that turns a vegetarian into a meat-eater after a move North, but the urge to try something new.

When Anita Gue, 27, moved to Inuvik in 2006 she had been a vegetarian for five years. Then she decided to try some Northern food at the Eskimo Inn.

"It was the peppercorn muskox steak that did it," she said.

Gue still eats vegetarian at home, but makes the exception for Northern game when she dines out.

There are a few options for eating out vegetarian-style in Yellowknife, like the Vietnamese Noodle House. Owner Kim Luong said while she can't pinpoint and exact number, she gets plenty of vegetarian meal requests a day. She said some who order the veggie dishes aren't vegetarians but just love healthy things.

She said she has had only one problem cooking vegetarian fare in the North. Tofu - which needs to be stored in water - is hard to find and to store, because of Yellowknife's frigid temperatures and remote location. So, no Tofurkey.