Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Veggie served meat - what if anything would you do? do?

63 replies

TortellinimorelikeTorteLIEni · 03/01/2025 23:05

Went out for a meal tonight. A nice chain. Ordered aubergine tortellini. When it came and I ate the first couple of mouthfuls I thought it tasted odd. Had a bit more and thought it tasted and looked like beef. Asked a couple of the people with me and they agreed. I called the waiter over and asked if I could have been given meat by mistake. He said there was no meat version of the tortellini but he'd check with the kitchen. Came back and said it was definitely aubergine.

I checked the menu and there was no meat version on it so I told myself I must be mistaken. Took another bite but nope, definitely tasted like beef.

I Google and see that on New year's there was indeed a beef version of the tortellini on their menu. I am now 100% sure that's what they have given me. I check with a third member of my table, they also agree it's meat. The portion was small - literally like 6 big tortellini so by now it's almost all gone.

When the waiter comes to clear the table I mention it again, I tell him I'm now sure it was meat and ask him to inform the kitchen.

He comes back after some time saying they have now checked thoroughly and it is definitely aubergine. They have checked the meat tortellini from New Year's and it looks completely different.

I don't want to get into a big back and forth at this point as most of the meal has gone and the rest of the table have had nice food and are enjoying themselves.

However. I am wondering whether to email their manager or head office to ask them to check their tortellini and labelling? I'm not after money off but I am concerned about them dishing up meat to veggies and the potential for someone with allergies to eat something they shouldn't.

Is there any point now? Or should I leave it at this point?

OP posts:
Nina1013 · 04/01/2025 13:57

It sounds totally unbelievable that you are a vegetarian, you are SURE it was beef, and you also ate it…

If I read a complaint saying that, I would be totally baffled. I have allergies and if I have even the slightest doubt, I stop eating. If I’m not 100% assured and certain that it does not contain what I was doubting, I won’t eat another mouthful.

Katemax82 · 04/01/2025 13:51

Sainsburys have twice mislabelled their chickpea curry slice when ive bought one only to bite into a steak bake! Luckily I'm.not a beggie but last time it was my son who had it so we complained as he doesn't like steak bakes and it could have easily been a vegetarian who ate it

Katemax82 · 04/01/2025 13:50

Sainsburys have twice mislabelled their chickpea curry slice when ive bought one only to bite into a steak bake! Luckily I'm.not a beggie but last time it was my son who had it so we complained as he doesn't like steak bakes and it could have easily been a vegetarian who ate it

FatFiatMultiplaWhopper · 04/01/2025 13:47

Isxmasoveryet · 04/01/2025 13:07

She cleaned her plate then complain the dish was wrong

Yeah, and that's not on, but there's no excuse for that term.

BunnyLake · 04/01/2025 13:28

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

Off topic but we’re not saying Karen anymore. Most everyone agrees it’s not appropriate. My sister is called Karen and it saddens me to see that name besmirched so much.

helpfulperson · 04/01/2025 13:23

user23124 · 04/01/2025 12:20

This happened a place I worked - it was a Hindu lady and she was convinced she'd been served meat. It was portobello mushroom - it even got sent to a lab for analysis. It can be very hard to tell with some dishes/flavours.

I do think that given you finished it you just have to let it go. As this poster has shown it can be tested and you can't be 100% sure you are correct.

Runningoutofthyme · 04/01/2025 13:12

Why didn’t you stop eating it if you knew it was beef?

presumably they could have used beef flavouring as ironically a lot of meat flavourings are vegetarian?

Seashor · 04/01/2025 13:12

If we eat meat free we always eat aubergine because it really does have a meat like, chunky texture and it is quite fibrous . It really is a great meat alternative so I think it is possible that it was aubergine.

ChristmasFluff · 04/01/2025 13:11

I've been served meat a couple of times in my 30-odd years of being veggie and you can definitely tell if there's even a small amount of meat in a dish. There's this weird 'greasy' aftertaste that vegetarian food never has. Even with a non-fatty meat.

Isxmasoveryet · 04/01/2025 13:07

She cleaned her plate then complain the dish was wrong

FatFiatMultiplaWhopper · 04/01/2025 13:06

@Isxmasoveryet please don't use the term "Karen". It's sexist and misogynistic.

Isxmasoveryet · 04/01/2025 12:58

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

MoodySky · 04/01/2025 12:55

I make Bolognese from roasted aubergine, mushroom and cauliflower. It tastes and looks quite meaty as it's chopped very small. Could it be something like this?

TortellinimorelikeTorteLIEni · 04/01/2025 12:49

Thanks all. They sent me an email asking how my meal was today, just a standard one. So I told them. I don't expect any response but at least I've done all I can to flag the issue.

It was beef. Not mushroom. Not banana blossom. Definitely not aubergine.

OP posts:
MadKittenWoman · 04/01/2025 12:36

I queried a dish on New Year's Eve as I thought it had meat in it. It turned out to be banana blossom. I was once given a pizza with tuna on it, though.

Nordione1 · 04/01/2025 12:27

You should be able to know what you are eating and if it did have beef in it, not be lied to. It suggests they might be similarly slapdash with allergies which could cause serious illnesses or death so I would definitely raise it with them.

TheYearOfSmallThings · 04/01/2025 12:24

If you haven't kept any of the food I don't think you will achieve anything by contacting the restaurant - they will just say "as we confirmed on the evening of your visit, it was definitely aubergine".

You can leave a review saying you believe you were served meat (they will probably reply as above) but if you are certain it was meat you should have kept some for testing.

user23124 · 04/01/2025 12:20

This happened a place I worked - it was a Hindu lady and she was convinced she'd been served meat. It was portobello mushroom - it even got sent to a lab for analysis. It can be very hard to tell with some dishes/flavours.

starlight889 · 04/01/2025 12:17

I would take it further, especially for the reason you have mentioned (allergies).

My daughter has a beef allergy so this would have made her very ill.

Bogginsthe3rd · 04/01/2025 00:16

To be fair Aubergine is considered the beef of the veg patch

ComtesseDeSpair · 04/01/2025 00:14

You can email your concerns. They’ll probably send you a generic response assuring you that all their uncooked products are clearly labelled but they’ll be sure to revisit procedures around food handling in staff training. You might get a discount voucher for another visit as a gesture for not liking your meal. It depends how pulsed you are about all of that, really. They won’t admit liability for cross contamination unless you have proof.

Likewhatever · 04/01/2025 00:11

Could you leave a review? They have the option to reassure you in their response but also it will alert other diners when ordering this dish.

ReadingSoManyThreads · 04/01/2025 00:06

Hoping you brought one home with you, so that you can pass it onto Trading Standards AND Environmental Health. Even if you didn't bring a sample home, you can still report to Trading Standards & Environmental Health, and make sure you tell them how many meat eaters tried a sample of your dish and confirmed it was beef. Give as much detail as you can.

They were just covering themselves telling you that the NY dish looked different etc., because they didn't know how to get out of their fuck up.

seaelephant · 03/01/2025 23:50

As a life-long veggie, I don't order tortellini from restaurants anymore for this exact reason. Must be something about tortellini that it's so prone to getting mixed up. I totally believe it was beef but nowt you can do about it now.

Notimeforaname · 03/01/2025 23:44

The time to do something about it was then. You cant prove it now.

Swipe left for the next trending thread