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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Should they describe this menu item better

290 replies

holidaybubble · 12/06/2026 13:06

Went to a cafe for the first time it’s not for profit and does stuff for the community. I had been wanting to try it out for a while and finally went to day with my toddler I checked the menu to see if he would eat anything and saw baked beans. I ordered him baked beans on toast with a sausage turns out the beans where homemade and spiced Aibu to think they should state this on the menu as there is a big difference between tinned and home made. I said to the girl behind the counter it was my first time coming she could have said did I know the beans were spiced when ordering for my son. Obviously he refused to eat them.

not linked to my Aibu but my full English came with toast and I got toast for him too. The wait for food was long so they gave me my son’s toast early which I hadn’t asked for. I then didn’t revive my toast with my meal and he then had no toast for his beans. I would have said something but my son was screaming as he was hungry and pushing his pot of beans and spitting them out so I just inhaled mine and left. The person that also works there had gone upstairs and I didn’t want to wait.

OP posts:
WhatFlavourIsIt · 12/06/2026 14:18

Oh,.op your thread seems to have set of the Twat signal. No one that's ever been to a cafe for breakfast has expected regular beans!.
Yes, they should have listed the beans as homade or said something when you ordered.

ChocolateApples · 12/06/2026 14:17

Baked beans means Heinz or whatever out of a can. Homemade baked beans are an entirely different dish. Not a fan when menus don't describe things properly. I want to know what I'm ordering.

didntlikethis · 12/06/2026 14:17

grumpygrape · 12/06/2026 13:57

You have an allergy to chillies and 'they are everywhere ' but you wouldn't think to check. ?

Not in baked beans, no.

Unless it said 'spiced baked beans' (in which case I wouldn't order it).

OneThreadOnlybyN · 12/06/2026 14:17

Ablondiebutagoody · 12/06/2026 13:24

Fly them into his mouth like an aeroplane rather than leave him pushing the pot around while you eat.

They're not going to be any less spicey no matter how many air miles they do

PublicHare · 12/06/2026 14:17

You're not wrong I'd have expected normal Heinz baked beans without any 'enhancements" with that description. I wouldn't class your DS as fussy either. Mine would have done just the same and probably would have rejected the sausage too if it had too much black pepper in it.

WoollyHeadedMammoth · 12/06/2026 14:16

I would have asked to be on the safe side if child is picky; some places will flag menu items that are very spicy (hot) but this would be based on local adult taste unless it's on a children's menu. It's odd to assume they'd be tinned instead of homemade - most people would have expected the opposite and possibly complained if they got tinned! If the toast and beans were two separate items I don't think getting them at different times is unreasonable but they should have taken the toast back if you asked and the beans weren't coming very soon.

Foundress · 12/06/2026 14:15

JohnnyFedora · 12/06/2026 14:00

What utter fucking nonsense that you've never been anywhere that serves tinned baked beans? You must have been to a cafe or restaurant or hotel or school canteen or anywhere similar that sells tinned beans for jacket potatoes, breakfasts and beans on toast etc

Edited

Glad you said this Johnny I was thinking exactly the same.

Lougle · 12/06/2026 14:15

I think you're right @holidaybubble . Baked beans means something specific. Just like 'macaroni cheese' should have macaroni and not any old pasta.

ChipswithMayonnaise · 12/06/2026 14:15

Another lightly disguised Forrin is Bad post...

Our English baked beans have been contaminated by Forrin spices! Our children suffer!

Incidentally, there are records of cumin being grown and eaten in England even before the 1066 Norman conquest.

Honeyhonay · 12/06/2026 14:14

holidaybubble · 12/06/2026 13:58

I had a baked egg dish thing with spinach he hates eggs spiced food and eggs is something he hates he had already eaten some toast the cafe only gave us one portion even though I paid for 2 I assumed more toast was coming so we had half each

Interesting change from inhaling your full English in front of him.

OneThreadOnlybyN · 12/06/2026 14:13

Ablondiebutagoody · 12/06/2026 13:17

He should have just eaten the beans if he was that hungry. I can't believe they were that spicey. I like that they've tried to jazz them up a bit.

Have you never met a 1year old!

DollopOfFun · 12/06/2026 14:13

I said full English as was easier to say than baked eggs with spinach

Maybe they just find it easier to say beans on toast, rather than spicy homemade beans on toast.

Ablondiebutagoody · 12/06/2026 14:12

I would be more upset with the spinach and baked eggs on my full English breakfast

grumpygrape · 12/06/2026 14:12

Full English is easier to 'say' than 'baked eggs with spinach'. Dear heavens

Don't ever go to Boston (USA) the home of the baked bean....you might find, horror of horrors, meat in the beans.

Growlybear83 · 12/06/2026 14:11

holidaybubble · 12/06/2026 14:06

Definitely spicy even I didn’t eat them I as they where spicy I am a wimp though and don’t even like pepper. Definitely had cumin in and some other spices they made my mouth feel slightly burning @wishingonastar101 I don’t let him spit out food but he took a mouthful and they burnt his mouth being spicy with I guess chilli and he’s only 1 @CoastalCalm I said full English as was easier to say than baked eggs with spinach

But you said in your first post that he WAS spitting out the beans.

OneThreadOnlybyN · 12/06/2026 14:11

TrafficBlocking · 12/06/2026 13:11

Well yeh easy for them to put spiced beans on the menu description. Also easy to ask are these beans straight out of a can. Dont most parents check stuff like this for their childrens unique tastes?

No if baked beans are on the menu, unless it said otherwise, I'd expect them to be bog standard baked beans (unless it was a very fancy place)

hourspassed · 12/06/2026 14:11

HoppingPavlova · 12/06/2026 13:54

I’ve never been to a restaurant/cafe that served baked beans from a tin😳. If I got that I’d send it back as if I wanted that I’d go buy a tin from the supermarket.

We used to make baked beans when the kids were young, and they ate them. Makes me wonder whether the ones of OP’s were spiced/spiced or just normal food people would give kids?

Mumsnet at its best 😂

BauhausOfEliott · 12/06/2026 14:10

JFC, you can't just assume everything in restaurants and cafes will be tailored to your specific needs unless otherwise stated.

Sometimes, meals in cafes will not be identical to the way you personally make them at home. That's life. They don't know how you or your child personally prefers their baked beans, and therefore they can't really be expected to clarify each menu item to explain any potential differences to you.

Your kid was served some food he didn't like. The world has not ended. Get a grip.

DappledThings · 12/06/2026 14:09

I said full English as was easier to say than baked eggs with spinach
That's ridiculous. Saying roast dinner would be just as inaccurate as saying full English and just as short.

Malasana · 12/06/2026 14:08

holidaybubble · 12/06/2026 13:58

I had a baked egg dish thing with spinach he hates eggs spiced food and eggs is something he hates he had already eaten some toast the cafe only gave us one portion even though I paid for 2 I assumed more toast was coming so we had half each

You say you had a full English in your OP.

Growlybear83 · 12/06/2026 14:08

This really doesn’t present the most appealing of mental images - the toddler screaming and spitting out baked beans everywhere because he’s so hungry, despite having eaten toast and a sausage, while the OP shovels down her food like there’s no tomorrow! 😆😆

fashionqueen0123 · 12/06/2026 14:08

holidaybubble · 12/06/2026 14:06

Definitely spicy even I didn’t eat them I as they where spicy I am a wimp though and don’t even like pepper. Definitely had cumin in and some other spices they made my mouth feel slightly burning @wishingonastar101 I don’t let him spit out food but he took a mouthful and they burnt his mouth being spicy with I guess chilli and he’s only 1 @CoastalCalm I said full English as was easier to say than baked eggs with spinach

I hate cumin. Don’t blame your kid!

ConstanzeMozart · 12/06/2026 14:07

I’m slightly surprised they didn’t say spicy baked beans, but I also wouldn’t assume they’d be out of a tin, and if I had a fussy child with me I’d ask. Common sense.

Iiyama21 · 12/06/2026 14:07

holidaybubble · 12/06/2026 14:06

Definitely spicy even I didn’t eat them I as they where spicy I am a wimp though and don’t even like pepper. Definitely had cumin in and some other spices they made my mouth feel slightly burning @wishingonastar101 I don’t let him spit out food but he took a mouthful and they burnt his mouth being spicy with I guess chilli and he’s only 1 @CoastalCalm I said full English as was easier to say than baked eggs with spinach

You said you inhaled them in your op too.

fashionqueen0123 · 12/06/2026 14:07

I would have sent them back. I’d have expected normal baked beans.