Mushroom. Fucking. Risotto.

[CompleteBarstool]

We're on a rare trip away, been looking forward to it for ages especially about having some lovely food.

Now I discover tonight's veggie option is mushroom risotto. Mushroom. Fucking. Risotto.

What's the meal that makes your heart sink?

I don't dislike mushroom risotto but it's just so unoriginal. Some places are good but others clearly can't be arsed.
Someone else mentioned this but parmesan on veggie dishes makes them unsuitable due to the animal rennet.

Vegetarian lasagna.
Any pathetic, uninspired pasta dish that is magnolia.

@TheOrigRights

When I fly I always order the Asian Vegetarian meal option.

Yum. However, where the regular meals often seem to get a GU desert and butter for their bread roll, my meal usually comes with fruit salad and spread.

I am vegetarian not vegan!

Airlines either seem to forget I ordered a veggie meal and so have nothing or it's a but rubbish. Most disappointing was on a night flight. On waking in the morning everyone was given croissants with butter and jam and I was given 2 fucking rice cakes.

I unintentionally had a very nice vegan pizza on Gozo, where the food is heavily Italian influenced and they serve a lot of excellent pizza and pasta.

It had fried potatoes, peppers, onions, capers, tomatoes and olives on it and it wasn't until I'd finished it that I noticed it didn't have any cheese on it.

DP still refers to it as the chips and salad pizza.

I wouldn't attempt a vegetarian mushroom risotto as the magic of the dish in my view, comes from a really excellent chicken stock.

What type of stock would be used in a veggie one? Maybe use dried porcini and use the water from that?

My heart sink things are word- based. Slaw. A 'side' etc etc.

But that is a whole other rich seam...

@Crowsaregreat

When faced with a menu that was obv contemptuous of vegetarianism, I used to just order sides eg salad and chips. Usually nicer and cheaper

Salad and chips is often my default abroad when there is no other option....it can be delicious much more so than mushroom risotto

In fact my tip for veggies at service station stops when everyone else gets a Burger King/McDonalds is to get a salad from the Waitrose or whatever mini supermarket there is and have it with fries from the fast food outlet.

Been a vegetarian for over 30 years. Eating out is pretty much always a disappointment.
Pet hate is when the chef seems to have no knowledge of food groups and gives you something with only veg and carb. No protein. So for example, pasta with tomato sauce.
I'm starving 10 minutes after eating it.
Absolutely worst meal was in a fancy French restaurant in Edinburgh. The starter was 2 prawn type crackers (made from veg not prawn but with the same look and texture) covered with a spoonful of diced carrots and peas. It definitely came out of a freezer bag! The main course was a thin slice of fried aubergine which had all of the texture of a shoe insole. Again covered in, yep, another couple of spoonfuls. of the freezer veg. Cost for both ( company event) was £40-50. Awful.

I can’t stand mushroom risotto either. My heart sinks when it’s something spicy or when the only veggie option is vegan. I want the dairy in my meal thanks!

Mushroom slop is awful. Vegi food has got better but I do not appreciate mushroom risotto

I like mushroom risotto, but it is very unimaginative on a menu.

I think it should be written into law that restaurants must serve a veggie alternative to everything on the menu, so:
fish and chips / haloumi and chips
sausage and mash / veggie soz and mash
pie and chips / veggie pie and chips
posh thing with jus and foam / veggie posh thing with jus and foam etc.

I get very annoyed with places that only offer a vegan burger or a salad.

Falafel. Vegan option every fucking time.

I used to work in a restaurant that only had a very small set menu - two meat choices, one fish, one veggie. Annoyingly I can't remember anything specific but the chef loved all things Asian, especially Thai, and the veggie choices were always lovely and imaginative. They used to do occasional theme nights like pie night and American night and there was always a veggie option that carnivores would choose just because it sounded nice. They were also shit hot on gluten free and there were gluten-free alternatives to almost everything as standard, but if you had other allergies (or indeed if you were vegan) and phoned ahead they'd find out what you liked and make sure you had something really nice that you actually wanted to eat (including for pudding).

It was a real shame it closed. If only more restaurants were so unlazy.

Personally I love mushroom risotto but I'm not vegetarian and I imagine if I was, I'd be sick of the sight of it.

I feel your pain, OP! I quite like a ‘shroom risotto but I can also knock up a perfectly good one at home for pennies. Vegetable lasagne is another heart-sink option because it’s rarely any good - either chewy undercooked veg’ and runny sauce or overcooked mush. Even better when you are not offered a choice of ‘sides’ and end up with lasagne and chips, for example.

Nut roast. Also not keen on mushrooms myself, but usually only have to eat them as an addition.

Always check the menu before you go! Could also ask if there is a vegan option, might be more exciting than the risotto

The worst meals in term of crap value for money I've experienced have been catered events like charity banquets and weddings. £50 a head for a once-frozen vegetable pie, roast potatoes and peas, that kind of thing.

I particularly hate veggie burgers/sausages which are just mashed vegetables. They are disgusting and usually taste and smell of old cooked greens.

Update.....

The mushroom risotto was....well, what can I say....ricey and mushroomy

Pretty unremarkable and boring really. No surprise there.

Yes, yes fucking mushroom risotto! Always the sign of a chef who could give a toss about vegetarians. See also those that slather things in goats cheese.

Couldn't (oh for an edit button!)

Recent dinner out and no vegetarian starters, asked the waiter and he said, well there's bread. Urmm thanks.

The grimmest "meal" I ever had was a vegan burger from a renowned local burger bar in Brighton of all places that advertised itself as vegan friendly. It was a takeaway place.
My husband got a superb big lamb burger with all kinds of trimmings, mine when we got home was a large and tasteless mushroom in a bun with no spread, no sauce, nothing just an enormous fried mushroom in a dry bun.
I rang them to ask if they had forgotten to put the vegan burger and sauce in it and they said no that was their vegan burger. They refused to give me a refund for this £7 monstrosity and said I could have a free vegan burger next time I swung by.
I told them exactly what they could do with their burger - x rated.

Local pub in our little town had a revamp. 6 of us decided to go, three of us were veggies. My friend rang up to check what was available for the veggies. Cheese sandwich, I kid you not. For a evening meal we could have a cheese sandwich. When we questioned it, she sighed and said that maybe we could have an egg sandwich. Needless to say we went elsewhere. 😏

These last 2 examples just take the piss! A but like when I ordered a "garden burger" in the States and received a burger bun filled with lettuce. Not even any mayo or anything!

Unpopular opinion: HATE beans!

I have a close family member who is vegetarian but very picky (no vinegar for example) and allergic to nuts. This person has very unusual eating habits including eating out of empty plastic containers. When they visit I never know what to have in.

And stealth brags about it all eg. wasps don't bother vegetarians.

All of this has made me resolve to try almost anything but overall to eat a healthy diet mostly plant based. But meat, fish, and dairy also. Just not the old meat and two veg.

I haven't tried mushroom risotto but I just might when this heat wave over Western Canada is over and I am not afraid to approach the stove again.