What's the worst meal you've been served? Especially but not limited to those with restricted diets?

[CrapGoat]

I mean if you're coeliac/gluten free/vegan/allergies or anything like? But others as well.

I went to a well-known Fish and Chip restaurant with family recently.I cannot remember how the vegan option was described, but what I got was a small lasagne dish containing some gloopy tomato sauce, inset with three or 4 slimy aubergine slices. A side of new potatoes (about 6, which in fairness were at least quite nice).

Completely tasteless and I was straight in the cupboard for snacks when I got home as I was so hungry. Vegan doesn't equal-no appetite/doesn't like food/is happy with a tiny dish of slop.

I suppose I should be grateful for anything at all with that type of restaurant, but vegans/other people who don't eat certain things aren't hermits-we often go to places with/for other people!

T'was the best part of £20, too.

On my 30th birthday, 16 of us went to an Indian restaurant and I ordered lamb jalfrezi. The meals turned up sporadically and some people had finished before others' meals had arrived.

Eventually, I realised that I wasn't getting anything and asked about it. First they said I hadn't ordered.... Eventually, something came out, chicken bhuna, perhaps? I was starving and started to eat it.

The chicken was completely raw, so I complained, only to be told that there was nothing wrong with it, despite me showing him a cut open chunk of chicken, pink and bloody inside. I refused to pay and they threatened to get the Police.

One of my friends said to call them and that he'd call environmental health.

I went to Burger King before the pub!

There seems to be a bit of a theme of men thinking they're amazing cooks and producing something horrendous, on here 🤣
That has happened to me too, although in fairness it wasn't horrendous but a guy once cooked for me and had been raving about his culinary skills for weeks. He produced some tasteless noodles in not enough sauce. Insipid, bland, cloying. I ate it, it was edible but after his bigging himself up I was bemused.

Went to a posh wedding. Asked for lamb with no sauce on it, rang up and checked the day before, all fine. On the day I was served with a very nice piece of lamb which the chef had covered in black pepper. (One of my allergies) To be fair, they hadn't put any butter on the carrots, so I could eat those. I had realised none of the dessert options were safe, so thought I'd survive the day on a bit of meat. I just sat there with a few carrots, feeling hungry! Felt so so conspicuous.

Next wedding I said don't cater for me, and took a cool bag.

I might try that technique next time @TeaAndStrumpets ! In fact last time I went to stay at a friend's for a couple of days I took a packed lunch just in case of a similar scenario!

Yes I assume the worst!

Just scrolling thru the ones I've missed,@notprincehamlet that's just awful. How can someone think anyone would be happy with that?!

@Sirian Ifeel especially sorry for anyone in situations like that. You're vulnerable and need sustenance
How difficult can it be?!

@CrapGoat I think I found the vile french meal I had.

When you are feeling brave, put tripes a la nicoise into a Google image search.

The food that was too bad to eat was cow's stomach stew.

I bet you wish you hadn't asked now.

@KievLoverTwo oh god that sounds revolting!
It's reminded me of a post on here some time ago where someone had ordered something in (I think) Germany? That was made out of intestines-and smelt like excrement? Can't remember what it was called!

I think it might be a sausage, and from my recollections of the OHs time of living in Germany, most Germans avoid it.

The primary use for tripe in the UK has historically been for dog food. So I wasn't far off with it looking and smelling like cat food.

KievLoverTwo · Today 02:12

The primary use for tripe in the UK has historically been for dog food.

You obviously haven't live in the North of England, where tripe and onions in vinegar was hugely popular, although it seems to have died a death now. Tripe is readily available in butchers' shops up here still.

1. Turkey curry and tiramisu, by someone I'd been good friends with for 10 years and who'd forgotten that I was vegetarian and allergic to coffee.

1. Half a cauliflower, roasted. No spice, sauce, sides, nothing. It was an industry awards dinner at the Park Lane Hilton. The meat option was lamb shanks, mash, carrots and.... cauliflower. I wasn't paying, but I felt well shortchanged.

@IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads I've said this a thousand times but I am absolutely sick to the back teeth of cauliflower everything! As the vegan/vegetarian option, cauliflower 'steak' (gross, and they charge not much less for that than meat), cauliflower 'bites' or 'wings' (may as well deep fry a bath sponge and eat that)...

Agreed @CrapGoat . It's the modern equivalent of a "tower" of aubergine and goats cheese on Jus-rol pastry, but vegan.

@IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads Ha ha! I am not veggie but avoid meat and fish at mass catered events.

At a work Xmas dinner a few years ago the vegetarian dish was roast cauliflower. Stupidly I assumed it would be heavily spiced as cauliflower takes spices very well.
Like your dinner it was simply a slab of under cooked cauliflower with a bit of bland tomato based sauce on it.

At one time was vegetarian now vegan but when you mention the V word all you seem to get is vile lasagne I don't even eat the stuff at home I like to identify my food not have it all mixed up
When in the hospital the food is dire enough without vegetarian options that usually tend to be wilted slimy lettuce with sharp tomatoes and slimy cucumber.
it is a shame that people have so little imagination

I actually really like cauliflower but agree that it's mostly served in far too plain a style, and without enough accompaniments. A thick, well-cooked cauliflower slab would be fine served up on a thick dahl with a flatbread, or with a spicey tomato & vegetable sauce with fried chickpeas and aubergine or fried potatoes.

Guests just want a reasonable attempt at a dinner, not perfection.

In fact I can make the dahl and simmered/steamed cauliflower slab in one pot, it's that easy. I don't know what excuse hotel kitchens have.

Actual beaver served in Kiev as part of a meat platter

GoodRoots. Worcester.

Ordered goat cheese salad with walnut and pear.

Was literally just undressed iceberg lettuce, very dry walnut halves, incredibly unripe sliced pear, and a bit of goat cheese. Whoever was slicing that pear would have known it was rock hard but just didn’t care. Must have taken about two minutes to put together and cost less than 50p.

I paid something like a tenner, and it was that bad that I complained even though I’m normally a bit of a pushover. Wasn’t offered a refund but was given a free cake, which also wasn’t very nice.

A little off topic but after a fairly nice dinner in a chain pub (I forget which) in the North West I did a survey on its app. It asked for opinions on how they could improve and I said they could provide a vegan pudding, as they had plenty of vegetarian/vegan options but nothing on the dessert menu. I offered some suggestions too. I won a prize for that survey-a free pudding.

Don't tell me - was it panacotta?

Vegetarian lasagne in a nice pub with my Mum, I knew there was an issue, as it took 45 minutes to arrive.
It was in an oval earthenware dish, and I had to break the surface with my fork, and it was quite hard to do, and it was just liquid, watery tomato liquid below, and nothing else.
I assumed it had taken 40 minutes to defrost from the deep freeze.
We didn’t complain.

And surprisingly never returned, this was years ago. I would definitely complain now, politely of course.

Equally as terrible was a friend’s wedding meal, and that was kind of meat.

Gluten and wheat free due to wheat allergy, just some of my memorable offerings:

At a works meeting offsite just a plain jacket potato. Not toppings and not even any butter, just the jacket potato.

At another offsite meeting a fish (tuna I think) sandwich. I don't eat fish (they had been told) and because everyone else had already had their grubby mitts over everything I couldn't have any of the fruit on offer. That was a very long day being hungry

Most recent onsite meeting just a single prepacked stale egg mayo roll whilst everyone else tucked into a variety of sandwiches, fancy rolls and wraps. Quiches, pasties, sausage rolls and other savouries. Big bowls of mixed crisps. Various sweet pastries, cakes, and other deserts.

Works Christmas dinner that consisted of 2 aneamic rost potatoes, 3 chunks of carrot and a single slice of turkey and gravy that basically looked like and tasted like water with cornflour to thicken it slightly again while everyone else tickets into a feast. No starter or dessert as all options were unsafe.

During a hospital stay I took longer than expected to come round from the anesthesia so missed being able to order food. Asked when I was on the ward and was offered a gluten filled sandwich and then a pack of gluten filled crackers when I said I couldn't eat the sandwich. Had to ring my parents to bring me something in.

Our manager once bought everyone pork pies as a little "treat". I was handed a tin of chickpeas because i was vegetarian so she didnt know what i could eat. No tin opener or anything just a tin of chickpeas

@gemma19846 I almost think you're making that up! But unfortunately, based on my own experiences and other's, I am pretty sure you're actually not.

I wish i was. Im afraid its true, everyone was tucking into their pork pies and i was just sat holding a tin of chickpeas. I did make use of them in a curry so it wasnt all bad