Being vegetarian is so tiresome.

[Brandnewskytohangyourstarsupon]

I’ve been vegetarian for over 25 years.

Just arranging dinner with friends who are raving about a particular restaurant. It’s a m at eaters dream of a place I’m sure gorgeous food is sold.
It’s Italian so there’s the usual vegetarian offerings of over priced margarita pizza available and it really pisses me off.
There are also some overpriced sides available but it boils my piss to pay £14-16 for a bit of cauliflower.

It’s the majority vote to go to this place.

I don’t want to bring it all down because there’s very little choice for vegetarians so I’ll do as I always do, eat before I go, order a drink and order the cheaper side to just be sociable.

Its always the same I find, always the same.

If you are vegetarian, how do you navigate this?

OP has said a number of times that there is no pasta option

Especially when they hand you the vegan menu when you say you are coeliac...

What about the other things I mentioned?

Well yeah, what do you really expect? It's a niche choice.

Maybe a veggie lasagne too 👍

Either of which would be a very welcome option on any menu.

Signed, a Coeliac.

I’d be happy with these too. Cheese, not cheeze

I know it's not a race to the bottom but try being coeliac and vegetarian! You get to like jacket potatoes and omelettes or just watching others eat because there's nothing you can have and you'd feel rude not going eg work things, weddings.

You mentioned

margherita - on the menu
vegetable pizza - not on the menu
garlic bread - well, this is a side not a main, op has said it is on the menu
veggie pasta - there is no pasta option
quorn pasta - there is no pasta opton

and your late entry, veggie lasagna… this is pasta and - guess what - there is no pasta option

HTH

Well then there's margarita pizza and garlic bread. Seems reasonable.

That's an ironic response.

Why have you?

You messaged me so I'm replying to you.

i actually find gluten is easier than dairy.

gluten free will be labelled, in general. And gluten isn’t always also vegan.

dairy is generally unavoidable. Even “safe” choices like rice have turned out to contain butter.

we were recently in the US so ate out a lot. GF was heavily labelled. Dairy they looked at us like we were mad. And still brought veg coated in butter.

Ironic?

I’d expect any chef worth the name to come up with something.

I’m wondering if it’s a new start up restaurant with it being only pizza and chicken wings.
It’s Italian but there genuinely is no pasta at all on the menu. Maybe they will expand to more options as they grow.

Do you? 😂

Let me explain for you...

It's actually ironic that you're asking why I bothered responding to you. Your question implies that my response is unnecessary or unimportant, yet you've taken the time to ask why I responded. This means you're engaging in the very behaviour you're questioning, which creates a contradiction and highlights the irony of your question.

@LittleRebelGirl where are all these gluten free places? I really struggle with eating out since my coeliac diagnosis. All the local pubs bar one where I have two options are off limits for example. Italian place in town has nothing. One Chinese and one chippy only. I have to drive out of town to find anything decent.

On a group meal where im
stuck with a salad I make sure to order a pudding to make up for it.

You wouldn't if you were Coeliac I think, and your body started destroying your stomach lining if you ate even a morsel.

Agree with all this. But generally I just suck it up, accept that the food will be mediocre (and worse now thanks to veganism), and focus on the company and the booze

@SeatonCarew

Who said anything about not being coeliac?

dd is recently diagnosed and also has a dairy allergy.

like I said, we find dairy harder to avoid/get dietary information on than gluten.

I'm the same OP, vegetarian 17 years now and feel like a major PITA anytime a meal out is arranged as the veggie options are often awful, or like you say over priced margarita pizza

@Brandnewskytohangyourstarsupon , I’ve been vegetarian for 56 years. For years and years there was practically nothing on menus for me then all of a sudden menus had no veggie options but there were vegan options which are frequently trying to be like meat, which I don’t eat.
Basically I feel your pain. If I can make you feel better I’m the vegetarian who only eats vegetarian cheese so my options are often limited to nothing. What can we do? 🤷‍♀️

@toomanytonotice I may be preaching to the converted here (sorry if so) but if something is labelled as GF on a menu doesn't mean it truly is. So many places cook "gluten free" options in with everything else meaning it is laced with cross contamination 😫 Fried foods being a key offender. Avoiding both gluten and dairy must be a nightmare.

I agree. Its really annoying that all the vegetarian food has been overtaken by vegan food. I understand why- its because they think vegetarians should be able to eat vegan food, but its irritating that instead of well cooked veggie food with cream and cheese you often get UPF, expensive fake 'meat'. Vegan cheese is just not nice. It ruins all food. and if you are eating out, its expensive. You don't want to eat something unappetising and pay £25 for the privilege.